Page 28 of Watch Me

“Great. Enough time for a beer or two,” Ethan stated. “You want one?”

“Sure,” I replied and followed him.

After everyone had drinks, all the guys went into the backyard, leaving me with the ladies and a sleeping Jeremy in a playpen. I was fine staying in the warm house while the guys did whatever they did in the chilly backyard. Plus, it gave me time to get to know Ethan’s mother and sisteragain.

“So,” Ashtyn spoke up as she helped Shannon grab ingredients from the fridge to make some of the side dishes. “Did you meet Jess?”

“I did.” I watched Ashtyn sharea lookwith Rachel. “What?” Iasked.

“She was always stuck-up,” Rachel replied. Clearly, she didn’t care that she was talking crap about a previous family member. “I can only imagine how she treatedthe other woman.”

I looked at Shannon quickly, trying to gauge if she felt the same way. She shrugged, not saying anything as she tossed a salad. I took a sip of my beer. “She said one word to me and shook my hand.”

“Was it a curse word?” Ashtynasked.

I chuckled. “Likebitch?”

“That’s the one,” shereplied.

“No. I introduced myself, said it was nice to meet her, and she replied ‘right.’”

“That’s all she said?” Rachelasked.

I snorted. “That’s all she said with her words.” I didn’t want to talk ill about Ethan’s ex-wife—the mother of his children—but she was obviously bitter that Ethan was dating again. From the moment Tyson opened the door, Jessica had glared at me, assessing me the entiretime.

“She’s totally cursing you,” Ashtynreplied.

“She’s probably making a voodoo doll of you as we speak,” Racheljoked.

“Yeah, but I had him first and will have him last.” I didn’t know if the latter was the truth. We hadn’t uttered the L-word to each other since being back together, but I didn’t want to have a life again without him in it. I couldn’t imagine what would have happened if he had still been married when we reconnected, but I knew I would fight tooth and nail forhim.

Before anything else was said, the guys came in with the tri-tip. The kids were set up at a special table, and the rest of us sat at the dining room table. We ate, we drank a little, and welaughed.

“You two want to go to karaoke?” Rhys asked, motioning to Ethan and me with hisfork.

“Yes! It will be so much fun. Come.” Ashtynbeamed.

“Some of us have work in the morning,” Ethanreplied.

“And school,” I wenton.

“Pa-lease,” Rhys tsked and rolled his eyes. “When was the last time you got that stick out of your ass, Eth?”

I swallowed my laugh. Ethan was the oldest out of all of us except his parents, and he was a cop. I could sense he was always aware of his surroundings, and because of his protectiveness that meant he did have a little stick up his ass, so to speak. But I knew him differently. When we were alone, locked in one of our condos, fun Ethan appeared. TherealEthanValor.

“Would you want a hungover cop investigating your murder?” Ethanretorted.

“We said karaoke, not bar hopping,” Ashtyn stated. “It’s our first night out since we had Jeremy. A night out will be fun.”

Ethan leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. “Okay, but to get me up on a stage to sing, I need to be drunk.”

“Do you want to come?” Ashtyn asked me, ignoring herbrother.

“I …” I hadn’t been out on the town, so to speak, in forever. I’d never sung karaoke either, but I did want to go. I wanted to have fun. But I also knew Ethan needed to be at his precinct at eight a.m. I looked over at Ethan next to me. “I would like to, but I know you need to get up early.”

“Just come,” Rhys pressed. “The latest we’ll be out is eleven—midnight, tops.”

“And the kids?” Ethanasked.