nodding towards the house.
“I’m great with this.” She gave me a skeptical look and I sighed. “If I wasn’t, I would say so. This isn’t the time or place, but I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. I’ll fill you in later. Suffice it to say, I’m good.” I gave her a big smile and she gave me one right back.
Ellie was standing at the door with baby Mac in her arms. I gave her a hug and him a kiss on his tiny forehead. She smiled and steered me to the backyard where Max was working on the grill. Max greeted me with a handshake and we talked about a truck I had been thinking about buying and the garage for a bit, before Piper and Ellie came out and announced they had made us lunch. Max and I had come a long way over the past year. I wouldn’t call us friends, but we were heading in that direction.
During lunch we discussed everything except the kidnapping. Max was the polar opposite of Gage on that matter. While Gage wanted to dwell, Max wanted to forget. Neither of them seemed to be handling it well, but who was I to judge? Once lunch was over, Max took Mac upstairs for a nap. That’s when Ellie took the opportunity to express her concerns about Max.
“He’s distant with me, but not with Mac, Thank goodness.”
“Gage is suffocating me,” Piper admitted, in a matter-of-fact tone.
These two beautiful women had been through hell and back, but were somehow standing strong. Their men, however, were a different story. The only thing I could do, was try and give them perspective.
“Guys don’t do well with this kind of shit.” They both stared expectantly at me, so I continued. “Gage is guilty, Pi. He thinks you getting kidnapped and shot is his fault because he brought Dooley into your life. He’s afraid if he leaves you alone for any length of time, something bad will happen. This is why he will barely let you out of his sight. Give him time.”
Her eyes welled and she placed her hand protectively over her heart. “He told you this?”
Damn, I hate when she cries . I reached over and wiped a tear before it spilled over. “He didn’t have to, sweetheart. I just know.” Glancing over at Ellie, I said, “Give Max time as well. He’s scared shitless because he just watched you prematurely deliver his son. He had no time to mentally prepare for this. I’ve heard guys talk about this shit so many times it isn’t funny. The one thing they all agree on, is how hard it is to erase the image of the woman you love squeezing your kid out from the place your mouth and dick have been.”
They both stared open-mouthed and wide-eyed at me for a second, and then burst into hysterical laughter.
“What are you two laughing at?” Max asked from the top of the stairs.
“Nothing,” Ellie managed to say between snorts and giggles. “Dillon just spat out some psycho-babble that made a heck of a lot of sense.” Piper snorted, which set them both off again. Max shot me a what-the-fuck-look and I shrugged.
An hour later, I dropped Piper at the garage and headed back to the apartment. On the way there, I drove past the townhouses in South Charlotte where Cas lived. He had been talking about how great his place was for months now. It wasn’t until recently I bothered to listen. It looked like two were still for sale. I stopped long enough to punch the number of the realtor in my phone and then headed home.
Two hours later, I was back at Dragonfly to make sure everything was ready to go for Reyn. I didn’t blame her for wanting to go back to Virginia to live with her parents. Reyn was lucky to have someone there to help her get through this tough time. When my parents died, I had my brother and my aunt. When my aunt passed away my brother, Adam was in Afghanistan and I had no one. Shaking off the nostalgia, I found Polly and Lena in the back and asked them to help me prep the bar.
An hour and a half later, the place was filled with friends and family. Bee-boppy music blared from the speakers and Kurt
“I’m great with this.” She gave me a skeptical look and I sighed. “If I wasn’t, I would say so. This isn’t the time or place, but I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. I’ll fill you in later. Suffice it to say, I’m good.” I gave her a big smile and she gave me one right back.
Ellie was standing at the door with baby Mac in her arms. I gave her a hug and him a kiss on his tiny forehead. She smiled and steered me to the backyard where Max was working on the grill. Max greeted me with a handshake and we talked about a truck I had been thinking about buying and the garage for a bit, before Piper and Ellie came out and announced they had made us lunch. Max and I had come a long way over the past year. I wouldn’t call us friends, but we were heading in that direction.
During lunch we discussed everything except the kidnapping. Max was the polar opposite of Gage on that matter. While Gage wanted to dwell, Max wanted to forget. Neither of them seemed to be handling it well, but who was I to judge? Once lunch was over, Max took Mac upstairs for a nap. That’s when Ellie took the opportunity to express her concerns about Max.
“He’s distant with me, but not with Mac, Thank goodness.”
“Gage is suffocating me,” Piper admitted, in a matter-of-fact tone.
These two beautiful women had been through hell and back, but were somehow standing strong. Their men, however, were a different story. The only thing I could do, was try and give them perspective.
“Guys don’t do well with this kind of shit.” They both stared expectantly at me, so I continued. “Gage is guilty, Pi. He thinks you getting kidnapped and shot is his fault because he brought Dooley into your life. He’s afraid if he leaves you alone for any length of time, something bad will happen. This is why he will barely let you out of his sight. Give him time.”
Her eyes welled and she placed her hand protectively over her heart. “He told you this?”
Damn, I hate when she cries . I reached over and wiped a tear before it spilled over. “He didn’t have to, sweetheart. I just know.” Glancing over at Ellie, I said, “Give Max time as well. He’s scared shitless because he just watched you prematurely deliver his son. He had no time to mentally prepare for this. I’ve heard guys talk about this shit so many times it isn’t funny. The one thing they all agree on, is how hard it is to erase the image of the woman you love squeezing your kid out from the place your mouth and dick have been.”
They both stared open-mouthed and wide-eyed at me for a second, and then burst into hysterical laughter.
“What are you two laughing at?” Max asked from the top of the stairs.
“Nothing,” Ellie managed to say between snorts and giggles. “Dillon just spat out some psycho-babble that made a heck of a lot of sense.” Piper snorted, which set them both off again. Max shot me a what-the-fuck-look and I shrugged.
An hour later, I dropped Piper at the garage and headed back to the apartment. On the way there, I drove past the townhouses in South Charlotte where Cas lived. He had been talking about how great his place was for months now. It wasn’t until recently I bothered to listen. It looked like two were still for sale. I stopped long enough to punch the number of the realtor in my phone and then headed home.
Two hours later, I was back at Dragonfly to make sure everything was ready to go for Reyn. I didn’t blame her for wanting to go back to Virginia to live with her parents. Reyn was lucky to have someone there to help her get through this tough time. When my parents died, I had my brother and my aunt. When my aunt passed away my brother, Adam was in Afghanistan and I had no one. Shaking off the nostalgia, I found Polly and Lena in the back and asked them to help me prep the bar.
An hour and a half later, the place was filled with friends and family. Bee-boppy music blared from the speakers and Kurt
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