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Right. She only eats and drinks white foods. Fucking weirdo.
Camden shrugs and turns to Shade. “Can I bring a plus one?”
“Of course you can,” Scarlet answers, licking the cream cheese from the knife before tossing it in the sink.
Distracted by his soon-to-be wife licking a knife, it takes Shade a moment to reply but when he does, he’s smiling. “You bringing your girl?”
Camden’s cheeks flush. And I’m not sure if it’s because he still has a crush on Scarlet and she was licking a knife, or the fact that he has a girlfriend and a target on his back now. “Don’t tell Tiller,” he whispers, attempting to be discrete.
“Too late!” Tiller yells, making his way back into the kitchen. He has his jersey slung over his shoulder, his riding pants in his hand. He shoves Camden’s shoulder and knocks him into River. “Is Yamaha your plus one?”
Camden sighs, righting himself in the chair and then River who fell into me. “Stop calling her that, asshole.”
I’m not sure what surprises Tiller more. The fact that Camden’s comeback game is improving, or that his daughter kicks him in the shin and yells at him, “Daddy, you’re mean!”
Tiller glares down at his kid, and then me. “Come on. I need sand redemption.”
I fight back a smile. The hardest part of training for Baja for Tiller has been learning to ride long sections of sandy trails. It’s not easy for even veteran motocross riders to master it and even harder for a freestyle rider, but Tiller’s been determined to get it.
Scarlet stops him. “No way. No more riding until after the wedding.”
Believe it or not, Baja was almost called off twice now because of the wedding, and now the dangers of Shade racing such an extreme event with a baby on the way. Scarlet’s due in April and if she thinks Shade will refrain from racing or competing until the baby is born, she’s sadly in for a rude awakening. That’d be like asking him to give up breathing.
“You’re not my mother,” Tiller has the nerve to say to Scarlet.
Shade swallows, his eyes on Scarlet. “Don’t kill him, Scar.”
Scarlet grabs Tiller by his hair and yanks his face to hers. “No more riding until I’m hitched to sunglasses.”
Laughing, Tiller yanks his head away. “Apparently I’m cut off like this fool.”
“I’m far from cut off,” Shade mumbles, slapping Scarlet’s ass. “Pregnant hormones are the best.”
With my eyes on the den, I notice Ophelia emerge with Willa. They both look at Shade. Willa nods to him. “Did you decide?”
Decide? Panic rushes through me that they’re talking about Baja. It’s a little over a month away and to pull out now, well, I don’t even want to think about it. But it’s clearly not about that judging by the way Shade’s face morphs to sudden anger. “I fuckin’ told you. I’m not signing it.”
“Signing what?” Scarlet asks, watching Shade’s demeanor change right before her eyes.
“A prenup,” Shade snaps.
“Oh.” Scarlet draws in a shaky breath, emotions flashing in her eyes. She fumbles with her phone in her hand. “I understand if you have to. That’s okay. I have to go pick up Mila from the airport.”
“I don’t have to do shit,” Shade adds, his entire frame tense. He steps in front of her, blocking her from leaving, his hands on her face. “You can take every last penny I have if you leave. All I want is you.”
Shade is a rare breed. He will literally try any trick in the book, but not before he calculates every angle, degree of insanity and consequences. You think looking at him with his gnarly ink and neck scar that looks like a zipper, that he doesn’t back down. But there are times when even he gets scared and has to talk himself off the ledge. Like when he proposes and then finds out his girl’s pregnant. Now he’d apparently made up his mind and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Scarlet bursts into tears, collapsing against Shade’s chest.
He looks around at us, perplexed, as if he doesn’t know what to do now.
Willa draws in a breath. “If that’s what you want.”
“It’s what I want,” he agrees, pulling away from Scarlet. “Now, let’s go get Mila and the firefighter. I’m driving.”
They leave and Ophelia makes her way over to me. “Ready? I guess we should head to LA.” I nod, standing. “You have your tux and everything?”
“Yeah. It’s in our bags.”