Page 19 of Family Bonds: Coy & Angel

“It’s good to see you,” Barb said to him. “Thank you for letting us use your house. I know it was more Spencer’s doing because he didn’t want to do tourist things.”

Coy looked at his best friend and smirked. “Anytime you want,” he said. “I wasn’t around anyway, and even if I was, you’re more than welcome. Unless you want to hang out at the beach or a restaurant, you’d be in Angel’s apartment.”

“Which is lacking in furniture,” Spencer said.

“I’ve got furniture,” she said. “Probably more than you.”

“You could be right,” Spencer said. “Only because your place is bigger than mine. But this is better. It’s nice and comfortable and I’ve got my own place to stay.”

“Which he has bragged about more times than anyone can count,” she said.

“There is a lot of food in there,” Barb said. “I hope you keep some of it. I don’t see Angel eating it all.”

“I’ll eat some of it but not all. I’m not a fan of potato salad and there is only so much pasta salad I’ll eat,” she said. “If you put chips in the pasta I’d eat it more.”

Coy laughed. He knew from Spencer Angel liked to eat junk food, but it didn’t seem to be affecting her health any.

“I won’t let anything go to waste,” he said. “Thanks.”

“I told Angel that I asked you to watch out for her,” Spencer said.

Which he was hoping his best friend didn’t bring up. No reason to embarrass Angel.

“I told him I’d do what I could, but it’s not like I’m going to see you anywhere other than the office. You’d be watched out for there the same as all my other staff.”

He saw Barb and Angel look at each other and didn’t know what that was about.

“We appreciate it,” Todd said. “But we did tell Spencer to ease up. Angel is a grown woman and can make her choices in life and live with them.”

“Just like us all, right, Angel?” Coy asked.

“Right,” she said, smiling. She was always smiling and happy to be around.

Maybe some people didn’t like being around younger siblings, but he never had an issue when she came to visit.

He could sit and talk to her just as easily as he could friends his age.

He found her sweet and refreshing.

She always had a lot of questions. First about being a dentist and then when he found out she wanted to be one too, they bonded over that.

Maybe he liked that he could see she looked up to him.

Could be almost idolizing him.

It fed his ego when he knew what it was like to be the baby and busted on more times than not in his family.

Just like today.

His mother had her three boys over along with his brothers’ families. He got his fix in with Liam and Gemma. At eightmonths, Gemma was crawling. She’d been pulling herself up and trying to stand, but Bode always pulled her away afraid she’d get hurt.

His older brother smothered his daughter enough that he said Gemma was going to resent him if he kept it up. Even Sam, Bode’s wife, yelled at Bode to cut it out.

Kind of like what Spencer and Todd did to Angel, now that he thought of it.

He found it funny that Bode was the person who shoved him in a closet when their mother wasn’t looking or shoulder-blocked him into the hallways.

There was no way he could fight back. Not that he ever got hurt, but his brothers loved to give it to him.

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