Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66205 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 331(@200wpm)___ 265(@250wpm)___ 221(@300wpm)
“Gabriel’s gonna have to leave the cage a little bit too, I think,” Abel replied. “What the ancient enemy lacks in skill and stamina, they’ll make up for in dirty play.”
No fucking doubt.
“How many will there be on the ice at the same time?” Gray wondered. “There’s gotta be a limit.”
“Ryan was talking about seven or eight.”
Gray snorted. Yeah, they truly weren’t giving a rat’s ass about standard rules, that was for sure. “Niko’s not joining, huh?”
That was a shame. He hung out with Niko quite a bit; he didn’t live far away from the marina. Unfortunately, hockey was a sport he only enjoyed watching.
“No, I asked, and…” Abel shrugged. “Niko, Lias, Greg, Gage, Ellis, and Casey will watch from the stands. I thought about asking Dad too, ’cause let’s face it, he would slow down the old folks even more—” he smirked when Gray laughed “—but he and Mom are heading over to your folks’.”
Made sense. They always got together. Mom and Adeline were two peas in a pod, not to mention thick as thieves, and Lincoln and Aiden had a seriously cute friendship. They were both grandfathers these days, and with one best-selling author and one former rock star slash famous producer, they never ran out of things to complain about in the entertainment industry. They loved to complain.
“Oh, for chrissakes!” Not unlike Darius. “How did his goddamn glitter end up over here?”
Gray made a yikes-face with Abel.
“Don’t you like glitter, Uncle Darius?” Grace asked.
“I’d rather swim with sharks, trooper,” Darius replied.
Gray saw Grace’s next question coming from a mile away, mainly because it’d happened a couple weeks ago, and he winced beforehand.
“You didn’t like the picture I made with glitter glue for your birthday?”
There it was.
“Ooof.” Case winced too.
“Well, see, that’s very different,” Darius said. “I put your picture on the wall in my office the day after so I could look at it all the time. But I don’t like getting the glitter on my fingers, you know?”
Gray and Ryan exchanged an eh-not-too-shabby look.
Good save, baby.
Grace accepted the explanation, and then Ryan declared time was up.
Justin ran over and wanted up, so Gray lifted him to his hip, and the boy immediately reached for the fries and chicken fingers on the bar.
“You like your chicken fingers, don’t you?”
“They’re so yummy.” Justin grinned and stuck half of one into his mouth. “Uncle Abel also likes them. He said so.”
“Chicken fingers are awesome,” Abel agreed.
“And you eat too, Daddy!” Justin pressed a chicken finger against Gray’s mouth with such speed and force that it nearly knocked Gray back.
He chuckled an “ouch” and nibbled on Justin’s own fingers instead.
The boy found that hysterical.
In the meantime, Avery, Madigan, and Ryan removed the room dividers and hid Darius’s gift, and Gray noticed something. Throughout their visit here, those three men had taken kids aside to ask them questions, and they were making notes on their phones. Like right now, Avery was talking to Jayden and Abby, jotting down whatever they said.
Whatever the guys asked the children, they were enjoying answering. With smirks and gestures and all.
“It looks like we have a winner, everyone!” Ryan called out. “Abel, Ave, and Madigan—we’re gonna compare the last of our notes, and then we’ll announce the results. Gray and Darius, you can have a seat and discuss how much you love us.”
“I love you, Uncle Ryan!” Justin shouted.
Gray laughed and hugged the boy to him. God—he was sure as fuck not shy anymore, this one.
“Aww, I love you too, champ.” Ryan was like a pig in shit. “Your daddies can take notes on how to show me love. And don’t you ever let them tell you about indoor voices. They’re overrated, you got that?”
Justin giggled behind his chicken-finger-greasy hand.
The guys in charge didn’t need too long to deliberate, but it was enough to give Gray and Darius a break at one of the tables. While Gray peeled glue off Darius’s fingertips, Darius inhaled a couple brisket sliders—sounding dangerously similar to how Big Daddy sounded in bed.
JJ and Ryder had managed to squeeze in one hell of a fight too, so Ryan took them outside for a talkin’-to.
“We gotta come here more often,” Darius said. “Goddamn, Grady knows good brisket.”
Yeah, this place was something else. Best steakhouse in town.
“There. All done. I need a cigarette now.” Gray sat back and gathered the glue peels in a napkin.
Darius chuckled. “Dork. I’mma give both you and Justin a bottle of glue next Christmas. You’ll be occupied for days.”
No joke. It was so satisfying.
“All right, let’s get started,” Avery said. “Kids, you can sit down.”
Some of them dropped to the floor right where they’d been standing, Justin included, and the others found a nearby chair and a nearby adult. Except for Cassidy; she was playing peek-a-boo with Adam and Alessia’s son between the barstools.