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“How about I feed him while you guys get that drink? Meet you at the bar in a few.” She walks off, undoing her shirt.
“Oh, she’s nursing. Guess no beer for her.” Darius grins.
“Nope, come on.” We follow him to the bar, and all the while, I feel eyes on me.
Chaos is looking at me hard.
“Oh, stop that, Uncle Toby! He already knows.” Hannah pushes him back at the ladder and hands him the banner to finish hanging.
“We’ve all been worried about you guys. My wife is concerned that your first impression of us wasn’t, well, appropriate.” Aspen snorts, drawing both of our attention.
“Name one time this club has ever made a good impression.” Darius sits back and crosses his arms.
Slowly, a smile spreads across his face, but his eyes turn sad.
“Not in our lifetime. Maybe in Grandpa’s.” She laughs louder.
“Not with Abel as his VP.” They burst out in laughter.
Their amusement is contagious, causing me to chuckle at their response more than anything else. Darius stands and rounds the bar to grab a few beers. He cracks them open and passed them out.
We talk about the last few days, and then Darius’ face turns serious.
“How’s Foxy?” My heart skips at her name.
“She’ll pull through,” Aspen says confidently, although she tightens her hold on my thigh.
I swallow but nod.
“She hasn’t woken, but her vitals are strong.” Aspen pats my knee.
I’ve been preparing for the worst. We already knew she wouldn’t be able to be my partner anymore, and that broke my heart. I handed in my retirement paperwork the very next day.
“She saved your life.” She whispers again.
Guilty fills me.
“She’s always saving me and you her. I don’t know what I’d do without either of you.” She kisses me.
“There’s my happy boy. Come to Daddy.” Darius takes Cole from Milly.
“Careful, he hasn’t,” Milly starts to warn her husband, who’s got a smiling baby damn near upside down laughing, but she’s too late.
Cole lets out a massive burb and vomits all over Darius’s face.
“Really, little man?” He grans a dish rag and cleans his face.
“You go clean up.” Milly pushes them both away and sits with us.
“I’ll make this quick. I don’t want to make either of us uncomfortable.” I nod and wait for her to start.
“How much of our story do you know?” She bites her lip and looks at Aspen.
“Only what I’ve seen on the news and overheard her. Basically nothing.” She blows out a long breath.
“Listen, you do not have to rehash your trauma on my account. I do not take anything that happened personally. So please know none of this is necessary.” Aspen kisses my cheek, but Milly shakes her head.
“Thank you. I appreciate that. However, you need to understand why King reacted the way he did.” I hold up my hand and stop her.
