Page 24 of Higher Notes

Mom and I were far too passive and played more nurturing roles in Gabe’s life when what he desired, whether he knew it or not, was structure and rules.

“What did I ever do to deserve you, Jase?”

“You made me the man that I am, Mom.”

“Way to make your mother cry. I won’t deny how desperate I am to get the kids out of here and out of that school. One more lockdown and I may lose my mind.”

“You and me both. Seriously, consider staying home for a while and figure out who Dana is and what Dana would like to do with her life.”

“I won’t deny how tired I am. I’ve missed so much of all your lives, and I hate that.”

“Now it’s time to change that. You deserve a better life, Mom, you just need to figure out what that entails. You’re young and beautiful and I just want you to be happy.”

“You have always been my beacon of light, Jase.” She squeezed my hand and sighed. “Sadly, I’m way past the age of modeling for sure. Maybe something along the line of fashion. Who knows. Jase, I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, Mom. Now start researching your dream home and figure out what we’re filling it with.”

“Love. A home is nothing without love.”

“That we have ten-fold, Mom.” Right on cue, Sikes and Snipe returned with the kids. They thought it was best to take them out for ice cream while Mom and I talked. I had a feeling it was more like their way of getting ice cream and using the kids as an excuse.

“Wyatt, Hayden. Thank you, seriously. Thank you.”

“Mommy, why are you crying?” Nicole dropped Sikes’ hand like a hot potato and ran straight toward Mom.

“These are happy tears, sweet girl. We get to move into a big house where everyone will have their own rooms thanks to Jason, Wyatt, and Hayden.” It cracked me up how Mom and Nicole both refused to call them Sikes and Snipe. Initially both Mom and Nicole mixed them up a couple of times but once they got it down they refused to call them anything else. And Nolan calling Snipe Mr. Sniper was freaking adorable.

Nicole and Nolan cheered. Gabe’s eyes widened but that was the best we’d get. I wish I knew what the disconnect was with him. Mom was very affectionate with us and because of that so were the rest of us. All except for Gabe.

“No need to thank us, ma’am,” Snipe said. “You’re family and families take care of each other.” Well, that threw her back into a fit of tears and before he realized it, he had arms full of Mom.

My Social Sinners brothers had it right—family doesn’t need blood to form a bond, it only needs to have a heart. And my family was living proof of just that.

How was it I had zero fear about this big transition in my life? Not so much moving my family to a better place but moving in with two men I’d only just started dating? But it felt right. Like bone deep, without question right. They wanted the best not only for me but for my family and that right there sealed the deal for me.

Never having been in love before, I still knew there was no way what I felt for Sikes and Snipe was anything but that. Who did that? Just jumped into the deep end and upended their life for another. Kids and mom included. I sensed nothing off key about any of this and was well aware of the extensive background checks they went through, not only within their own organization but with Masterson as well.

They were on the up and up. No bullshit, no closets with shit spilling out of it. Just good, honest, hard working men with huge hearts.

The stress of leaving Mom and the kids for months on end wasn’t as weighted as it once was, and I got the feeling she wanted to be home with the kids as much as we wanted her to be. She blamed herself for Gabe’s negative attitude but having lived the same life in the same place as him, it made no sense to me.

While Mom got the kids bathed and ready for bed, Sikes, Snipe and I headed back to the hotel.

“When do you guys return to Vegas?” I hated the thought of them leaving. We’d fallen into sharing the same bed every night and I dreaded going back to the lonely, lumpy couch. I knew it was temporary, but that still sucked.

“Deuce is in Vegas now checking out apartments. We let Fizzbo know about the house, so I think we’ll book at an extended-stay hotel until it closes.” Sikes turned into the parking garage.

“Fizzbo will figure all that out,” Snipe added. “Are you gonna stay with us when we get back?”

“What if I, um, what if I tagged along to Vegas and helped you pack up?” Selfish much? Maybe, but just having found my partners, I wasn’t about to relent. Not even for a few days.

“Works for me.” The timing across the board couldn’t have gone better if we planned it.

Life was great.

“I see a lot of myself in Gabe.” Snipe’s words shocked the hell out of me. We’d just slid into the hotel jacuzzi after they’d worked out. I rode the treadmill for a bit but that was the extent of my muscle mania.

“How so?”

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