Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
Gray
“Again, they’re wombats! How the hell can you be afraid of wombats?”
My head whips to the side and I’m already pushing to my feet, readying to intervene if Faye looks the least bit uncomfortable.
But instead of her being on edge, body trembling, eyes wide and searching for an exit, she’s…
Fuck, it’s beautiful.
She’s beautiful.
Her head thrown back, her musical laughter filling the air, the sound hitting me hard in the gut.
Probably because Smitty is on his feet, gesturing wildly and going on and on about how wombats are killers who crush their victims (he’s nothing if not dramatic) with their giant butts against their burrow walls.
He also loves an audience.
“Their murderers, I tell you!”
Faye isn’t the only one who’s laughing at my teammate.
Luna is sipping her mocktail, reclining back on the couch, free hand rubbing lightly at her pregnant belly as she giggles.
Bri is in full hostess mode alongside Aiden’s mom, but since she’s filling the platter of snacks in front of Faye and company, she has a front row seat to his shenanigans.
And she’s laughing too.
Another woman (though really, while she may be over eighteen, she’s still a girl) who’s gone through too much.
And Smitty’s making her happy too.
Along with Kailey, who’s shaking her head at him, but doing it with a smile.
Annoying fucker to be so charming.
But he’s a good guy to have on my side.
“Are you going to kill him?” Leo says lightly. “Or am I?”
I slide my gaze to my teammate. “Actually, I was kind of thinking I’m glad he’s using his powers for good.”
Leo lifts his brows as he studies the group. Then shrugs, mouth twitching as he snags some food off the platter near us. “Okay, so you’re not wrong.”
“Wrong about what?” Smitty asks expectantly, slinging a heavy arm over my shoulders and sending me staggering back a step.
“Never mind,” I tell Leo.
He nods. “Probably for the best we keep that one to ourselves.”
“Keep what to yourselves?” Smitty grumbles.
Leo grins then drifts off to the table with drinks, snagging a beer from the big metal bin there.
But I don’t miss that his eyes slide to the side, to the attractive caterer Aiden’s parents—okay, really his mom, Kathy—hired for the event. Luna wanted to have her baby shower here at the family house she inherited, and Kathy and Matt made that happen.
The house is full.
The Grizzlies are represented with me, Smitty, Ryan, Leo, Sawyer—even a few of the younger guys popped by with presents before moving on to greener pastures (read: getting ready to hit the area’s bars and nightclubs rather than hanging with a bunch of old dudes playing baby-themed games).
Aiden’s siblings—Carrie, Ralph, and Dave are here.
Luna’s brother and dad are not (but that’s for good reason—they’re assholes), though Jean-Michel Dubois, his wife, Tiffany, and his friend Jace Henderson and his woman, Marie, have come.
The billionaire businessman and a bunch of hockey players plus co-workers from the shelter that Luna works at may not seem like the most obvious pairing, but Jean-Michel and Jace have gone to bat for Luns more than once.
So fancy suits and high-rise buildings or not, I respect the two men immensely.
And between the billionaire and the Grizzlies and her friends and co-workers, we’ve got Luna covered.
Especially because some of the kids who she’s looked after showed—some for quick pop-ins, a couple to set up the cake, since they work with Bri at the bakery, and a handful to shyly hang around, make conversation, play games, and search for a slice of belonging they don’t often get.
So yeah, Luna’s family house is perfect for events like this one.
It’s why we all end up gathering here more often than not.
Sure, we all take turns hosting so it’s not a burden, but…Luna and Aiden’s place is the shit. Big, lots of room to hang out, and not so fancy that you worry about spilling your beer on the white carpet or whatever.
And it’s filled with memories of Luna’s grandma.
Something I hope she’ll share with Faye.
Maybe they can lean on each other to make the loss seem less intense, the hole they both have a little smaller.
I watch Faye snag a canapé and nibble as she continues talking and laughing with the girls and I want to freeze the moment in time, remember that I’m the one who’s given it to her.
And that I might be responsible for it being snatched away.
“Food’s good,” Smitty says and I nod as I tear my eyes from Faye.
It’s good. Seriously good—and not just because fancy catering isn’t usually on the docket when we hang out.
Typically, we’re ordering pizza or Chinese or Indian or firing the barbecue up in the back yard.
So, I haven’t seen the blond girl-next-door with the striking hazel eyes who put together the platters—full of those canapés—before.
The woman who’s currently cooking up her next delicious confection in the kitchen with confident assurance.
And I’ve certainly never seen Leo look like that.
As though he can’t take his eyes off the woman, as though he’s looking for any and all excuses to hang near the kitchen, to hang near her.
Fuck, maybe Smitty’s matchmaking nonsense is starting to corrupt me.
Or maybe it’s just that I have a good woman in my life now and I want everyone else to have the same.
Fuck.
Because, yup, Smitty’s matchmaking nonsense is definitely corrupting me.
“Yo, Leo!” he hollers on the heels of that thought, and everyone is so used to all of his booming that he barely warrants a second glance.
I can almost hear my teammate sigh as he turns toward us. “What do you want, Smitty?” he calls back.
“Grab me one of those sandwich things from the kitchen, would ya?”
Leo’s already opening his mouth to retort even before Smitty completes his semi-question, semi-order (and yeah, now I’m wondering what Faye thinks of those…and how quickly I can implement them in the bedroom) when the rest of the words seem to process Leo’s brain.
A heartbeat later, all the irritation clears from his face. “On it,” he calls back, his focus already on the kitchen.
Or really, on the woman in the kitchen.
“You know there’s a platter of sandwiches right there,” I tell Smitty, nodding to the table, all of three feet away from us and currently loaded with food.
“I sure do.”
I wait for him to explain.
He gets on doing just that. “But those sandwiches”—he nods to the platter—“won’t get Leo near Harper.”
I frown. “Who’s Harper?”
“The caterer Leo hasn’t been able to stop staring at.” A jerk of his chin toward the kitchen, his mouth curving into a wide smile. “And now the one who he hopefully won’t be able to stop talking to.”
I watch as Leo sidles close and strikes up a conversation with Harper.
Damn, the man’s good.
“You’re devious, you know that, right?”
Smitty just laughs. “No”—a shrug—“well, yeah. But also, I’m a matchmaker at heart.”
“You’re still on that nonsense?”
“My track record speaks for itself. No matter what that Blue Line Matchmaker is doing.” He scowls. “Don’t ask. Someone’s trying to overtake my kingdom is all. I’ll sort it out.”
“Right,” I say and since I don’t really care about Smitty’s matchmaking endeavors, I allow myself to do what I really want…look back at Faye.
“She seems more settled today,” he says, clearly following my stare.
“You fuckers take some getting used to is all.”
A chuckle. “That we do. But it’s more than that.” He slants a look in my direction, lifts his eyebrows in question.
“It’s more than that,” I agree, Faye’s laughter drifting through the air to settle on my skin, in my heart. Then a thought occurs to me—outrageous and terrifying. “You don’t have an affinity for fire, do you?”
He frowns. “What? No. That shit’s almost as scary as wombats.”
Right.
That would be an insane length to go to in order to bring Faye and me together, despite how committed Smitty is to his matchmaking efforts.
He wouldn’t risk her—wouldn’t risk anyone—like that.
Something that’s reinforced when he fixes me in place with a stare.
“You’re going to take care of her right?” he asks. “She needs someone steady and committed. Not for you to let that shit with Courtney—”
And hell, as though he conjured up the she-demon herself…
The front door slams open.
And my ex strides into the house.