Chapter 26
Support Play: When teammates run alongside the ball carrier, ready to catch a pass or protect.
Translation: The ladies of Fletcher Mountain have my back.
Everly
Everly: My family wants me to invite you to the “baby brunch.”
Wolf: Do they know what we did last night?
Everly: Of course, Wolf, I gave a full TED Talk over morning mimosas and baby cuddles. I even demonstrated some of our positions.
Wolf: Have you still not had your coffee?
Everly: No. And sorry. They’re just trying to be nice, I think.
Wolf: So, what should I say?
Everly: My uncles are like bloodhounds. They’ll take one look at us and know you defiled their niece.
Wolf: So, it’s a no to brunch?
Everly: If you value your life, yes.
Wolf: What a shame, I was going to ask your father for your hand in marriage.
Everly: . . .
Wolf: A joke, Everly.
Everly: Did you forget I haven’t had my coffee?
Wolf: Apologies. Have your coffee and when your family clears out, come over and pay a visit to your son who has been poorly neglected.
Everly: What?
Wolf: It’s a giant red flag if you’re a dead-beat Dragon Mommy.
Everly: OMG. Of course. Be there as soon as I can. Tell Rugby Mommy misses him!!!
Sitting amongst my wholesome family after being thoroughly railed the previous night is a very new thing for me.
Dare I say, an original experience.
While Luke and Addison fuss over Baby Levi on the area rug in the living room right in front of me, I’m sitting here sipping
on a mimosa, recalling in great detail how easily Wolf lifted me last night. Like I weighed nothing. Like my body was made
to fit in his hands, in his lap, against the wall with his mouth on mine.
I know this is a bad time to recall all those details, but it’s hard not to think about it all when every time I shift on
the sofa, there’s a sharp ache that pulses between my legs.
God, I can’t believe I’m sore from sex.
There is physical evidence of how he stretched me while whispering my name like it was both a prayer and a curse.
And God help me, it wasn’t just the sex. It was how he looked at me after, his big brown eyes soft and sated as we both drifted off to sleep, totally unaware of what this whole thing is between us.
Man, it felt good to just not think for once. To not map out a plan of action or follow a tedious list. To just do something
because I wanted to.
“You got laid,” Dakota whispers quietly, ripping me out of my inner musings.
I gasp and turn to look at her. “Why would you say that?” I ask as she sits down beside me on the sofa with her own mimosa.
“You are literally smiling while Luke and Addison are wiping shit off their baby’s back. The only thing that could make someone
smile through something like that is a night of sweet, slow, passionate lovemaking.”
Addison looks up from Levi and smirks knowingly at me. Does she know as well? My cheeks heat as I snap my gaze to Trista,
who’s helping Cozy in the kitchen, and I swear she’s got a strange look in her eyes when she glances at me too. What is happening right now?
Thankfully, my dad, Ethan, Wyatt, and Calder are all playing Mario Kart like they have money on the game, so they seem oblivious. My grandma is hand-stitching something on Baby Levi’s quilt she
made him, so it doesn’t look like I have to worry about her.
And Luke seems very stressed about the diaper explosion, so fingers crossed he’s none the wiser.
But the ladies of Fletcher Mountain?
They must be freaky little mind readers!
I lift my hand to cover my mouth. “Is it really that obvious?”
“Don’t worry, Mastermind,” Dakota says primly while crossing her legs. “I’m your aunt now, so your secret is safe with me,
but you need to wipe that smirk off your face if you don’t want your uncles to sus you out.”
I scrub my hand over my face, fighting back all my indecent thoughts. Stop thinking about sex. Stop thinking about Wolf. Stop thinking about his big hands.
Also, stop making it into such a big thing in your head, Everly.
It was just good sex. People have good sex all the time. It doesn’t mean anything.
This thing with Wolf is casual. No big deal. Wolf is going back to Ireland at some point. He has a whole huge career in rugby
to focus on. He was worried about me being a distraction, so I can’t get all girlie and clingy and obsessed and totally freak
him out. This is just a summer job up here on Fletcher Mountain.
We’re just scratching an itch.
Nothing more.
But damn, did he scratch that itch good.
Ugh, I’m smiling again.
“Everly! How did yesterday with Wolf’s rugby team go?” Trista asks, tearing my focus from my frantic thoughts to my family
all around me.
“Oh . . . amazing! I have more sign-ups than I know what to do with,” I peal, maybe a touch overly enthusiastic.
“Oh, awesome.” Trista looks relieved.
“So does that mean we’re off the hook?” Calder asks with a pleading look.
“Yes, Uncle Calder,” I answer with a reassuring smile. “You and Wyatt and Luke will no longer be auctioned off to the highest
bidders.”
“Excuse me?” Luke asks, his head popping up as he holds a newly swaddled Levi against his chest.
“Don’t worry about it.” I wave Luke off.
He cuts me a dubious look. “Always scheming, aren’t you, Evs.”
“Why does Wolf never say yes to our dinner invites?” Wyatt asks, changing the subject, almost as if he knows the rugby player is on my mind constantly. “He said no to brunch today. He says no every time we invite him up to our cabin. What’s his deal?”
I cut a knowing look to Dakota. “Why are you asking me?”
“Don’t you see him a lot?” Wyatt’s brows furrow.
“Yeah, but we’re not like close or anything,” I chirp loudly and stand, feeling my cheeks flush as I walk into the kitchen
to help Cozy.
I try to make myself busy and can’t help but notice the peculiar look on Addison’s face as she strides over to wash her hands
in the sink next to me.
“Me thinks thou doth protest too much,” she sings under her breath to me as she shoots me a conspiratorial look. “You’re being
a little defensive, and I’m just trying to warn a girl. It’s not like I saw a guy jumping out of your bedroom window this
morning or anything.”
“Oh my God.” My entire body shivers with anxiety.
“Relax, I won’t say a word.” She smiles knowingly. “I got your back, girl.”
She winks at me and walks back into the living room like she didn’t just show me the sweetest gesture of sisterhood ever.
My eyes move from Addison to Dakota to Trista. All three of these Fletcher Mountain ladies apparently have my back. And it
makes me damn near burst into tears when I realize how perfect a choice I made for my uncles.
Damn, I love my family.