Read Online A Wild Ride (Thompson & Sons Book 4) by Vivian Arend - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Vivian Arend
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family and ours are mostly settled down. The next stage seems to be kids, and with Katy and Gage working on number two—well, I figured it wouldn’t be long before everyone’s thoughts turned that way. And once there’s something in the water, every woman in the area will get the itch.”
“Yeah.” Mitch offered him a twisted grin. “If there was ever a time for you to practice safe sex, it’s now, little bro.”
“Tell me about it.” Troy managed to remove the broken piece, tossing it aside and going for the next bolt. “Except Janey and Len won’t be jumping on the band wagon.”
Mitch paused. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Never heard her talk about wanting kids.”
“Never heard
you
talk about it either.”
“It was never on my radar until Anna,” Mitch confessed. “I still don’t know how the hell I could possibly be someone’s dad, but if Gage can do it and make it look like fun, maybe it won’t be so bad.”
It was wicked, but being horrible was required in the little-brother handbook. “I can see you now, sitting through parent-teacher interviews. Asking for extra homework for Mitch Junior. Or bailing him out of detention.”
“
Fuck
.” His brother’s eyes narrowed. “You evil bastard. It’s bad enough to think of dealing with babies. I don’t need to imagine teenaged versions of me.”
Troy patted his brother’s shoulder on the way to the workbench. “Don’t worry, we survived taking care of you. I’m sure you can figure it out as you go along.”
“Ass,” Mitch muttered softly.
Troy grinned, then considered. “I don’t think you need to worry about Anna. They have a bunch of rules regarding what active RCMP need to be able to do on patrol. Plus, she’s not going to put a baby in danger.”
“Yeah, I suppose.” Mitch gave him a searching look. “I don’t know why I told you this in the first place.”
“Because you tell me everything, eventually.” Troy put on his most endearing smile. “Everyone does.”
“Yeah, bullshit on that.” His brother tossed him the part they needed, then motioned to get back to work.
It’s funny how even with the truth trotted right out in front of them, his brothers didn’t seem to notice. Mitch
did
tell him everything. Clay and Len as well. Sometimes it took a bunch of prodding, but over the years Troy had learned to read his family well.
He didn’t need to start a conversation with Clay to know him and Maggie were probably also heading down the kid route. He didn’t need to ask to know Janey’s parents were giving them grief about living together. Or that Janey didn’t give a damn about making things official between her and Len, or that Len only cared about making Janey happy. If that meant getting married, Len would have had her in front of the justice of the peace within a week.
Hell, he even knew things like Katy wasn’t nearly as sick this go-round, but instead of being happy about it, she was worried that something was wrong with the baby. At least until he’d casually dropped in and let her talk to him about it until she’d decided maybe she was having a girl this time around and the hormone thing was the difference.
Troy knew his family. He knew how to make them happy, and how to ease their fears. That ache inside was still there, though. The one he got every time he thought about Nicole.
Goddammit, he missed her.
Yeah, he knew his family, but it seemed he didn’t know how to make
himself
happy.
Chapter Six
Things ramped up to high speed for the summer, and Troy was working his ass off. Falling into bed at the end of every day was the only thing keeping him from turning his damn truck around and ending up in Nicole’s driveway.
He’d just finished three different backbreaking jobs in the shop before getting called to go haul some trucks out of a mud bog. The teenage drivers hadn’t quite figured out that the concept of mud bogging was to
avoid
getting stuck. Or if you did, get your own ass out of
“Yeah.” Mitch offered him a twisted grin. “If there was ever a time for you to practice safe sex, it’s now, little bro.”
“Tell me about it.” Troy managed to remove the broken piece, tossing it aside and going for the next bolt. “Except Janey and Len won’t be jumping on the band wagon.”
Mitch paused. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Never heard her talk about wanting kids.”
“Never heard
you
talk about it either.”
“It was never on my radar until Anna,” Mitch confessed. “I still don’t know how the hell I could possibly be someone’s dad, but if Gage can do it and make it look like fun, maybe it won’t be so bad.”
It was wicked, but being horrible was required in the little-brother handbook. “I can see you now, sitting through parent-teacher interviews. Asking for extra homework for Mitch Junior. Or bailing him out of detention.”
“
Fuck
.” His brother’s eyes narrowed. “You evil bastard. It’s bad enough to think of dealing with babies. I don’t need to imagine teenaged versions of me.”
Troy patted his brother’s shoulder on the way to the workbench. “Don’t worry, we survived taking care of you. I’m sure you can figure it out as you go along.”
“Ass,” Mitch muttered softly.
Troy grinned, then considered. “I don’t think you need to worry about Anna. They have a bunch of rules regarding what active RCMP need to be able to do on patrol. Plus, she’s not going to put a baby in danger.”
“Yeah, I suppose.” Mitch gave him a searching look. “I don’t know why I told you this in the first place.”
“Because you tell me everything, eventually.” Troy put on his most endearing smile. “Everyone does.”
“Yeah, bullshit on that.” His brother tossed him the part they needed, then motioned to get back to work.
It’s funny how even with the truth trotted right out in front of them, his brothers didn’t seem to notice. Mitch
did
tell him everything. Clay and Len as well. Sometimes it took a bunch of prodding, but over the years Troy had learned to read his family well.
He didn’t need to start a conversation with Clay to know him and Maggie were probably also heading down the kid route. He didn’t need to ask to know Janey’s parents were giving them grief about living together. Or that Janey didn’t give a damn about making things official between her and Len, or that Len only cared about making Janey happy. If that meant getting married, Len would have had her in front of the justice of the peace within a week.
Hell, he even knew things like Katy wasn’t nearly as sick this go-round, but instead of being happy about it, she was worried that something was wrong with the baby. At least until he’d casually dropped in and let her talk to him about it until she’d decided maybe she was having a girl this time around and the hormone thing was the difference.
Troy knew his family. He knew how to make them happy, and how to ease their fears. That ache inside was still there, though. The one he got every time he thought about Nicole.
Goddammit, he missed her.
Yeah, he knew his family, but it seemed he didn’t know how to make
himself
happy.
Chapter Six
Things ramped up to high speed for the summer, and Troy was working his ass off. Falling into bed at the end of every day was the only thing keeping him from turning his damn truck around and ending up in Nicole’s driveway.
He’d just finished three different backbreaking jobs in the shop before getting called to go haul some trucks out of a mud bog. The teenage drivers hadn’t quite figured out that the concept of mud bogging was to
avoid
getting stuck. Or if you did, get your own ass out of
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