Page 119 of From the Start

Blossom elbows him. “Come on, nerd boy. It’ll be fun.”

He frowns. “Your definition of fun is incorrect.”

“I don’t care if you don’t want to go out,” Dakota declares. “We have a babysitter and we’re going out. This discussion is over.”

Rhett drops an arm over her shoulders and kisses her hair. “There you go, causing havoc again, Havoc.”

She rolls her eyes at him.

“How about I babysit little Stephanie? It’ll give Eli and Paisley the chance to go out.”

Miles shackles my wrist before I can escape. “Nice try. But Eli isn’t ready to leave his baby girl alone with anyone.”

“I’m not anyone. I’m Uncle Kai. Everyone’s favorite uncle.”

“You also gave Stephanie a fake ID.”

I shrug. “You can never start too early.”

“She isn’t ready for sippy cups yet. Let alone a fake ID.”

“Whatever. Can you release me now?” I tug my arm but he doesn’t let me go.

“No. We’re going out. It’s a Raider family event. You have to go.”

I scan the group on my doorstep and relief fills me when I realize I have an ace in the hole. “Zane’s not here.”

Eli is excused because Paisley just had their baby, but Zane has to attend for tonight to be considered a family event.

“He’s meeting us at the bar.”

Shit. There’s only one way to get out of this.

“I can’t go anywhere. I have explosive diarrhea.”

“No worries. I have extra diapers from Mira in my bag.” Dakota digs through her bag and pulls out a diaper.

Rhett chuckles. “It might be a bit small.”

“Does it matter when he’s obviously lying?” Jaxon asks.

I growl. “I’m not lying.”

“Sure, you are. You always use the explosive diarrhea excuse. You claimed you had diarrhea so often when you were skipping classes in high school, the principal called the house. She was ready to send an ambulance.”

“It’s true.” Rhett nods. “You’re lucky I answered the phone instead of Mom.”

I glare at them. “I hate all of you.”

“Not me,” Blossom declares. “I’m a bundle of delight.”

“Whatever. Let’s go.”

I make my way toward my SUV but Miles grabs my wrist again and drags me toward Rhett’s vehicle. “You’re not driving.”

“I can drive. I’m not planning to drink.” Because there’s no way I can drink away my sorrows with my family and not admit Harper dumped me without a second thought.

My chest squeezes and I nearly stumble. I can’t believe she wouldn’t let me explain. Granted, I fucked up. I should have been there for her.