Chapter 20
“Don’t just stand there! Get them,” Liz screamed as electricity began to dance along her fingertips.
The panicked note in her voice caused me to turn my head. The first thing I noticed was Ves gently being lowered to the ground. The second thing I perceived was the wall of fire now engulfing a majority of the hunters.
The sight of it made my jaw drop. It hovered over the ground, as thin as a sheet of glass and nearly as tall as the rafters. As I watched, one of them reached a tentative finger toward it.
“Shit! It’s real,” a masculine voice yelped.
“ Mon trésor ,” Lincoln called.
The sound of my connection's voice broke me from my trance, and I smiled in relief. Lincoln, Troy, and Drake were here. I gave Troy an amazed and impressed look before realizing they couldn’t see me.
I quickly looked around and realized the hunter that was a healer was preoccupied with helping the shapeshifter. He looked at the others with interest but made no move toward Lincoln. Goddard was also trapped in a forcefield, but he wasn’t making an effort to break out. Instead, he had his hands on his hips, looking both disgruntled and resigned.
“Here!" I smiled, making myself reappear.
“She was right there!” Liz furiously shrieked.
The petty part of me couldn’t resist turning toward her, a mocking pout on my lips as I pretended to wipe away tears. A few of them chuckled, and I couldn’t help but take a bow.
“Why didn’t you just compel them to let you out of here?” Jax asked.
Behind him, the rest of my guys arrived, and I couldn’t help but skip over to them. I was glad that we were reunited and ready to complete the rest of this course. Lincoln was the first to reach out for me and pull me into his warm embrace. He kissed my temple, and I melted into him.
“Are you having a problem with your gifts?” Noah asked in concern before kneeling beside Ves.
I shook my head ruefully before answering. “Yeah, so, pregnancy brain is a thing, and I think I experienced a lapse in judgment.”
Most of the guys chuckled while Jaxson tilted his head to the side and raised a brow. “Pregnancy brain?”
Jace smiled and shook his head. “We’ll explain on the way to our safe zone.”
“Yes,” I fervently agreed. “Let’s get out of here, but first…”
I smiled wickedly and looked at the hunters. “Him, him, and him.” I pointed toward Goddard, Hurts, and the healer hunter. “Aren’t to be punished. The rest of you,” I looked at the others and made my intentions clear behind each command, “should start cleaning this barn. There are cleaning supplies over here, and some of the stalls should be mucked out and cleaned. The windows should be washed as well.”
I stepped to the side, showing them the pallet of disinfectants, brooms, and other cleaning supplies. I swung my hands with a flourish, doing my best Vanna White impression. Too bad for them, I wasn’t giving away a new car or vacation. Instead, I was gifting them the opportunity to make this place look and smell better. I knew not all of them deserved the punishment, but their unwillingness to stand up against the main offenders made it seem justifiable to me.
Once they began cleaning, I temporarily subdued Goddard and Hurts while Noah helped the other healer take care of the wounded hunted. The other healer was clearly dissatisfied with his teammates and appreciated his help, not even attempting to subdue us in any way.
Within minutes, we headed out of the barn and to our safe zone.
η
“Okay,” Jace said once we were a safe distance away from the barn. We were in a secluded area where it should be safe to talk. “Everyone should pull out the papers we received.”
I had nearly forgotten about that. I retrieved it as the others pulled theirs out. Once all the pieces were handed off, Drake, Jace, Lincoln, and Troy put their heads together, attempting to piece together the clues. I decided to hang back, so they didn’t feel so crowded.
“How ya feeling, baby girl?” Remy asked, handing me a bottle of water and sliding behind me to embrace my belly.
I smiled my thanks, leaned into him, and took a drink of water.“Great.”
He dropped a kiss on the top of my head and lovingly stroked my belly. I felt the fluttering of the babies. They seemed to be moving a lot more as each day passed. I knew they couldn’t hear or feel outside noises or touches, but I was starting to believe otherwise. Maybe, since my children were strongly gifted, they were progressing faster than non-babies could. The way they reacted to the men’s voices and touch was way too frequent to be considered coincidental.
“I can’t wait until you guys can feel them. One of them seems eager to reach out to you.”
I wished I had a camera to capture the smile he had on his lips. He seemed so pleased that the babies were reacting to more than just Troy. Other than Jaxson, the others didn’t seem to care whose babies I was carrying, but I knew they all equally wanted to be seen as their dads.
“Let us know if you get tired,” Noah insisted, kissing my cheek.
I nodded in agreement. “Will do.”
I didn’t mind that they were “hovering.” I was just thankful they hadn’t pushed back on my involvement today. They hadn’t tried to convince me to tap out either, even after Drake witnessed how underhanded some of the hunters had been behaving.
“So, we need to get here.” Drake pointed out the area they had painted blue on his master map.
Remy maneuvered us closer to the map, and I peered down at it. The fairground was a lot larger than I first anticipated. I inwardly cursed once I realized how far we were from our safe zone. If it was a matter of getting there, it wouldn’t be an issue, but we also had to look out for the hunters. This wasn’t going to be easy.
“They didn’t want to make it easy on us in the least,” Troy griped.
Lincoln hummed in agreement. “They definitely made our safe zone the furthest.”
“Okay, let’s get going and hope we don’t run into too many hunters,” Jace stated.
Jace, Remy, and Lincoln took off toward the stadium where concerts and other venues were held while I followed behind. It felt so good to stretch my legs and feel the wind against my face. The guys had finally allowed me to start working out again. I began jogging on the treadmill and the indoor track, but running outdoors was one of my favorite forms of exercise, second only to sparring. Since sparring was out of the question, this would have to do.
“You guys might want to slow it down a smidge,” Noah admonished as he fell into step beside me.
The other three turned and gave me a guilty look. I rolled my eyes at Noah before shaking my head and smiling. It was awkward, but I could still jog at a reasonable pace.
“I’m okay,” I reassured them. “Seriously, didn’t you hear Dr. Branch? She said I could do a gentle jog just as long as I listened to my body. My body is telling me I’m fine.”
Despite my protest, Lincoln, Remy, and Jace slowed down. I shook my head again. It was like talking to a brick wall. There was no way it was comfortable for them to reduce their strides to accommodate my condition and short legs.
When we reached the perimeter of the amphitheater, I realized the guys were staying close to a brick wall roughly twelve feet tall. There was a small break in the wall where a chain link fence roughly eight feet wide and ten feet tall separated an expanse of the barrier. The fence was covered with a privacy screen, but I could vaguely make out the outline of the stadium seating and a large stage. The arena reminded me of the last time I had been to a state fair.
I had taken Ella, and we could barely see the act that had been singing on the stage, but their music had carried over the walls. I remembered wishing I could experience a real concert one day. My love of music had always drawn me to live performers.I longed to experience the music with the full effect minus any walls or barriers. I wanted to see the energy they exuded on stage while performing.
What had these grounds been like when they were bustling with crowds? I presumed this land was once visited by thousands, if not millions, of people. I was sure some people were raised in these very fairgrounds and eventually brought their own families there. It was kind of sad to think that expanding and diverting a major highway had affected them so greatly.
With my imagination running wild, thinking of the ghosts of the past, I realized how silent it was. If I listened closely, I could imagine the echo of voices and what sounded like metal hitting metal. The sound was coming from a distant flagpole. The flag was long gone, but the metal clip that would have attached to it was swaying with the breeze and banging against the pole. My nerves were on edge as I anticipated a group of people making a drop on us. I had to tell myself to stop jumping at everything, real or imagined.
Just when I began to overcome my anxiety, I nearly collided with Lincoln’s back when they came to an abrupt stop. I was thrown off balance and nearly fell, but two strong arms embraced me from behind and hauled me against their body. I looked up and smiled at Troy. He gave me an exasperated but fond smile before kissing the spot between my neck and shoulder. I couldn’t help the shudder that ran through my body at his touch, and he gave me a smug, knowing smirk.
I barely had time to wonder why they had stopped so abruptly before I heard the tell-tale sounds of feet pounding against aluminum bleachers. We were mere feet away from the entrance to the stadium, but in less than ten seconds, we would be coming face to face with a group of hunted or hunters.
“I’ll make sure they don’t see us,” I volunteered.
“No need, save your energy,” Jaxson cockily stated.
He exchanged a look with Drake, who nodded at him before a forcefield was erected around us. I raised my brow at Jaxson in confusion. He merely smirked at me, and I turned to the others, hoping they could clue me in.
I felt myself stumbling back and was thankful Troy was still holding me because it felt like my eyes were playing tricks on me. What my mind knew and what my eyes were actually seeing disoriented me. One second, I was looking at the guys, and the next, they were part of the wall. I tilted my head to the side and frowned.
“Remember how we told you we had been practicing combining our gifts for maximum effectiveness?” Jace inquired, giving me a gentle kiss.
When understanding dawned, my eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. Drake had a forcefield around us, and Jaxson had used his gift of illusion to make us blend in with our surroundings. Another thought occurred to me as I realized that Jace had spoken aloud.
“They can’t hear us?” I asked, impressed.
“Not even if we screamed.” Drake gave me a rare look of pride.
“Impressive,” I praised before disentangling myself from Troy’s arms.
I reached up to grasp Drake by his face and brushed my lips against his. I felt his smile against mine and couldn’t help but smile larger. My eyes widened once more when he brought me in closer and deepened our kiss. His tongue tangled with mine, and I couldn’t help but moan as my libido rose. I reached up to weave my fingers through his hair, noticing how it had grown out since the last time I had run my fingers through it.
“He’s not the only brilliant one to discover this new trick.” Jaxson pouted, effectively killing the mood that had been swiftly rising in me.
A startled laugh left my lips before I turned to give him my best “sympathetic” look.“My poor Jaxxy, you realize in a few short months you’ll have to share me with the babies and my other men.”
Excitement entered his eyes despite his deepening frown.“I’ll never begrudge you sharing affection with my babies growing in you.Them, on the other hand…”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head at him.“Don’t be a Jemmy.”
As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized my error and turned wide eyes on Drake. “I’m sorry,” I said, realizing how insensitive that comment was.
Despite the deep sadness on his face, Drake gave a resolute shake of his head. “It may suck, but it’s true. Pops and many others had always spoken openly about shared connections. Even though Pops and Jemmy couldn’t have known just how important his words would be to us, she should have prepared for that possibility. He kept our eyes open and equipped us with the tools we needed to attempt to make our relationship successful.”
I felt more than saw the men tensing around me.Before I could decipher why, I heard a triumphant voice behind me.
“They should be right here,” Gavin determinedly said.
I inhaled sharply and turned around. Gavin, Sierra, Mercedes, Bentley, Terrance, Dawn, Marcel, and Race were standing a few feet from us.
Jaxson’s mouth curved in a wicked smile.“Son of a bitch.”
Slowly, the wall around us wavered in and out, and I got that wonky feeling again. My mind and my eyes felt like they weren’t working in harmony, and my stomach roiled uncomfortably. I caressed my belly, and it took me a moment to realize Drake was unconsciously mirroring my motions. Then suddenly, we were standing in the barn once more. How had we teleported here? I laughed once I realized Jaxson was creating another illusion.
Gavin momentarily looked confused before he shook his head, smiling.“Nice try, Jaxson.I see your illusion and raise you a—”
We were all confused at the abrupt ending of his words until Remy turned. Unexpectedly, he grabbed Jaxson by the throat and slammed him against the wall. I wasn’t the only one crying out in alarm. For a moment, we were all shocked by his actions, but then Jace, Troy, and Lincoln spurred into action. They grasped Remy’s arms and body, trying to remove him from Jaxson. I reached up to grab Remy’s hand that was firmly affixed around Jaxson’s throat. I thanked God that he wasn’t turning colors, but Remy seemed barely restrained. Jaxson might have gained weight and muscle, but he was no match against Remy. He struggled to breathe and free himself of the larger man’s grip.
With rising alarm, I realized that Jaxson’s gift was slipping. A gleeful look entered Terrance’s gaze when his eyes met mine. Sierra reached out to grasp Gavin at the same time that Remy began to twitch.
“Good thinking, Gav,” he praised.
“Mother sucker!” I cried out once I understood why Remy was attacking Jaxson with zero provocation or explanation. I placed my hand on his shoulders.
“Push him out!” I commanded, then I glared at Gavin. “If you hurt Jax, I’ll make you pay.”
It was slightly disconcerting to see how nonplussed Gavin was. If you weren’t privy to his involvement, you would assume he was merely looking on the scene with slight disinterest. Even as I made eye contact with him, he reached up to run one of his hands through his hair. He looked completely present in his body, yet I knew he wasn’t. He was controlling Remy’s actions, and as if he could read my mind, Remy turned to make eye contact with me.
“Bring it on!” He cockily winked.
I took a deep breath to center myself, prepared to show Gavin who he was messing with. There was no doubt he was a strong and formidable opponent, but he seemed to have forgotten who I was. As I prepared to compel him out, Noah perked up and smiled. Before I could turn, I heard Micah’s voice.
“Or we can bring it,” Micah smugly stated.
We had all been so preoccupied with each other that I hadn’t noticed Micah, Kade, Ben, Ella, Victoria, Tamara, Patrick, Alex, Rachel, and Herman arriving. I’d barely grasped the fact that they weren’t hunters before our hunter friends were all frozen.
I was so surprised by their sudden appearance it hadn’t registered that my brothers and Ella were actually out here participating with us. When had that been decided? I had sat with them at lunch, but none of them showed any signs of excitement. If they’d already known then, they would have been vibrating with it.
Micah, Kade, and Victoria had been participating in more of our real-world missions but were generally teamed up with experienced adults. To my knowledge, this was the first time their team was mainly made up of minors. They had been growing in their gifts, but it still surprised me that they were trusted to team up with only Tamara and Ben having had numerous real-world experiences.
Ben smirked. “Disqualify them.”
“Your wish is my command!” Micah chortled seconds before Gavin disappeared.
Once again, I was startled and stunned. Micah had made Gavin, Sierra, and Mercedes disappear within a matter of seconds. My blink had taken longer than his gift’s ability to make them vanish.
Jaxson gasped, rubbing his throat.“Thanks, Micah. I hope you put them somewhere far, far away.”
“They’re back at base.” Micah grinned before grasping onto Bentley, Terrance, and Marcel. “Well, most of them are. I can’t allow Bentley and Mercedes to make a portal back here.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, knowing they wouldn’t be able to make it back to us by the time the exercise was over. I always knew Gavin was powerful, but now that he also carried Max’s gifts, I was sure we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg. It astounded me that his two non-parents were able to produce a child strong enough to have three connections and now two gifts.
“Gavin’s gonna wish he hadn’t jumped me.” Remy stared down at his hands in horror. “Linc, I think you need to show us how to break free from your gift. Sorry, Jax.”
I didn’t know who was more surprised by the apology, Jaxson or me. Remy wasn’t known for his apologies. He had expressed remorse toward me before, but it was no secret that he couldn’t or rarely felt repentance regarding his actions toward Jaxson. Admittedly, Jaxson liked pushing his buttons, especially as of late, so he had deserved some of the retribution.
“Sierra was boosting him,” I reassured Remy as I lightly brushed my fingertips against Jaxson’s throat.
He let out a low moan of relief, and I smiled at the realization that I had unintentionally healed him. My grin widened further when I concluded that I barely felt the gift leaving me. Either we were getting stronger, or my babies were lending me strength without my knowledge. I made a mental note to ask Pops about the phenomenon.
“No hard feelings, Goliath,” Jaxson jokingly quipped before pulling me into his arms and kissing the top of my head.
Kade smirked.“And we don’t need any thanks.”
“It’s payback,” Ben ruefully added.“Gavin had me thinking I was in a scene from Saw .”
He shuddered and Victoria smiled.“Lucky for him, I heard Race and Dawn laughing about it. It seems they were just as shocked to see us as you guys were.”
“Speaking of that…” Jace raised a brow at them.“Who gave you permission to participate today?”
“No time to talk!” Alex said with an impish smile.“We have three teams of hunters headed our way.”
“And if we don’t leave in the next minute, both our teams will be captured,” Kade stated before grasping Micah’s hand.
“Make that thirty seconds,” Ella said before she took Victoria’s hand.
They all seemed to disappear before we could stop them, but a strong wave of elation and determination hit me. I knew without a doubt the euphoric feelings were from the group of hunters they’d spoken about. Drake and Jaxson concealed us once more just as over thirty hunters poured in around us.
η
“Effin’ fifteenth place,” Gavin grumbled before collapsing onto the armchair in the music room.
I didn’t even try to hide my laugh as I leaned back into Jace. It ended in a yawn, and I closed my eyes, enjoying the warmth of Jace’s chest against my back and Troy’s deft fingers on my feet.
“Serves you right!” Victoria sing-songed before perching on a stool next to Ben and Micah. “Your team was getting pretty cocky. Someone needed to knock you down a peg or two.”
Ben had agreed to help Victoria and Micah with their chord progressions before practice, as he had been doing for some time. I knew it was a way to spend time with Victoria without entering inappropriate territory.He wanted to get to know her but always ensured chaperones were present. To me, it was like an arranged marriage. They knew they were meant to be but knew nothing could or would happen for several years, if at all.
“You could have at least kept a few of my team members in the exercise. Now, we get to hear Mike and Molly’s big mouths for the next month.” Gavin sighed before pulling out his guitar.
Mike and Molly’s team was declared the winners of the hunters even though their whole team wasn’t intact when the “free” hunted returned to their home bases. Admittedly, their team had done an impressive job—which surprised us all—but they were being obnoxious about the win.
Entering the room with a tray of drinks, Kade huffed. “If you had refrained from locking some of us up in our own personal nightmares, maybe we would have taken it easier on you.”
A movement out of the corner of my eye made me look over at where Victoria, Ben, and Micah were. Victoria’s eyes were shooting daggers toward Kade while Micah was trying to softly cajole her. Despite their current messy situation, Micah and Kade were attempting to repair their relationship and make the best of their situation. I even witnessed Micah attempting to talk to a few females from his class.
The same couldn’t be said about Kade and Victoria. There was no denying the girl could hold a grudge like no other. Had the situation been reversed, I probably would’ve been like her, don’t get me wrong, but she was absolutely unwilling to let go of the hurt Kade had inflicted upon her. For Kade’s part, he was trying his damndest to make it up to her, but she refused to budge. For both of their sakes, I hoped they would figure it out sooner than later. They deserved to have a happy future no matter the paths they embarked on.
“I think you’re still confusing Gavin for Max,” Sierra fondly chastised, following close behind him with a few grocery bags.
Kade paused as if he were contemplating his answer, then he shook his head definitively. “Nah. Max definitely would have had a cruel and evil twist to his hallucinations. Your hallucination was more fear inducing. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t still messed up, though.”
“Not messed up enough to not allow my team to continue. We had the most captures before you decided to have us disqualified.” Gavin pouted.
“Aww, poor baby, do you want a tissue?” I ribbed him, shifting in my seat with another yawn.
The day was catching up to me, but I had been looking forward to playing today. Taylor had just finished another song, and I was eager to collaborate with the others and work our magic on it. I generally loved playing, but when we got together like this, it added a layer of exhilaration that I had never felt while writing and playing on my own.
“You know what,” Gavin stated with feigned ire, “I don’t think it’s even fair that you’re allowed to participate! You have eight gifts and seven connections. You’re going to win every time.”
“And you can mimic anyone you want,” Micah scoffed.“Don’t be salty. We’re not.”
My siblings’ team could have easily won first place, but unfortunately, they hadn’t discovered the papers that had been planted on them. They had been winging it and ended up going to the wrong safe zone. By the time they arrived at the right one, we had already arrived at ours.
Rick looked down at his phone for the umpteenth time. “This is getting ridiculous,” he huffed. “I have a paper due tonight, and I need to study for my math test. If Mike isn’t here in five minutes, I say we start without him. Gav, you good to play bass?”
I would love to say that this was the first time Mike was running late, but it had been occurring more and more lately. He was late to nearly every practice, and when he was there, he was constantly on the phone or attempting to distract everyone with his crass antics. He always had a lame excuse if he gave any at all, and his general disregard for our time was starting to annoy me. Unfortunately, since I felt like the new kid on the block, I was biting my tongue.
Kade handed me a covered cup, and I perked up. I was still full from dinner, but when I peered down into the thick pinkish liquid, I thought it was a strawberry milkshake. If it was, I always had room for that.
“I love you!” I gushed.
“He’s just trying to butter you up because he wants to start driver’s training,” Micah said, ratting him out.
“He also got you these.” Sierra smirked as she handed me a bag of hot fries, then she looked at everyone else. “Gavin wanted something sweet, and I didn’t think it was fair to only bring milkshakes for him and not everyone else.”
Rick, Ben, Micah, and Taylor immediately converged on her to see what else they had brought.I shouted my thanks to them, happy that Gavin and Sierra were making it work. They all seemed to have fallen into a great rhythm, including Mercedes.
“Oh man,” I groaned. “I really need to stop eating like this. I’m at a healthy weight, and I don’t want to give in to my cravings unless I have to.”
“You burned a lot of calories today,” Jace reminded me.
“And you ate super healthy at breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” Troy added.
Despite my protest, I opened up the lid on my cup and the bag of hot fries. “Why are you trying to bribe me to take driver’s training?”
“Randy, Greg, Pops, and Aunt Megan said I should ask you. It’s three hundred dollars, but some of the other kids are signing up and their parents are willing to carpool to get us there,” Kade wheedled.
It took me a moment to understand why Pops and Randy were having them come to us. They were still trying to allow my guys and I to have all the major decisions regarding the children we had legally adopted. Greg and Miranda had more than stepped up and helped out in the babysitting department, but they had already made it clear to us that they weren’t going to contest our guardianship and authority in the kids’ lives.
Honestly, I didn’t mind them taking on a more active role with the kids. I might not have exchanged many words with Miranda, but I could see the love she had for them. For the most part, all of them were receptive to her overtures and involvement in their lives.
“Why did they ask you to ask me? Why couldn’t they ask?” I asked next.
Honestly, I had no problem with it. He was responsible for his age, and he’d taken care of his siblings more often than most teenage boys would ever think of doing. In short, he was a good kid.
Kade perched on the coffee table in front of the couch. “I spent most of my fun money this month,” he admitted, “ and registration and payment are due by tomorrow. Pops, Randy, and Greg all offered to pay for it if you’re okay with it, though.”
Troy was the first person to speak up. “I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“He deserves to go without needing to spend his allowance,” Lincoln added. “I’ll pay.”
I looked at them and smiled, glad that we were all on the same page. I knew we wouldn’t always agree on everything, but I was thrilled that we did in most instances. It was a good indication of how we would be while raising our twins. Similar parenting styles and a united front were a bonus in the case of raising children.
“Send us the online application link, and we’ll pay for it,” I told Kade.
“We can help with the carpooling as well,” Jace informed him.
“Really?” Kade excitedly inquired.
“Really,” Troy, Jace, and I said nearly simultaneously.
I laughed when Kade launched himself at me, mindful of his niece and nephew. He hugged me tight, and I hugged him back. Troy and Jace patted his back, showing him their own sign of affection.
“That’s creepy how you all said that in unison. It’s disturbing enough that you guys can silently talk to each other,” Taylor jokingly ribbed before extracting a cup from one of the holders. “Can you do that?” He winked at Ben.
I didn’t fail to notice how Ben, Victoria, and Kade froze and shot each other panicked looks, but before I could voice my suspicions, Mike came breezing into the room. To my great displeasure, he had two of his hangers-on with him, the girls nestled in his sides as they obnoxiously giggled.
We all had friends or family hanging out with us during our jam sessions, but they respected our practices. Mike’s “friends,” on the other hand, always rubbed everyone the wrong way. They were annoyingly loud and threw in their two cents when no one asked for it.
Taylor took a seat behind the keyboard before sarcastically remarking,“So glad you could join us.”
“Didn’t look like I missed much.” Mike cockily smiled.“Looks like it’s snack time in here.”
“It wasn’t snack time the day before yesterday when you showed up nearly an hour late after ignoring our calls,” Rick sniped, sitting behind his drum kit.
Mike snorted. “You act like it really matters, but it’s not like we’re practicing for a gig.No one has room for us.”
It was no secret that Ben was trying to find us gigs, but unlike at home, it was hard to find any. A gig sounded cool, but honestly, all of us, save Mike, seemed to love playing for the sake of playing. We loved the creative process and the ability to make music together.
“Except now you do.” Remy came breezing into the room.“I know it’s late in the game and may be hard to pull off, but the second act at Ashby’s just called out for their gig this Friday. I’ve been talking to the owner, and he’s willing to give you guys a shot.”
“No way!” Ben exclaimed. “They’re booked out for at least a year, and the owner wouldn’t even take down our numbers once he realized our ages.”
Troy puffed up as if he had been the one pulling the strings behind the scene.“It helps to know people.”
“Are you serious?!” Taylor excitedly added.
“Don’t mess with our emotions,” Rick whined.
“I’m not.” Remy smiled. “So, if I were you all, I would practice your favorite music for the next few nights. I’ll let you know all the other pertinent details when Boone, the owner of Ashby’s, sends me his email.”
“Let’s do it!” I whooped before getting up from the couch with a little help.
I couldn’t help but notice how excited Mike seemed before it was replaced with disgruntlement. I didn’t even attempt to hide my eye roll as I brushed past him to take the stool the guys had set up for me. The man loved to be pessimistic and attempted to drag others down to his gloomy levels, but I was excited, and I’d be damned if I allowed Mike to rain on our parade.