68. Chapter Sixty-Eight
Chapter sixty-eight
Adair
After dinner, Avery walked into the living room where I sat with Peter, Lianne, and Lynette. “The otters are ready.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “I love that nickname so much.” I turned to Peter. “You going to have fun with the guys?”
“Always do.” He looked up at Avery. “How did you get an invite to the meeting, anyway?”
A smug smirk appeared on her face. “I’m there to guard the door, obviously.”
“From who?”
Avery rolled her eyes. “First, it’s from whom. Second, I’m there to keep your cohorts from eavesdropping or being nuisances. Apparently, I'm the scary one no one wants to piss off.”
Peter held up his hands in defeat. “I never want to piss off anyone here. And with that, I'm off to the basement. Have a good meeting, ladies. Lynette, Lianne, enjoy the relative peace and quiet.”
Avery led me upstairs and to the guest room that had been converted into an office. “I’ll be out here if you need anything.”
I walked in and was a little surprised to see Poppy and Sunny were also in the room. “Oh, we called in the entire otter council?”
Jess snickered. “Trust me. We want them here, if for no other reason than to know where and when to run interference with Gage.”
My eyes went wide. “Would he try to stop us from having fun?”
Ben shook his head. “No. He’s gone head-to-head with Lianne and Lynette enough times to know that going against us would get his ass handed to him. We need and want these ladies on our side in case he’s extra the day of the party.”
Sunny nodded, grinning mischievously. “I am willing and more than happy to distract him by any means necessary.”
Poppy looked like she was going to be sick but then nodded. “Just don’t tell me the details.”
Sunny chuckled as her eyes twinkled with mischief. “I’ll do my best to keep the scandalizing to a minimum.”
Once we all settled in, discussions began. Quinn and Ben led off with how desperately the twins needed something fun and lighthearted for their birthday.
“It’s been a long fucking year.”
Ben nodded. “It hasn’t been a cakewalk for anyone, but yeah.”
There were nods around the room from everyone else present.
Looks like I’m not the only one in need of something fun.
“So how chaotic is this going to get? I know from earlier we don’t want a formal celebration.”
Poppy snickered. “No way. Especially after what happened during the last birthday dinner.”
Ben let out a groan as he shook his head. “Let’s not repeat that, please and thank you.”
My eyes went wide. “Wait. Did I hear about this earlier?”
Ben shook his head. “No.”
Poppy glanced at him, and when he nodded, she sighed and looked at me.
“Long story, short? A few weeks ago, we had dinner here for my birthday. We thought having my parents here would make things better, force them to behave nicely and all that. They ended up getting kicked out and escorted from the property, almost at gunpoint.”
“Li had a hard time calming down after that one. I’d rather her birthday have a much happier ending.”
I nodded. “Okay. So, I have an idea that’s a little out of the box, but if you hear me out, you all might like it.”
Sunny sat up and rubbed her hands together in excitement. “Some of the very best things I’ve ever heard or have been a part of started with ‘hear me out.’ I’m already here for this.”
After clocking the excited and intrigued expressions on everyone else’s faces, I dove into a modified retelling of Peter’s Christmas tradition of foam dart shooting toy guns. “I’m torn between thinking it’s too close to their everyday grind and just ridiculous enough that it will make them smile.”
“I freaking love it.” Jess grinned. “I was going to suggest going paintballing, but this can be done here, making it easier for everyone to participate without having to have a third of the team protecting a building.”
Quinn nodded. “And they are so damn competitive. This is perfect.”
Ben leaned forward. “How are we determining a ‘winner,’ exactly?”
I shrugged. “Last person standing? It will have to be on the honor system.”
Ellen grinned. “We need a hell of a prize to keep them in line. Ben, do you think Lynette could help us out there?”
A devious smile appeared on his face. “Absolutely.”
I was absolutely delighted they loved my idea. “What else are we going to do for their birthday? And how are we going to make sure we have enough toy guns and foam ammo for everyone without them finding out?”
“Easy.” Poppy chuckled. “We pull in Avery.” She walked to the office door and opened it. “Quick question, if we needed a place to hide things for Lianne and Lukas’s birthday, can we use your interrogation room?”
Avery grinned and then she looked at me. “What needs to be kept hidden?”
“About a dozen or so toy guns and too much foam ammunition.”
Her eyes lit up at my words. “Abso-fucking-lutely. No one goes in there, and I know how to keep things hidden from view even if someone steps into the other room.” Avery pressed her lips together for a moment.
“Quick thought, since I overheard some of the plans already. What if we have Lianne and Lukas open their toy guns as their last presents, hide the rest around the house for everyone else who wants to participate to find, and then task everyone who wants to be involved to find them? First person or team to do it gets whatever lucrative prize Lynette comes up with?”
Ben grinned and nodded. “Perfect. Then it can be everyone for themselves or teams. Their choice.”
Ellen leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. “And the rest of the party?”
Quinn sat up. “High school pizza party.”
“With a sleepover and everything?”
I furrowed my brow as I tried to figure out the logistics. “Where would everyone fit if there was a sleepover?”
Jess glanced at Avery. “War room?”
She nodded. “It is the largest and easiest to protect.”
Ben looked at the two women. “Would the otters be allowed down there? What if the room is needed suddenly?”
Quinn let out a breath. “Ben, how about you and I talk to Lynette real quick? Then we can report back to the group and make some final decisions.”
Ten minutes later, they were back, smiles on their faces.
“Lynette is on board. We can have full run of the main floor, public places, the garage, and all around the outside of the house. The conference room is fine, but the offices and safe rooms are off-limits. And if anything gets broken, the offending party will be repairing or replacing it.”
Jess nodded. “That covers the game. What about the prize?”
Ben grinned. “Lynette is going to hide a crown of some kind. Whoever finds it will be king or queen for the day and any ‘internal’ decisions will be made by them. Any Mafia stuff will still default to her and Lianne.”
Now I nodded. “That’s more than fair. And the sleepover?”
Quinn was practically bouncing in excitement. “She has to talk to Gage and Ryan about some of the sensitive tech in there, but it’s a tentative yes at the moment.”