Page 33

The doorbell rings and I open the front door to find Connelly with his younger siblings Colton and Eva.

I knew he was bringing Eva along because she’s friends with Gemma and offered to help her watch the younger kids for a bit so the adults could have a game night after we eat, but I wasn’t anticipating him bringing Colt.

Scar thinks Gemma has a crush on him, and I can’t help the overprotective side of me from coming out as I narrow my eyes at the boy.

“Welcome,” I tell them as I gesture to the coat rack for them to hang their jackets on.

“Hey, Cap. Thanks for having us,” Nathan says.

“Of course, thanks for coming. Are you helping the girls babysit, Colt?” I ask him in a gruff tone.

“Uh, yeah, I love kids and good food so it sounded like a no brainer. I appreciate the invite, sir,” he says and I have to hold back a chuckle.

Sir? This little shit thinks he’s so good.

Scarlett walks up beside me and I wrap my arm around her shoulders. “Hey, guys. Thanks for coming. Gemma is with the kids in the basement.”

“Thank you for having us, Miss Carlisle,” Colt says, sucking up to her.

I close my eyes to avoid them seeing me roll them.

When he opens his arms to give her a welcoming hug, I stiffen beside her and quirk a suspecting brow at him.

The kid might actually be smart because he drops his arms and takes a step back beside his older brother, who is shaking with muffled laughter.

Eva grabs Colt by the arm and heads down the hallway to the basement stairway and Nathan follows behind them, but heads to the living room to join the guys.

Scar turns to face me, securing her arms around my waist. “Perhaps I should start calling you ‘sir.’ What do you think?”

I place a chaste kiss on her lips. “You can call me whatever you want, baby girl, but I refuse to call you Miss Carlisle ever again.”

“Well, if you want me to be Mrs. Wilson before next season, we should probably start wedding planning,” she points out.

Trailing my hands down her waist, I tuck my hands into the back pockets of her jeans before giving her butt a squeeze.

“We’re taking our engagement photos next week.

That’s at least one step in the right direction.

And if we want all of our family and friends to be there, we’ll need to get married in the summer. Do you prefer July or August?”

“July.”

“Okay, what’s your favorite number?”

“Twenty.”

“July twentieth it is,” I tell her.

She shakes her head before burying her face against my chest. “What day of the week is that even on?”

“Does it matter? We’ll be in Paris—I doubt our friends and family will care what day of the week we get married when they’re in the city of love.”

“Paris?” she questions, looking adorably confused.

I shrug. “You told me your dream wedding would be in Paris. So, Paris. ”

Scarlett’s nose wrinkles in that cute way I’ve become obsessed with. “We would need to secure a venue that happens to have that date open. Most venues around here book at least a year, if not two, in advance.”

“Can we hire a wedding planner to help us with that?”

“Well, yes. But are you sure? We don’t have to do a big wedding.”

“Last week at Sunday dinner, your grandma showed me the dream boards you used to make when you were little. Do you know how many you dedicated to your dream wedding?”

“No,” she admits sheepishly.

I hold up three fingers. “Three. And each one of them featured a big, classic wedding in Paris. We’re doing this, Scar. Unless you truly don’t want that anymore, that is.” My eyes move back and forth between hers as I try to read her expression.

A shy smile spreads across her face before she nods in agreement, or maybe it’s in resignation.

Either way, I’ll take it. “Okay. Paris in July.” Scarlett cups my cheek and pulls me in for a deep kiss that is cut far too short when the doorbell rings again.

I grunt in frustration at the interruption.

“That’s probably Alexa. I’ll get the door and we’ll meet you in the living room,” Scar says, and then she rises to her tiptoes to give me a quick kiss before getting the door.

As I walk down the hallway into the living room, I can’t help the overwhelming sense of gratitude I feel in this moment.

I’m surrounded by my best friends, their families, my new family, and the woman I’m falling for.

It may be cheesy as hell considering the reason we’re all gathered today, but I can’t help but feel like the most thankful man in the world.

The meal is done and the games have just begun. The ladies are starting a game of Sequence while the men get the kids settled.

After we ate, Carson, Griff and I wrangled up the young ones, put them in jammies, and now we’ve got the kids in the basement theater about to watch a movie with Gemma and her friends.

“Gemma, have you thought about your summer plans at all?” Carson asks her.

“I mean, no. Not really,” she admits with a slight shake of her head.

“Griffin, McKenna, Dakota and I run a summer camp each year for the month of August, and we’re looking for some camp counselors to help run our new figure skating program.

Bennett had mentioned you were a figure skater.

If you’re interested, let us know. You’re great with kids, and it’s a fun opportunity. ”

“Really? That sounds amazing. I’d love to hear more. What’s the camp called?” Gemma asks him.

“Camp Katie. I’ll have McKenna get in touch with you after the holidays, but if you have any questions about how being a camp counselor is, you can ask Nate. He went from being a camp attendee for years to becoming a counselor last summer for our hockey program,” Carson explains.

“Ask away, Twirl Girl,” Nathan says from the theater seat beside her.

Gemma tries to be subtle with her eye roll, but I don’t miss it. Instead of asking Nathan, she turns behind her, facing Colt. “Have you attended any of the camps there before?”

“Yeah, I went for a few years. We’d fly up from Colorado so we could all go. Nate and I were there for the hockey camp and Eva attended the golf camp. I’m actually going to be a hockey counselor there this summer as well,” Mr. Thinks-He’s-Suave informs her .

When Gemma’s eyes widen, he continues, “And lucky for us, the figure skating and hockey camps are held in the same first two weeks of August.”

Over my dead body is she being a camp counselor if he is going to be there at the same time.

I practically drag Carson up the steps after ordering my rookie to keep an eye on everyone since he decided to watch the movie instead of participating in game night. When we’re finally upstairs, I ask Carse, “How much supervision is there for camp counselors?”

Carson shakes his head at me. “Chill out, Benny. The male and female counselor cabins are kept separate; they’re on either side of the campers’ cabins. And there’s always a senior counselor and camp director on-site.”

“Have McKenna go over the details with Scarlett,” I tell him.

“Yeah, of course,” Carson assures me, clapping me on the back and pushing me into the living room where the rest of the group is. “Now, are you ready to stop being an overly protective papa bear?”

“Papa bear?” Scar questions.

“Yeah. Bennett is freaking out about the possibility of Gemma and Colton both being camp counselors at Camp Katie this summer,” Carson explains, shaking his head at me as he takes a seat on the sectional next to Dakota.

Jax chuckles from across the room. “Why is that the least surprising thing I’ve heard?”

Taking a seat next to Scarlett, I scoop her legs up into my lap and grumble, “Can we just start a game or something?”

“I’ve got an idea,” Jax says. “Let’s have the ladies hit us with their best pickup lines and we’ll vote whose is best,” Jax suggests.

McKenna doesn’t hesitate to go first, throwing her hair over her shoulder. “Relationships should be 50/50, you give me your last name and I’ll scream out your first. ”

Her pickup line would clearly work on Griff, because he pulls her into his lap and says, “I already gave you my last name, Sunshine.”

“I know, but that’d be my pickup line if I were trying to pick you up tonight,” she tells him with a dopey smile that mirrors the one Griff’s wearing.

Carson turns to Dakota. “Alright, Austen. Woo me,” he says, waggling his eyebrows.

“You’re just like a wine tasting. They say spit, but I prefer to swallow,” Dakota says with a slight drawl and I think we can all hear Carson swallow his tongue as he stares back at her wide-eyed.

“Something I didn’t need to know about my sister-in-law,” Kenna groans.

Alexa stands up then and points to Jax’s face before asking, “Is this seat taken?”

He chuckles and grins widely. “It’s all yours.”

“Is that how you picked him up, Lex?” Kenna asks her.

“No, it was more so we were both sick of being the singles of the group,” she admits before turning to face Scarlett. “Alright, Scar, it’s your turn.”

“I’ve never been very good with pickup lines,” Scar tells the group.

“Oh, come on, Red. Don’t be a poor sport, all the other ladies did it,” I point out.

Scar rolls her eyes at me and says, “I don’t have any pickup lines because I don’t like to be picked up.” She lowers her voice and slides her hand along my thigh before she murmurs, “I much prefer to be pinned down.”

Fuck. Me. That’s exactly what I’d like to do to her.

Leaning into her space, I whisper into her ear, “Tonight, baby girl.”

“Promises, promises,” she taunts.

I’ve got so many promises I’d like to make to her, if she’ll let me.