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“She said after we eat our burgers.”
“And did you finish your food?”
Three little heads bobbed in unison, making me smile.
“And what about the other little ones?” she asked. “Are you going to wait for them too?”
His smile fell. “Do we have to?”
“I think it would be nice, don’t you?”
He exchanged a glance with his cousins. One shook their head, one nodded. “I guess so.”
“Okay.” She kissed his head. “Go tell Daddy so he can get the bubbles out.”
They darted off and I caught Olivia watching me. I offered her a forced smile, internally pulling my shit together. It had been quite the day, coming clean with her family about everything, facing down her cousins, then having the L-word thrown at me so casually, as if it was nothing. The last time I’d let that particular emotion come knocking, it had consumed me and shredded my entire world. I wasn’t sure how I felt about going there again.
“Hey, Ashford!” Camden called out from across the yard. “You gonna hang out with the women all day, or do you wanna play some football with the men?”
I opened my mouth to decline, but Olivia pushed my arm. “Go. Let off some steam.”
“You sure?” I could use the chance to stretch my legs in the sunshine and let go of the constant worry about her and Elizabeth since they were both here with me.
“I’m sure. Have fun while I talk girl talk.”
That was all the cue I needed. I dropped a peck to her lips and loped off to join the guys.
“Heads up, Ashford!”
I looked up just in time to keep myself from getting beaned in the head with the incoming football, my hands automatically lifting to catch the pass Camden had lobbed my way with a shit-eating grin from about twenty yards out.
I tucked the ball close to my chest and jogged that way only to have Silas rush me, tackling me to the ground, knocking it loose.
“Fumble!” Levi crowed, making Asher laugh.
Okay, so that was how this was gonna go. I shoved Silas’s big body from mine, and before any of the giant Creed goons could make a play for the loose ball, I scrambled for it, got my feet under me, and made a mad dash past Camden, headed toward the two red chairs they clearly had marked as an impromptu end zone.
The women were yelling, cheering me on. The sunshine was warm on my back, the wind whipping over my flesh, the scent of burgers and lake filling the air. In that moment, it was all too easy to forget I wasn’t really a part of this family and to let the easy camaraderie of the day fill me up. Especially as I made it through the end zone, only to be rushed and thrown back to the ground by a clearly competitive Silas.
“Don’t be a sore loser!” Olivia hollered at him.
He rolled to his back with a laugh, then faced me. “Good one, man.”
“Thanks.”
He uncoiled to stand and offered me a hand. “Beginner’s luck.”
I laughed in return. “Probably.”
Turned out he was right. I got my ass succinctly handed to me by the Creed boys, but it was all in good fun. Mostly. Camden and Silas took that football stuff seriously. But that was fine with me because it let me sweat out some of the stress that had been simmering in my system. Olivia’s stalker had been way too quiet for way too long. Everything inside of me was screaming that this was not a reprieve like I knew she wanted to believe. This was just the calm before the storm, and I did not like that one fucking bit.
When it was time to go, everyone trickled out a few at a time with happy smiles and sleepy kids.
“You take care of her,” Asher murmured to me under his breath as we shook hands and the girls said their goodbyes.
“I promised you I would.”
He nodded, then turned to hug Olivia and kissed Elizabeth on the cheek.