Chapter 35
“Next time I host a party there will be a password to gain entrance.” ~ Caleb
Caleb
I scowl as Sophia, Chloe, Nova, and Paisley invade Maya’s house with their partners and children. I start to shut the door after them.
“Hold on!” Lily shouts as she rushes up the porch with her husband, Jack. Weston and Scarlett are right behind them.
“Sorry, we’re late,” Scarlett apologizes. “Getting Weston out of the house on time is a chore.”
Weston smirks. “If you weren’t so sexy, I wouldn’t have to attack you first.”
“Hey, Sis!” Hazel hollers as she runs toward us. She greets Scarlett before smiling at me. “Sorry, I’m late.”
“I didn’t invite you.”
She bursts into laughter. “You’re cute. You think you can keep a party on Smuggler’s Island small. We are smugglers!” She shakes her fist in the air .
Crap. How many people are coming to this party? It’s supposed to be a small, intimate affair.
Maya clasps my hand and leans in close to whisper to me. “Are you okay?”
“Fine.” I try to shut the door again but more people push their way inside.
“I can kick everyone out if you prefer.”
I frown. “This party is supposed to be for you.” She lifts an eyebrow and I quickly correct myself. “For us, I mean.”
“Remember our signal if it gets to be too much.” She tugs on her earlobe three times. “Or we could go hide out in the bedroom.”
“No sneaking out on your own party,” Chloe yells and I nearly jump. I should have better situational awareness but this large group of people has me off my game.
She places a hand on a young girl’s shoulder. “This is my daughter, Natalia.”
“Nice to meet you, Natalia.”
She stares up at me. “Were you really in the Army?”
The past tense of her question nearly has me growling but I swallow it down. No matter how upsetting being discharged is, it’s no excuse to growl at a child. Some day I hope the urge to growl when someone mentions my Army past is gone. But today is not that day.
“I was.”
“Did you kill people?”
“Natalia!” Maya admonishes. “You can’t ask him that. ”
“Why not? How am I supposed to decide if I want to enlist if I don’t know?”
“You are not enlisting in the Army,” Chloe orders.
“Why not? Is being a soldier not good enough?”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Yeah, Chloe. Is being a soldier not good enough for your daughter?”
Chloe squirms. “Lucas! Your daughter is misbehaving.”
I was wrong. This party is fun after all.
Natalia rolls her eyes. “I’m his daughter whenever I do something you don’t approve of.”
“Duh. I only accept credit when I approve.”
“I can’t believe Chloe Summers – the wild child who devised a rappelling system to dive off the cliffs at Mermaid Mystical Gardens – has a child.”
“I’m no longer wild.” She narrows her eyes. “And you’re not supposed to know about the rappelling system.”
Lucas laughs as he joins us. “Chloe no longer wild? Sure. And you no longer phone in prank calls with the police either.”
Chloe rolls her eyes. “Prank calls are childish. You need to fully commit to the prank before you alert the police.”
Lucas snorts. “Like the time you released the parrot mascot from Pirate’s Perch?”
Chloe gasps. “I would never release the mascot of another town on Smuggler’s Rest.”
“What about in high school when—”
She slaps a hand over my mouth. “Shush you. Don’t make me add your name to my list of people who need to be pranked. ”
“And she’s worried about me joining the Army,” Natalia mutters.
Chloe squeezes Natalia’s shoulders and steers her away. “Let’s discuss this in private. Away from the military hero.”
Lucas sighs as he follows them.
I throw an arm around Maya. “Your friends are crazy.”
“They prefer the word unique.”
“Naturally.”
Nova arrives with a screaming Iliana in her arms. “I can’t handle it anymore. Here.” She shoves the baby toward me. “You handle her.”
I retreat a step and hold up my hands. “What? Why?”
She doesn’t give up. She pushes the baby against my chest and I don’t have a choice but to catch her. She’s tiny in my hands. I’m afraid I’m going to drop her. Then again, if I can manage not to drop a live grenade, I can handle this.
Iliana’s mouth shuts and she stops screaming. She blinks up at me with bright blue eyes. They’re gorgeous, but I would prefer a baby with whisky-colored eyes.
“He’s getting baby fever. I told you this would work,” Nova whispers to Maya.
I don’t bother to look away from the baby when I ask, “What work?”
Maya runs her finger down Iliana’s little nose. “Nova wants me to get pregnant so our children can grow up together.”
The idea of Maya pregnant with my baby has my cock perking up. It’s down with this idea. In fact, it’s ready to kick everyone out of the house and begin working on the project immediately.
“How many children do you want?”
She stares at me with her mouth gaping open. “You’re not running away.”
“Why would I run away? I love you. We’re living together. Next step is a baby.”
“I think the next step is supposed to be marriage.” Her eyes widen and she slaps a hand over her mouth. “Forget I said anything.”
I chuckle. “You want to get married? We’ll go down to the courthouse today.”
“What if I want a big wedding with a white dress and twenty bridesmaids?”
I shrug. “Those bridesmaids will be walking down the aisle alone since I refuse to have twenty groomsmen but otherwise, I don’t care. You want a wedding. You can have one.”
Anything Maya wants, I will move mountains to give her. As long as I don’t have to wear a baby blue tux, I’m all in.
“What if I want a romantic proposal?”
“Do you want a romantic proposal?”
Her cheeks darken but she nods.
“Then, I’ll start googling how to perform a romantic proposal.”
She giggles. “Or you could read for inspiration.” She motions toward her reading nook.
I waggle my eyebrows. “I thought we’d use those books for another kind of inspiration. ”
“Enough.” Nova pushes her way in between us. “I’m taking my baby back before the two of you teach her about sex.”
“She’s too young to understand sex,” Lily says as she walks up to us with her husband, Jack, trailing her.
“I’m not chancing it.” Nova steals Iliana from my arms. The baby starts to scream. “Dang it. My little girl is obsessed with men. This does not bode well for my future. Where’s Hudson?” She wanders off.
“You appeared quite comfortable with a baby in your arms,” Lily says once Nova is gone.
“Sweet flower,” Jack grumbles from behind her. “Do not encourage them.”
“Why not? I want more grandchildren.”
He sighs. “I apologize for her.”
I smile. “No need to apologize. My mother is the same.”
“I’m the same what?” Mom says as she enters the house. My sisters and Dad follow her inside.
I tug on the collar of my t-shirt. It’s getting crowded in here. These are my friends and family, I remind myself, but it doesn’t help. I can feel the sweat gathering on my brow.
“Excuse us, Cora.” Maya tags my hand and drags me through the crowd down the hallway to her bedroom.
I vaguely hear catcalls and laughter but they sound far away as if I’m underwater.
Once the door is shut behind us, Maya pushes me onto the bed. She stands between my legs and brushes her fingers through my hair .
“Shall we work on some breathing techniques?” I nod. “Deep breath in.” I try to follow her instructions but I can’t seem to get enough air. I choke and start coughing.
Maya rubs a hand up and down my back until the coughing subsides and I feel as if I can breathe again. “Better? Let’s try again. Inhale a deep breath.” This time I manage to inhale a breath without choking on air. “And let it out.”
We go through the breathing exercises a few more times until my heart stops racing and my palms are no longer sweating.
I wrap my arms around Maya. “It shouldn’t be this way. I know and care for every single person in this house. I shouldn’t be panicking.”
“And I shouldn’t believe in vampires, but I do.”
“I’m trying to be serious.”
She pinches my chin. “Using logic to understand a panic attack will drive you crazy. There’s nothing logical about panic attacks.”
I drop my chin. “I embarrassed myself again.”
She snorts. “Oh please. Everyone thinks we’re in here having sex. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Unless your performance is less than stellar.”
I tickle her ribs. “I’ll show you less than stellar.”
“Please, don’t!”
I smile up at her. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Bring me back and make me laugh. ”
“Silly man. Haven’t you figured it out by now? You and I were meant for each other. If we were shifters – and don’t you dare say shifters don’t exist – we’d be fated mates.”
“I’ve never been happier to have lied about not understanding the Pythagorean theory.”
“Imagine all the things we could have done in the library if I hadn’t needed to tutor you.”
My cock twitches. It’s down with whatever she wants to try. “The library is still around. We could try out some of your high school fantasies now.”
“We might shock some of the local students.”
I smirk. “I bet you know a few hiding spots.”
“I—”
“Enough!” Paisley shouts loud enough for us to hear her.
“Uh oh,” Maya mutters. “Paisley doesn’t shout often but when she does… We better get out there.”
She moves toward the door but stops. “Assuming you’re okay. If not, we’ll stay in here. I bet Natalia will sneak us some food and drink. She appeared enamored by you.”
I stand. “I’m good. Let’s go find out why Paisley’s losing her mind.”
“Are you ready?” She holds out her hand and I grasp it.
“Ready for the rest of my life with you.”
She sighs. “You say the sweetest things.”
“Only for you, Bunny. Only for you.”
I’m not lying. Maya is the only person who I want to be sweet with. Although, once we have children, I’ll be sweet with them, too.
Maybe I did lie.