Page 47 of Toxic

As if I would ever make a move on his girl. “You still haven’t made it official,” I told him. “Means she’s fair game.”

“She’s pregnant with my baby, dickhead.”

“I’d make a great stepdad,” I teased.

Billie was shaking her head, but she seemed to understand that I was just yanking Priest’s chain. Just in case, I pulled her close and tucked her under my arm. She tried to shove away from me, but I didn’t allow her to put space between us. She needed to start getting used to me touching her. A friendly arm wrapped around her shoulders shouldn’t make her want to jump out of her skin to get away from me. She was going to make this difficult on me and I wasn’t even sure why. The guys weren’twrong; women didn’t usually make it hard for me to get to know them.

“We actually did get married,” Jenny admitted.

The women gasped. “Wait… What?” Seek asked.

“We just went to the courthouse a few weeks ago,” Jenny told us with a sheepish smile. “I didn’t want a huge wedding. Just something small at the courthouse with our children and then a party here with all the rest of our family.” There was a worried look on her face. “I hope that doesn’t hurt any of your feelings. I just-”

“Jenny, stop,” Kit said, taking her hand. “You’re allowed to have whatever kind of weddingyouwant.”

“Exactly,” Sloane told her.

“What we want doesn’t matter at all,” Seek added. “We’re just so happy for you!”

“Taylor!”

Taylor froze as Priest narrowed his eyes on her. “Where did you get carrots from?”

Billie gasped and patted her pockets, then groaned.

“Wait,” Jenny said, pulling something out of Caitlyn’s hand. “What is this?”

“Um,” Billie spoke up, pressing closer to me. “That’s an apple treat.”

Jenny blinked at her. “A…what?”

“An apple treat,” Billie explained, “for llamas and alpacas. Really it’s good for any ruminant animal. They all love them.”

Priest’s brows shot up. “You gave my kids…apple treats?”

“Oh, no,” Billie said, shaking her head. “Did you know your girls are really proficient in pickpocketing?” She patted her pockets again with a weak smile.

Isla reached over and tapped knuckles with Caitlyn. “Good job. Those are tight jeans she’s wearing, too.”

“She didn’t even notice,” Caitlyn whispered loudly enough we could hear.

I tried to hold back the laughter, but once I started there was no stopping. We were all laughing by the end, even Priest and Jenny.

Eventually we all died down and Jenny asked, “Should I take her to the emergency room or anything?”

“No, those are made of oats and chopped apples,” Billie assured her. “Perfectly safe. I’ve eaten them on days where I forgot my lunch and couldn’t be bothered to go back to the house.”

Dani laughed. “Girl, don’t admit that.”

Billie just shrugged and grinned.

“Ranch life,” I said. “You’d be surprised what I’ve eaten.”

“No, Toxic,” Seek replied. “We really wouldn’t.”

That had everyone laughing again. I looked around and marveled at the difference a couple of years had made on us. Our parties mostly consisted of kids’ birthdays these days and everyone was settling down into family life. And not one of us had any issues with that. I’d never seen my brothers look happier.

“We’ll leave soon,”I told Billie a couple hours later.

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