Chapter 12
“I think I should get some sort of kickback on that bet you guys all made on me and Lucky,” Devyn told the others a week later when they were all hanging out at Grover’s house.
He’d lured them over with the promise of margaritas for the non-pregnant ladies, and virgin drinks for those who were knocked up, and for Logan and Bria.
While the ladies sat and talked on the porch, the guys—with the kids tailing along—were doing their best to build a new barn.
It would end up being much smaller than the one that had been torn down, but they were loving the challenge.
“I knew it!” Aspen crowed in delight. “Was it awesome?”
Devyn sighed. “So awesome,” she agreed.
“So…I have a confession,” Aspen said.
“What?”
“I lied. There was no bet. That would be rude as hell. But I wanted to give you some incentive to get on that already.”
“You’re evil,” Devyn said with a laugh.
“But if you want to thank me after I give birth to this bowling ball I’m carrying around, I’m happy to have you buy me a drink or two.”
“Deal,” Devyn told her.
“I can’t believe you fell for that whole ‘we made a bet thing,’” Gillian said with a laugh.
“Shut up,” Devyn grumbled as she threw a balled-up napkin at the other woman.
Everyone laughed.
“But seriously, we’re happy for you,” Kinley said with a smile. “You guys have been eyeballin’ each other for months, it’s nice to see you actually do something about it.”
“Are you dating or just seeing each other?” Riley asked.
“What’s the difference?” Devyn asked, scrunching her nose in confusion.
“Seeing each other means you’re not serious. You like each other, but you’re open to seeing other people. Dating means you’re exclusive. That you’re going to see where this goes, and you’d even be all right with marrying him someday,” Riley said matter-of-factly.
“I don’t think that’s a real thing,” Gillian said. “Did you just make that up?”
“Maybe. But I still wanna know.”
Devyn chuckled. God, she loved these women. “According to your definitions, we’re definitely dating. I like him. A lot. It almost scares me.”
All four of the other women beamed.
“What? Why do you all suddenly look like you’ve escaped from the looney bin?” Devyn asked.
“We’re just happy for you,” Aspen said.
“Me being scared makes you happy?” Devyn deadpanned.
“No. But it means that you really care about Lucky. And we’ve all been there,” Gillian reassured her. “You want my advice?”
“Do I have a choice?” Devyn asked with a huge grin on her face to let the other woman know she was teasing.
“No, bitch, so sit back and listen,” Gillian quipped.
Then she leaned forward and got serious.
“Don’t question it. Our men are intense and they move fast. But they’re doing it because they can’t stand the thought of not having you by their side.
Almost like, if they don’t ‘claim’ us, they risk someone else coming along and catching our eye.
But what they don’t realize is that there is no one better.
That there’s no way we’re gonna want anyone else.
But it’s cute to let them do whatever they can to try to prove how much they’re into us. ”
Devyn nodded. “But what if the opposite happens? Some other woman comes along that he can’t resist?
I mean, Gillian and Kinley, your guys met you on missions.
What if Lucky rescues some beautiful woman from the clutches of a terrorist and falls head over heels for her?
That would tear me apart. And I can’t compete with that either.
I’m not brave. When shit gets too overwhelming, I run.
That’s why I came to Texas in the first place.
To be near my brother. I knew Fred would have my back if I truly needed him to, but when I got here, I was too scared to even tell him the real reason I’d left Missouri. ”
“Breathe, Dev,” Riley said.
Devyn realized she’d just word vomited way more than she’d intended. But with every person she revealed even a little bit of the truth to, more weight seemed to lift from her shoulders.
“First, you’re the only woman Lucky’s had his eye on since the second you two were introduced,” Riley told her.
“They’ve been on several missions since you guys met, and he’s just as besotted with you now as he was then.
Also, I didn’t meet Porter on a mission.
He was my neighbor. I don’t think you can get any more boring than that.
And sometimes, running is the smart thing to do. ”
“Yeah, that’s basically what I did,” Kinley said.
“Going into witness protection isn’t the same thing,” Devyn said with a snort.
“You know we’re here if you want to talk about it,” Gillian said gently.
“I know. And I appreciate it,” Devyn said. And she did. These women were some of the most open and friendly people she’d ever met. Some days she had a hard time believing they’d accepted her as readily as they had.
“Oh!” Aspen gasped out of the blue.
Everyone turned to look at her.
“What?”
Aspen’s eyes were wide and she’d gone pale. “I…something’s wrong.” She was holding her belly and bending over slightly.
“The baby?” Gillian asked urgently.
Aspen nodded. “It’s too early, I’ve still got another month or so to go…but either my water just broke or I’m bleeding.”
Devyn flinched when Gillian put her fingers up to her mouth and let out a loud, ear-splitting whistle. As if it’d been planned, all of the guys’ heads came up, then they were hurrying toward the house. Oz had lifted his niece in his arms, and Logan ran beside them, doing his best to keep up.
“What’s wrong?” Trigger asked as he approached the porch.
“Aspen’s baby is coming,” Kinley said.
“Aspen?” Brain asked, taking the steps two at a time to get to her. “It’s too early!”
“I know,” she said. It was obvious she was freaked out, but was doing her best to stay calm. “It’s early, but not too early for him to survive.”
Devyn didn’t know if it would be worse to have the medical knowledge that Aspen had from her training as a combat medic and paramedic, or to be in the dark as to what was happening.
“I’ll get my Expedition,” Oz said, as he turned and ran for the line of vehicles parked in the driveway.
“I don’t have any of my stuff here,” Aspen said as Brain helped her stand.
“We can bring your things,” Gillian reassured her.
“My bag’s already packed,” Aspen told her, right before she doubled over with a painful contraction. A dark red stain on her pants was growing steadily, even in the seconds she’d been standing.
“Pick her up,” Doc ordered.
Brain swooped his wife up into his arms. “You’re gonna be fine,” he told her. “Both of you.”
Aspen nodded and lay her head against her husband’s shoulder.
“I’m coming with you,” Doc said.
“Me too,” Gillian said.
“We’ll all meet you at the hospital,” Kinley said.
“It’s okay, I’m sure it’ll be a wh—” Aspen’s words were cut off by a long moan.
“We’re going,” Brain said as he carefully headed for the stairs. Trigger took his elbow in his hand to help guide him, and to make sure he didn’t fall with Aspen in his arms.
Gillian and Riley hovered behind them, and everyone watched as they got settled in Oz’s car. He backed up so fast, he almost hit a vehicle that was just turning into the driveway.
Oz swerved around the gray Buick LeSabre and took off with a squeal of his tires.
“Oh, shit,” Fred said.
Devyn couldn’t take her eyes off the new vehicle. She knew exactly who was inside.
“He called before everyone got here and said he was in Texas,” Fred told Devyn apologetically. “He doesn’t have a place to stay, so I said he could bunk down with me.”
Devyn wanted to tell her brother that it was a bad idea. That he should lock up every damn thing that was worth anything so Spencer didn’t steal and pawn it. Now wasn’t the time to have that conversation. But she was obviously going to have to sit down and have a chat with her brother. Soon.
“We need to go,” Lefty said urgently.
“You guys go,” Fred told him. “I’ll greet my brother and tell him what’s going on, then I’ll come on over to the hospital.”
“Dev?” Lucky asked quietly as he put an arm around her waist.
She shook her head, trying to pull herself out of the trance she’d entered the second she saw Spencer’s car. “I’m okay,” she told Lucky softly.
“Looks like you guys are planning on heading out,” Spencer said with a shit-eating grin as he walked up to the porch. “Did I interrupt something?”
“Drive safe, Grover,” Lucky said as he steered Devyn out of Spencer’s path and toward his truck.
Devyn heard Fred greet their brother and say, “It’s great to see you, bro, although your timing’s shit.”
“Breathe, Dev,” Lucky told her as he started up the engine.
She let out the breath she’d been holding. “I can’t believe he’s here.”
“We’ll deal with him after,” Lucky said, pulling onto the road.
Devyn nodded. She had a bad feeling he was here about the fifty thousand dollars he needed to pay back the loan shark.
But she honestly didn’t have that kind of money to give him.
She wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but harassing her about it wouldn’t work.
At this point, she honestly wasn’t sure she’d give him the money if she had it.
And that made her feel like the worst sister on the planet.
“Look at me,” Lucky ordered.
Devyn turned her head. He had dirt smeared on the side of his face and his hair was sticking up in every direction. He’d thrown his T-shirt back on as he’d headed for the house, but it too was extremely dirty.
It struck her then, how every single guy on the team had come running at the slightest sense of danger. She was proud of Lucky, just as she was all the others.
“We’ll deal with Spencer together. You don’t need to think about him right now.”
“I know, I just…if he steals from Fred, I’ll feel horrible that I didn’t warn him!”