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“Damn right, I do,” she muttered, a hint of a smirk lighting her hazel eyes.“Since you’re here andcomfortablerather than hung out to dry by Mom, I’m sure there’s a reason.But I want the whole story.In detail.Got it?”
“Yes, ma’am—but not until I talk to Kellen first.”
She huffed, lips pursed, and moved farther into the house to get her young brood straightened out.
Kellen’s sister-in-law came in next with her three kids, but her husband Jacob pulled up short at seeing me along with everyone gathered to greet the last family to arrive.
His dark eyebrows dipped inward, and he gave me an assessing look.“I must have missed something between my call with Kellen an hour ago and now,” he said once all the kids ran off to the playroom attached to the garage.
I held out my hand.“James Jenner.”
“Yeah, I figured that.Kellen doesn’t know you’re here.”He eyed my hand rather than taking it, his voice gruff.“Whatare you doing here?”
Arm falling to my side, I glanced around at the eight adults and two teenaged boys still in the vicinity staring at me with a million questions in their eyes.More than one appeared a little perturbed by my presence.Fucking hell, it sucked being the one on the other end of an interrogation—even if it hadn’t really started yet.
My gaze flicked between Kellen’s three siblings, nerves twisting my stomach even while jealousy rose to tighten my throat.“He’s lucky as hell to have you all watching out for him, but let me talk to him before the guns start getting pulled out, okay?Give me a chance to explain myself to him before filling me with lead.”
No one spoke, but it was Jacob’s gaze I held as he continued to deliberate in his head over my presence and suggestions.
“You hurt him...”He finally spoke, his voice trailing off.
Jesus Christ.
I choked on a laugh.The Roberts were a bunch of bloodthirsty hillbillies.And I fucking adored them.Still grinning, I shook my head.“Please don’t make me tell you the words Kellen needs to hear first.”
Smiles lit up around the room, chatter breaking into the tenseness as though I hadn’t had my life threatened twice within a matter of minutes.
Jacob shoved out his hand, and I shook it firmly.“He has more power to hurt me than I could ever do to him,” I shared what I could.
Nodding, Jacob clasped my shoulder.“Want a beer?”
Fuck yeah, I did.
Two hours later, it was as though I’d been a part of the Roberts family for decades.The siblings included me in their ribbing, especially focusing on the fact I’d been allowed in Mom’s domain, something even their dad wasn’t.Two of the grandkids sat on my feet, demanding I walk around and give them a lift.Even Suzi decided I was all right after learning I’d unwillingly stuffed the turkey, gagging over the process for their family.
“You’re ten times the man that asshole ex of Kellen’s had been,” she said with a snort.Lifting her shirt like she wasn’t in the middle of a packed living room, she set on nursing her youngest son.
I quickly looked away, never having witnessed such…freedom in a family before.
“Kellen said he had a nice little run-in with Xavier earlier today, but I’ll let him tell the story.”
“Tease!”Suzi lobbed a spit cloth at Jacob’s face while cradling the baby with her other arm.
Jacob laughed and avoided the missile.
Kellen had spoken with Xavier.
I swallowed hard, the chatter in the room growing dim in my ears.He’d told me how his ex had ghosted him after breaking his heart, and while I didn’t fear Xavier ever gaining Kellen’s forgiveness or a second chance at love, I wondered over Kellen’s emotional state.
Would the reminder of the hurt he’d experienced make him even more closed off to what I planned to beg him for?
The hope I’d been clinging to since the day before grew thin.
I glanced around the room, taking in the laughter, the acceptance and love that lay thick as a warm, snuggly blanket in wintertime.
Fuck, did I long for what Kellen had.Even more so, I wantedhim.
But would he allow himself to be vulnerable yet again?
