CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Kye
“WATCH ME!” GRACIE YELLED AS SHE CHARGED TOWARD Jericho, who was decked out in fight pads. Jericho’s lips twitched as she leveled him with a jab, uppercut, side kick combo.
“The little fighter has some serious spunk,” Mateo said as he pulled off his gloves, still breathing heavily from his workout.
Clem narrowed her eyes at him. “We both do. And don’t you forget it.”
I tried not to laugh.
Hayden leaned into Fallon. “You gonna tell me why my sisters hate this dude?”
“Because he made eyes at Fal,” Gracie informed her. “He tried to look at her boobies.”
Evan let out a strangled laugh as he crossed his arms over his chest. “These two are gonna take you out.”
Mateo huffed. “I get it, I get it. Fallon is spoken for.” He covered his eyes. “I’m a monk around her from now on.”
Jericho scoffed. “Might need to look into becoming a eunuch for that to be true.”
Gracie’s face screwed up. “What’s a you-you-nick?”
Fallon sent Jericho a pointed look. “Thanks for that.” She turned to Gracie. “Nothing you need to worry about, Little G.”
“Don’t worry,” Clem assured her. “I can look it up at the library.”
I covered my face with my hands. “I’m so getting a call from the principal for that one.”
Hayden laughed. “Good luck explaining how this all came about.”
Evan scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’d pay good money to listen in on that call.”
“I’d flip you off, but I’m trying to be a respectable big brother right now,” I shot back.
Evan just grinned. “Do you guys wanna order pizza? We could go through everything for the new youth program.”
In the two weeks since Fallon’s biker incident and the two of us becoming a true us, Evan had pulled together the bones of an amazing program.
And he’d done it largely without my help since I was focused on Fal and my sisters.
Both Jericho and Mateo had stepped up big time, and despite both their occasional gripes, I knew they loved the ideas.
“I can’t tonight. I’m sorry. I promised these beautiful ladies I’d take them to The Pop for a family dinner.” It’d become a tradition of sorts since that’s what we’d eaten the night it felt like we’d really become a family. So now, we made sure to go at least once a week.
“Throwing us over for some pretty ladies,” Mateo muttered, shaking his head. “Why am I not surprised?”
I shrugged. “Your ugly mug or my family, such a hard choice.”
Gracie giggled and then flung herself at me. “I want a double-chocolate Oreo shake.”
I caught her easily and hoisted her into my arms. “That’s because you have excellent taste.” I glanced at Evan. “Is there anything that can’t wait until our meeting next week? I can call you when we get home if there is. I know I haven’t been the best team player of late.”
Evan shrugged, his mouth twisting in a wry grin. “Hey, don’t worry about me; I’ll just be over here spending thousands of dollars on new equipment for the program while you’re not looking.”
Fal wrapped an arm around Hayden. “I support that.”
Jericho sent me a smile, but it was slightly strained around the edges. “We’ve got it handled.”
Mateo ambled toward the bag he’d left at the side of the ring. “I’m just making the case that I should be the face of this thing. The ladies love a man who gives back.”
“So, you’re not doing this out of the goodness of your heart?” Fallon asked, an amused look on her face.
Mateo shot her his most charming grin. “I can do both. Get a date and save the children.”
“Jesus,” I muttered as Mateo unzipped his bag.
The second he did, a pop sounded. Then magenta glitter flew into his face and all over him.
A few choice words left his mouth in Spanish before he turned, looking like he’d just gotten a glitter facial. “Fallon,” he growled.
She beamed at him. “I felt like you hadn’t learned your lesson quite yet.”
“Sparrow. That crud gets everywhere. We’re gonna be picking pink glitter out of the mats for months,” I complained.
She simply shrugged. “Worth it.”
“He looked like a pink fairy,” Gracie said with glee as we headed up the steps to The Pop.
Clem grinned, making her freckles stand out on her cheeks. “It looked like a unicorn farted in his face.”
“Do you think unicorn farts smell good?” Gracie asked thoughtfully.
Fallon struggled not to laugh as she opened the door and held it. “I bet they smell like cotton candy.”
I just shook my head. “How is this a conversation we’re actually having?”
Hayden laughed as she stepped into the restaurant. “Hey, you’re the one who wanted us to come live with you. That means all unicorn fart convos are your fault.”
I slid an arm around Fallon’s shoulder. “It’s my honor.”
A familiar waitress in her mid-fifties greeted us. “Well, if it isn’t the two newly minted lovebirds.”
“Miss Gena. You are a sight for sore eyes,” I greeted.
She waved me off. “You sweet-talker. You just love me for my double-chocolate Oreo shakes.”
Fallon laughed. “I do hear the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
“Then I should have at least twenty marriage proposals and a Lamborghini by now,” Gena said with a laugh. “Little ladies, it is so lovely to see you again. Think you can make your way to that big corner booth? I’ll get menus and coloring supplies.”
Gracie and Clem cheered, running for the prime restaurant spot. Hayden smiled at the waitress. “Thanks, Miss Gena. Do you need me to carry anything?”
“I’m all good, sugar. You just get your booty to that booth.” Gena turned to us. “They’re looking good. And as polite as can be.”
“That’s all Hayden,” I said with pride.
Gena patted my shoulder. “They’re lucky to have you.”
“I’m the lucky one.”
Fallon burrowed into my side. “We all are.”
We got settled at the table and put in our orders. As we stuffed ourselves with burgers, fries, and shakes, Clem and Gracie chatted about the new swing set that had been put in at their school, and Hayden told us about the latest hockey shot Cope was teaching her on his trips back to Sparrow Falls.
As we finished up, and I was dropping some bills on our check, Fallon stiffened beside me. I glanced over at her, trying to read the change. I followed her line of sight to a familiar man who had just taken a seat with two guys around his age.
Noah.
I’d never liked the douche canoe. Had always seen the way he looked at Fal. And there was just something disingenuous about the guy.
“Everything okay?” I asked, pitching my voice low.
Fallon’s gaze jerked up to me. “Oh, yeah. Fine.”
“Do you want to go say hi?”
She quickly shook her head. “That’s okay.”
My gaze narrowed on her. “He do something, Sparrow?”
She worried the corner of her bottom lip.
Fuck.
“He put his hands on you?” I growled.
“No, nothing like that. He just … he made his opinion of our marriage clear.”
My fingers curled around the rolled silverware.
Fallon’s hand glided over my thigh. “It’s totally fine. Rose and Mila helped me put him in his place. I just didn’t think he had that sort of judgment living inside him.”
I wanted to break something, and it would’ve been a hell of a lot more satisfying if that something was Noah’s face.
Fallon leaned into me, wrapping her arms around one of mine. “I’m good, Kyler.”
“You know what it does to me when you call me that.”
Her mouth curved. “Kyler.”
I kissed her long and slow until Gracie hooted. Forcing myself to pull back, I grinned at my sisters. “Who’s in charge of picking the bedtime story tonight?”
“Me!” Gracie cheered.
“You picked last time,” Clem argued.
“How about you each pick one?” Fallon offered as we all slid out of the booth.
Hayden shot her a grin. “Way to avoid World War III.”
“I try,” Fallon said with a chuckle.
The girls ran ahead to get chocolate mints from Gena at the waitress station around the corner, and I slid a hand through Fallon’s, trying to ignore Noah’s table as we passed.
“Who knew you had a thing for incest, Fal,” one of the guys I recognized as being a couple of years ahead of us in school muttered as we passed.
My body jerked to a stop as fury pulsed through me.
“Guess she had a little whore in her after all,” the other one mumbled. Noah just sat there, not saying a damn word.
“What. Did. You. Call. My wife?” I snarled.
“Kye, don’t,” Fallon pleaded.
Guy number two looked up at me, suddenly rethinking his idiocy. But just when I thought he’d cave, he jutted out his chin and leaned back in his chair like a teenager showing off in class. “Just sayin’ what everyone is thinking.”
I moved so fast he didn’t have a prayer. I kicked the legs of his chair out, making him hit the floor like a ton of bricks and spilling his water all over him.
“Oh, geez,” I said, raising my voice. “Gotta be careful leaning back like that. It can be dangerous. Here, let me help you.”
I grabbed him by the jacket and lifted him clean off his feet, getting in real close and lowering my voice to a lethal hiss. “If you say even one word about my wife again, I will make it my mission to ensure your pathetic life is a living hell so brutal you’ll wish for death.”
I righted his chair, shoved him into it, and then looked straight at Noah, who’d gone pale. “Make better friends. And stop letting the fact that you never had a chance with Fal turn you into a bitter gossip.”
I wrapped an arm around Fallon and tucked her into my side.
“Well, that’s one way to do it,” she muttered, then looked up into my eyes. “You’re not going to freak out on me, are you?”
I leaned down and brushed my lips against hers. “Nothing’s taking you away from me. Never again.”