Page 34 of Bae

“I’ll make a call,” I vowed, then glanced at Trent and Drew. “Thanks for the heads-up and for not spilling it all in front of Rim.”

“We’re family,” Trent replied.

I knew I was going to have to make my girl aware of what was going on, but not tonight. Hell, not even tomorrow. These next few days were ours, and I was going to safeguard that like no other.

“Who wants s’mores?” she called, joining us by the fire and dropping all the ingredients on a long, stone counter just outside the circle.

I caught her around the waist from behind and lifted her off her toes. “I got all the sugar I need right here,” I growled and attacked the side of her neck.

She made a squealing sound but didn’t try to get away. My girl knew better than that. She wouldn’t have gotten very far if she had.

Laughing, she turned her face so I could lock our lips together. Her tongue tasted like cinnamon and clove. Mine likely tasted like beer.

Braeden cleared his throat loudly. “That’s shit brothers don’t need to be seeing.”

Rim kissed me softly one last time before pulling back just a little. “I want it browned. Not burned,” she informed me.

“What am I, your slave?” I joked.

Her nose wrinkled. “You roast better marshmallows than me.”

“You better do it, Rome. We still have a burned patch in the deck from the last time she tried to roast her own.” Braeden cracked.

He was a wiseass. I grinned widely because he was a funny wiseass. I’d never forget the look on my wife’s face when her marshmallow damn near exploded in flames. Frantically, she tried to put it out but ended up flinging the thing through the air, where it landed in a still-blazing, messy heap just behind where I was sitting.

Rim grimaced. “He’s right.”

I threw back my head and laughed before leaning in to press a kiss to the tip of her nose. “One perfectly browned, not burned marshmallow coming up.”

“Gooey on the inside,” she added with a faint smile.

“Whatever you want, baby,” I whispered, kissing her again.

I spent the rest of the night feeding her sugar, holding her close, and kissing her lips every chance I got. Inside, I still churned from the information Trent and Drew delivered, but I flat out refused to let it show. I knew I did a damn good job of keeping it under wraps by the happiness in Rim’s brown eyes and the languid way her body melded into mine.

There wasn’t anything I could do tonight about the bounty put out on our lives, so it was just going to have to wait.

Rimmel

Today was a big day.

An exciting, happy day. Yet I didn’t feel those things. Instead, I stood in my grand walk-in closet, with its giant marble-topped island and beautiful antique lantern overhead, and felt a restless sort of energy coursing through my limbs.

I tried to ignore it. I told myself I was just excited and anxious to celebrate the first birthday of my only niece. It kept me moving. I went through my two racks of clothes and ruffled through my drawers several times.

I didn’t really see the clothes, though. Even though I told myself I was looking to put an outfit together and pulling out things that matched, I wasn’t. It was an excuse. An excuse to feel normal. An excuse to pretend I wasn’t feeling out of sorts and almost frightened.

I didn’t like this feeling. It wasn’t the first time I’d known it the past few months. Each time my limbs started to tingle and my stomach jittered, my gut whispered. I closed my ears to the whispers, though, and pushed on.

My heart pounded a little too fast and too hard, and my mouth was a little too dry.

Anxiety.

Stress.

Panic.

I knew what these things were, but I shunned them. I told myself I was way stronger than something so filled with trickery. It was as if my body and mind were rebelling against what I knew to be true. The feeling of sickness coating my innards wasn’t really real. It was what my mind was doing to my body.

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