Page 30 of Happily Ever After… Again and Again

“Let’s go. We have a cat-knapping to foil and an ass to kick.” Luca pockets his phone, exiting the kitchen, only to return in his purple Uggs. “Shit, wecan’t take our phones. They’ll track us. And if I turn the security app off, they’ll freak.” He drops his phone back on the counter again. “Why are you just standing there? Let’s go!”

He might have laughed at how easily Luca has slipped into a tiny, round-cheeked creature bent on mayhem (again), if he wasn’t struck by the biggest obstacle they’re facing yet.

“Baby, how are we getting across town? If we call an Uber, it’ll show up on the app and card. They’ll know, and then what?”

Not that Gideon or Jamie or Rowan will be looking—probably.

“Shit, how are you keeping them from calling right now?”

“I’ve got the bonds dialed down, but if they didn’t call before when I noticed she was gone, nothing should trigger a call. I don’t want to lie to them, Luc. I’m an adult, and if I want to go to a smoothie bar at 8:13 PM on a Tuesday, I’m going to go.” Nix wishes it didn’t sound so much like he’s trying to convince himselfandLuca.

He’d rather ask for forgiveness than for permission, because he was never doing that again.

“It’s not your ass I’m worried about,” Luca adds with a sigh, “but you’re right, let’s not give up yet. Maybe the bicycles have air in the tires? Jaybird said he was going to do it for his date with Finn at Lupine Park this weekend.”

A late evening bicycle ride—twenty miles across town—did not sound like fun, but beggars can’t be choosers.

“Yeah, let’s check it out.”

As expected, the garage is empty of cars. Jamie and Leo are out for their date (axe-throwing and beer or something) in the Genesis, Rowan has dragged Grayson out with friends in the Lexus after dropping Finn off at the hospital, and Gideon is out, Goddess knows where, in his car, his access to the family security app off and silent since before the others left.

Of course, as their luck would have it, the bikes in question did not have air in the tires; they didn’t even have tires. Jamie must have put them up for repairs, because they didn’t even have chains.

“Well, shit. Now what? I have a bit of cash we coulduse to get a cab?” Luca offers, but Nix isn’t listening.

There under the lights is Jamie’s candy apple red Ducati. Brand new from Leo’s moms and dad for a belated birthday gift. It calls to Nix like a siren’s song of freedom, speed, and more than a little danger.

Following his gaze, Luca begins to adamantly shake his head. “No, absolutely not. You don’t even know how to drive it…”

Nix has tuned him out, visions of flying across Nashville, his baby on the back, flashing through his mind.

He’d hated riding it as a passenger, Jamie’s broad back blocking the view, with no control over the bike’s motion or where they were headed. But he’d loved the speed. The thrill of every curve. The vibration of the engine between his thighs.

He’s watched Jamie start it a hundred times, listened while his beloved’s husky voice told him how it worked, and Nix is nothing if not a fast learner.

He can do this.He needs to.

“I’m taking the Ducati. If you want to stay here, I’m okay with that. I won’t be long.”

“You won’t be long!?” Luca shrieks, the loud noise in the cavernous garage too loud for their sensitive ears. “How are you even getting her home on a motorcycle by yourself, huh? And I am not leaving you alone with that stalker. I’m going.”

The statement is a surprise for sure. Luca is not intrepid. His adventurous spirit is limited to movies, new music, and crazy sexcapades.

“I’m going. Now give me that blue hat thingy.” He knows it’s a helmet, and his joke makes Nix chuckle.

Nix pulls down both Jamie’s and Gideon’s helmets from the shelf. Placing them on the bike seat, he pulls both alphas’ leather jackets off the hangers.

Zipping first Luca and then himself into a too-large leather jacket, Nix revels in the scent of leather and happy pine. It helps that Jamie is almost always entirely happy when he wears it, and it lends Nix a sense of confidence he’d been sure was just bravado before.

Popping the kickstand, Luca helps him back the bike up and point it toward the gate before he swings a leg over.

Eyes on Luca, who is still standing beside the bike, he presses the on button and the light goes green, just like it had when Jamie had shown him a few weeks ago. Flipping the kill switch to run, the dashboard lights up, and the fuel pump primes.

With a wicked grin, it takes no time at all to press the start button, and the powerful engine comes to life.

“Holy shit, you’re so fucking hot right now,” Luca says, even though Nix can barely hear him above the purr of the engine. He does see him clench his bare thighs together and palm his hard dick through his T-shirt.

Nix winks as sparks of pleasure shoot up his legs and vibrate under his palms. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”