Page 28 of Collision of Winters (Hillcroft Group #4)

Before I knew it, I heard quick steps. Like one or two people running, their boots hitting the asphalt rapidly, so I turned around again.

This time, two men shoved another guy into the red van I’d noticed earlier.

The doors slammed shut, and what I guessed was an operator returned behind the wheel and tore out of the parking space.

The F-150 followed, both vehicles disappearing into traffic.

My heart was suddenly pounding.

I caught a flash of someone sprinting by slightly behind me, and I spun once more.

Fucking hell, it was both Chris and Wade—they were chasing the third guy!

I hurriedly got out of the way so a random car could pass me, and then I looked back toward the chaos.

The target was shouting, and people were gonna notice soon.

But Wade grabbed the guy and slammed his head down on the hood of Yaya’s car, after which Chris took over and kicked the guy into the back seat of the Camry.

I sucked in a breath.

The Camry peeled out and went the same way as the other two.

Was it over? Just like that?

I swallowed dryly and heard that beep for the third time.

“What do you want on your pancakes?”

I choked on a laugh and exhaled shakily. Fuck me, I had to lean back against the nearest wall and catch my breath. Nothing had happened, and yet everything had gone down. The amount of planning to pull this off quickly and seamlessly—my God, I wanted to be involved in this. I felt so damn alive.

Had Chris been a few feet closer and not keeping his voice down, I would’ve heard him without having to use the comms, but he stayed back near Yaya’s car. It looked like he was talking to others in his earpiece. Wade, meanwhile, strode over to me and caught me in a tight hug.

“That was so badass,” I croaked. “Is it over?”

“It’s over, thank God.” He inched back and cupped my face in his hands. I managed a wobbly smile. “It’s not a great sign to see such excitement in your eyes at this, little one.”

That made me smile wider. “I have so many butterflies in my stomach right now, Daddy. What a freaking rush.”

He chuckled quietly and hugged me to him again. “Definitely not a good sign. But I’ll deal. You’re a Winters, after all.”

You’re a Winters, after all.

Those words echoed in my mind, and they flooded me with the same kind of fulfillment I’d felt earlier.

Damn right, I was a Winters.

“Kayden?”

Oh crap, that was Dad. Wade and I put some distance between us and gave each other a quick look of amusement, before I turned around and saw Dad rounding the corner and hurrying toward me.

“Oh, thank fuck, there you are.”

The moment he reached me, he had his arms around me, and it felt so good too.

I hadn’t seen him in months. Like the other men in the family, he was tall and solid, objectively handsome, and I didn’t know why he’d struck out with the dudes.

He should be drowning in offers, but he kept saying he was done dating.

Bullshit if you asked me.

“If I could ground you, I would,” he said gruffly.

I laughed softly. “I missed you too, Dad.”

“It better be over,” he said, presumably to Wade. “I waited inside until I heard from Vince that he was outta here.”

“It’s over,” Wade confirmed. “Everything went well.”

“Aside from the fact that I wanna ground you and Coach too,” Dad huffed. He clapped me on the back and eased off.

That was funny, picturing my Daddy grounded and moping.

“Don’t even try,” Wade replied dryly. “You raised a Winters. What did you expect?”

Oooh, shots fired!

“You’re puttin’ this on me?” Dad turned to disbelief. “We agreed to protect him from the family business, and then you tell him all about it.”

It was the perfect time for Chris to walk toward us. “Fellas, fellas—calm down. Kayden’s where he’s supposed to be. Can we eat pancakes now?”

“Yeah, I’m hungry,” I chimed in.

We got lucky in the lunch rush and were shown to the last booth in the iconic diner, and I slid in next to Wade.

Dad and Chris took the other side, and neither of us required a lot of time with the novel-length menu. We all wanted pancakes with sides of bacon and some other toppings, and I ordered a large Coke too.

That one earned me a wry smirk from Wade, but he said nothing.

Booyah.

It was a good time to take out the earpiece and hand it back to Chris, with the wristband.

Chris and Dad covered the small talk, which in this case revolved around the case they’d worked. Everyone was relieved it was finally over. I was safe again, and, as Chris said, he had fewer targets on his back.

I quirked a brow. “That sounds ominous.”

“It also sounds worse than it is,” he assured.

Their coffees and my soda arrived quickly, and I pinched the paper tip off the straw.

“Can we talk about your future now, son?” Dad asked. “You want to become a logistics officer at Hillcroft?”

“Yessir, I know I’d be good at it with the right training.” I sucked from the straw. Ahhh, deliciousness.

Chris sat back and smirked. “Don’t you two have an announcement first?”

I shot him a look.

“For chrissakes.” Wade wasn’t too happy either. “Have you heard of tact and timing?”

“Life’s too short,” Chris chuckled and sipped his coffee. “Go on.”

“Go on with what?” Dad became suspicious and glanced between the three of us. “Am I missing somethin’?”

Jeesh. My stomach tightened, and I glanced up at Wade.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t too worried; Quinlan Winters was a kind man, and he was very open-minded.

People’s first impressions of him usually included being intimidated or thinking he was a gruff old-timer you didn’t want to meet in a dark alley.

But once you got to know him, he was all heart and generosity.

That said… He was protective of me, and our family ties could blur things in an initial reaction.

“Aw, you gotta be fucking kidding me.” Dad grimaced and scrubbed his hands over his face. I stared, wide-eyed. We hadn’t said anything yet!

Wade sighed and winced. “I’d apologize, but I’m not sorry.”

Wait, did he know or not? We hadn’t told him! What was happening?

Chris was still smirking. “No secrets,” he mouthed.

I smashed my lips together and scowled.

“That’s it, I’m putting sugar in my coffee,” Dad grumbled, reaching for the sweeteners. He flicked a look at Wade. “He’s been my son for twenty fucking years. You couldn’t have chosen anyone else?”

Okay, yeah, so he knew.

Wade cleared his throat. “To be fair, choice had very little to do with it.”

I nodded, ready to butt in, ready to plead with Dad, ready to defend Wade.

“It’s true,” I said. “I threw myself at him.”

Chris barked out a laugh.

Dad kept pouring sugar into his coffee. It was going to be gross.

“That’s—” Wade coughed and gave my leg a squeeze. “That’s not what I meant. I’m just saying, I can’t control my own feelings.”

Oh. That sounded better.

“Here we go, gentlemen.” Wonderful! The server was here with our food. “Four full stacks with bacon, whipped butter, and maple syrup. Fresh fruit on the side for you, sir.” Wade was given his plate. I got mine. Chris got his. “And two eggs, sunny-side up, for you, sir.” Dad got his too.

“Thanks,” Dad said, clearing his throat. “I’d like to order a sweet tea and a new coffee as well.”

“Of course, comin’ right up.”

I scrunched my nose. “Think about your blood pressure, Dad.”

“That’s what I was doing. My question is why you two aren’t,” he shot back.

“And why him?” He jerked his chin at Wade.

“You remember he’s a Falcons fan, right?

He always takes the last of Yaya’s moussaka, he can sit for hours and stare into space, and he entered his garden flowers into a fucking competition last year—and threw a fit when they didn’t win. ”

I…of course I knew he was a Falcons fan, and yeah, it wasn’t great that he ate the last of the moussaka every time, but hold on, what ?

“What garden flowers?” I blurted out.

“This is fucking gold.” Chris couldn’t stop laughing.

“Fuck you, they’re incredible,” Wade told Dad. “And I didn’t throw a fit . I don’t throw fits. Yaya grew them for me?—”

“She started it—you took over,” Dad argued.

“Whatever,” Wade snapped. “It’s a relaxing hobby. It’s peaceful. Double hollyhocks are the most beautiful flowers. Move on . I don’t think Kayden will end things with me because I happen to have two plants next to my goddamn porch.”

“…that you entered into a competition,” Dad said.

Wade rolled his eyes. “You used to have a fucking show dog. You don’t see me making fun of you for that.”

It was my turn to cough.

It wasn’t the first time I’d seen Wade and Dad act more like brothers than cousins or even… I mean, Dad was kind of a father figure to them too, but… Not all the time.

I was just gonna let them fight it out. In the meantime, I got started on my pancakes.

They were delicious.

I clearly had nothing to worry about. Dad would be fine.

“I didn’t compete with her,” he pointed out. “I adopted her.”

Wade didn’t miss a beat. “And she was the prettiest little lady in all the land, I recall you telling her every day.”

Dad shrugged. “She was.”

I hummed around a fantastic mouthful of fluffy pancakes, butter, syrup, and bacon.

“Maybe you two should move in together,” Chris suggested. “Quin, you can get more show dogs, and Wade can grow flowers.”

I laughed with my mouth full.

What a weird, awesome, overwhelming, hysterical day this turned out to be.

This could only be celebrated with more pancakes.

Maybe a Push Pop later too.