Page 246 of Guardian Daddy

Reyes and Emme.

Brody and Autumn. But not their boyfriend who she wasn’t supposed to talk about.

Matthieu, Butch, and Seth.

There. That was everyone. She hoped.

It was still a lot.

And some of their names were quite terrifying.

Although at least she already knew Ink and Duke from high school.

He continued to hold her hand as they moved to the front door. After pressing the doorbell, they only had to wait a few seconds for it to open. But to her surprise, it wasn’t Ink standing there. Or his girlfriend, Betsy.

It was a little girl with midnight hair put up into two ponytails and green eyes. She stared up at them suspiciously.

“Who’re you?”

“I’m Ethan Stone and this is my girlfriend, Cate Ripley.”

The girl looked them both over. “Why does she look scared?”

Did she look scared?

Ethan turned to look at her worriedly. If she was scared, she thought that she’d hid it well.

“I look scared?” she asked.

“Uh-huh. Is it because of this guy? Is he threatening you?” The girl turned to glare at Ethan.

Oh no. She couldn’t have her thinking that about Ethan.

“No, of course not. Ethan takes good care of me. He’d never force me to do something against my will.”

The girl, who had to be Zipporah, punched her fist into her hand. “Because if he is making you, I’ll punch him.”

Cate’s eyes widened. How could she think she could take on Ethan?

She was a brave little girl.

“I’m just nervous about meeting all these new people,” Cate told her honestly.

“Oh, I can help you. I know everyone. Don’t trust ‘em yet, though.”

“Fair enough. Trust is hard,” Cate said.

Zipporah nodded. “My name is Zippy. Just Zippy. Don’t call me Zipporah or I’ll have to punch you.” She smacked her fist into her hand again.

Goodness.

“Hey, you’re here!” A young man who looked to be in his late teens appeared next to Zippy. He was wearing jeans, a T-shirt advertising a band she’d never heard of and a pair of scuffed shoes. His hair was up on end and he had an easy smile. “And you’ve met Zippy. Isn’t she adorable?”

Zippy grinned at the boy before turning that stare on Ethan. “Remember, the name is Zippy.”

“Got it,” Ethan said.

“Brother, the Stone is here, and he brought his girl,” the boy yelled.

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