Page 116 of Undeniable

“He wouldn’t let her go out there without at least three layers. She’s probably sweating underneath all of that,” Josh supplied, and Luke only shook his head.

“That scary ex-fighter is gone,” Devon added, stepping up beside me. “Now, he’s just a big protective teddy bear.”

Outside, Reed threw the ball to Zach, who then threw it to an unsuspecting Hazel. In her attempt to catch the ball, she didn’t notice the tree root behind her. She stumbled but caught herself with a palm against the trunk of the tree.

On the other side of Josh, Luke growled and was out the door before any of us had a chance to realize what happened.

“That’s enough,” he said as he strode across the yard. Hazel rolled her eyes but allowed Luke to inspect every inch of her, including her palm.

“But Uncle Luke!” Zach cried in protest. Luke ignored his nephew, whether on purpose or not, I wasn’t sure, but Zach wasn’t having it. He picked up the ball and pegged Luke squarely in the back.

Zach’s eyes widened when Luke turned. All of us inside were doubled over, laughing at the terrified realization that washed over Zach’s little face. In the blink of an eye, Luke crossed to Zach and heaved him into the air. We could hear Zach’s laughter even from inside.

“I think protective is an understatement,” I said.

Devon shook his head as he appraised me and Josh. “You can’t tell me that if that was Amanda or Ivy, you two assholes wouldn’t be just as bad.”

Josh and I exchanged a look, and both shrugged.

“Can you imagine Amanda pregnant? She’d torment all of us,” Josh mused. A second later, there was a loud bang from the kitchen behind us.

“Just because I’m not standing right next to you doesn’t mean I can’t hear you, Sunshine,” Amanda called, and Josh cringed before turning.

He crossed the kitchen and scooped Amanda up in his arms. Instantly she smiled down at him, and all was forgiven. Ivy and I already knew we wanted children. We’d both agreed it was something we wanted in the future, and I promised we would have as many as she wanted.

Scanning the rest of the kitchen, I noted one person, in particular, I hadn’t seen.

“Didn’t you say you were bringing Piper?”

Devon nodded and motioned to the stairs at the opposite side of the living room.

“She went upstairs to call her mom.”

The group from outside piled through the door, and I greeted Hazel, Reed, and Zach before introducing Ivy to Devon’s mom, Shelly.

She looked so much healthier than she had the last time I saw her last fall. The color had begun returning to her cheeks and her smile was easy. I knew she was glad to be back in Austin with her family.

Like I knew they would, Ivy and Shelly hit it off immediately. And I couldn’t contain my grin at the sound of Ivy’s melodic laughter.

“Things are going well?” Devon asked, nudging my shoulder with his.

“I’m so fucking in love it hurts sometimes.”

He chuckled and shook his head at my nonsense, as was his usual response to almost anything that came out of my mouth.

“How about you? How are things with Piper?”

“Good,” he muttered and took a long pull of his beer. He eyed the stairs warily but didn’t let his attention linger there for long before he picked up another chip from the bowl in front of us and popped it into his mouth.

Devon was my best friend, but he was usually a man of few words. And he also rarely showed any outward signs of his internal thoughts. Unlike me, who always wore my thoughts on my face, Devon kept his completely closed off, leaving everyone guessing. But I knew him better than most, and that quick glance toward the stairs told me enough.

There was something he wasn’t telling me.

“She seems nice.”

“She is,” was his response, and I knew it was useless to attempt to pull more information from him.

As I was about to change the subject, the doorbell rang. We all looked at each other, wondering who the hell it could be. Everyone I thought Amanda, Reed, and Josh invited was already there.

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