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“The big guy bought me a helmet and these cool leathers and I just rode on the back of his motorcycle and it was amazing.” Paxton sits on one of the two stools next to the breakfast bar.
“Hang on a second, son.” Bear strides confidently toward me and lifts me by the waist so my lips are level with his and kisses me. It’s soft, slow, passionate, and I wish we could do this forever. Pulling away, still holding me firm, he grins. “Hi, Baby Girl.”
“Hi.” My cheeks heat and I press my palms against his chest, kissing him lightly before he puts me down, sliding me down his hard body.
“Okay, now what were we saying? Oh yeah…” Bear casually leans back against the kitchen counter, pulling me in front of him so he can wrap his arms around me and hold me. “Paxton here showed up at the clubhouse about an hour ago demanding to know what the Sons had done with you because you hadn’t come back to the home for a while and he was worried.”
“Kid’s got a gigantic pair on him, I can tell ya that. Grinder tried to scare him with an eyebal—”
“Psycho! Dude…!” Bear cuts him off and Mac slaps his arm. He feigns innocence then shrugs, laughing and grabbing for Gryffin.
“Can’t hit me now, I have a baby in my arms.” He laughs again and Mac narrows her eyes at him.
“Stop using your son as an excuse to be a D-word.” She continues to scowl at him but it breaks as soon as he kisses her, quick and sharp.
“We made cookies.” I try to divert attention away from whatever it is they’re doing.
“Actually, I gave Athena a recipe and the ingredients and she made the cookies while Kincaid ate the batter and I supervised.” Mac pipes up, easily giving me more credit than is due for the baking.
“Mmm, my favorite.” Bear’s rumble vibrates through me from my back, soothing me like nothing else. He reaches forward, moving me with him, to grab one. “Help yourself, Pax.”
Leaning back again, I don’t look, but I can hear the moment Bear takes a bite and swallows.
“Fuck, these are delicious.”
“Bear, you may be bigger than all of us put together, but I swear to all eff words if you curse again in front of my baby, I’ll make sure the next cookies are my very own special ones, if youknow what I mean.” Mac points her finger at Bear and I chuckle at her sincerity.
“Her special ones are poisonous, so you don’t want that, broth—ow! Holding the baby, remember?” Psycho looks at his wife, one eyebrow raised and a knowing smirk on his face.
“They really are good, ‘Thena. Anyway, where you been?” For such a young boy, Paxton isn’t deterred at all by all the adults in the room.
Bear rubs at my arms discreetly, and I know it’s his way of letting me take the lead on how to answer.
“The man I ran away from found me.” There’s no point in hiding it from him, he’s a smart kid and I don’t see why he shouldn’t know at least part of the truth. “He took me back, but these guys saved me and here I am!” I grin, holding out my arms to the sides, and Bear’s constant presence behind me never wavers.
“That sounds like a real watered down version to me, but I get it. I’m twelve.” He sighs, lowering his head a little.
“Hey, Paxton, don’t feel bad. That’s the same version I plan on giving anyone who asks because I don’t really want to talk about it. I know you understand that. Okay?” My tone is soft, and I hope he realizes I’m telling the truth. It has nothing to do with him or his age.
“Okay.” He nods, reaching for another cookie.
“Did you guys bring anything for lunch? Cookie dough is not enough to last me through the rest of the day.” Kincaid jumps off the stool and begins loading up the coffee machine.
“Come on, gotta feed the prospect before she eats us alive.” Mac’s announcement has us all moving like a well choreographed dance around the kitchen. Even Paxton lends a hand.
And for the first time in my life, I understand the belonging feeling of family.
“You are ruthless, Athena! I have a baby to feed!” Psycho pouts, handing over one of his properties for mortgaging to Paxton, who is acting as the banker for our game of Monopoly.
“You should’ve rolled a different number then.” I giggle, because this is fun.
After lunch, when Paxton initially suggested we play a game of some kind, the others had rolled their eyes until I admitted that I’ve never actually played one. That had Bear disappearing upstairs for about ten minutes before coming back with a board game held above his head like a trophy.
We’ve been playingMonopolyfor a couple of hours now, and I have hotels on all of my properties. Luck is definitely on my side because all the Chance or Community Chest cards that require a payment for taxes on properties have gone to the others rather than me.
“I had like, a one in six chance of not landing on one of your monsters.” Shaking his head, his pout morphs into a grin as he hands over his money.
“Thank you. Pleasure doing business.” I put the game money with the rest of my piles, all neatly laid out on the floor in front of me. We’re all sitting around the coffee table in the living room, the rug beneath us soft on my bare feet—which is the only part of me on the floor because I’m sitting in Bear’s lap.