Page 51 of Hartley

“This is our daughter, Olivia. Feel free to go off with herand ignore the rest of us tonight. We can be a bit much when we’re together.”

Olivia stepped next to Corbin. There was resemblance between her and her brother, Cody. She had the same curly brown hair but hers was long, pulled back in a low ponytail tonight. She was older than Ava. With that came a lot of knowledge and experience after what she’d been through. “Hi. I’m glad you could come. Want to head out back so we don’t have to watch Val stare Jordan down while Corbin and Vail try to get everyone to play nice?” Olivia had our number. That was what happened when she lived with Dremests.

“Yes, please.”

“Come on. Uncle Dex has food we can snack on outside.”

I smiled as they went through the kitchen out the sliding door to the patio.

“Thank you,” I said to Xaiden, Corbin, and Val. “I know you’re not friendly with Jordan, but this means a lot to us and to Ava. It will be good to have someone who understands what she’s going through better than we do.”

“Ignore Val,” Corbin laughed and put his arm around Val’s shoulders.

“You’re lucky I love you,” Val grumbled.

I put my arm around Jordan’s waist. “I’d tell you to ignore Jordan but that’s impossible.”

“I don’t know,” Val said. “I could achieve it.”

“Enough,” JJ said entering the living room. “No fighting in my house unless I start it. Since you left the creepy one out front, I’m happy. What’s up, old man?” He gave his father an up nod. “Ready to slit Val’s throat yet? There’s no blood to be spilled on my carpet.”

“As always, it’s lovely to be in your home,” Jordan replied drolly.

“Yeah, well, I aim to please.” JJ gripped the back of Val’s neck, giving him a little shake. “Would you chill? I told you we’re all cool here.”

“You might forget, but I don’t.” Val continued to glare at Jordan. I was about to say something when Hartley smoothly slid in front of Jordan.

“Can we stop posturing?” he asked with a forced smile. “I get that we don’t love each other, and we don’t need to, but I’m a pretty happy guy and we’re not here to see whose dick is bigger. We’re here for Ava and Olivia. If Jordan and Greer can play nice, you and Jordan can as well. K?” I had to resist planting a kiss on Hartley. I loved when he got assertive.

“I agree with Hartley,” Xaiden said. He didn’t talk as much as his partners, but he saw and heard everything. Xaiden had a quiet strength I admired. He would speak up and get into the thick of things, if need be, but he wasn’t nearly as irritated as Val was to be in Jordan’s presence. “We’re here for the girls. We’ll be friendly. We’re also aware of the new threat to you, Jordan, so while we wanted to get the girls together, we’re not exactly thrilled about the risk.”

“We agreed it was minimal with the amount of people we knew you’d bring with you,” Corbin said, his smile still in place. At least his was genuine.

“I’d sooner die than let anyone harm my son, partners, or Ava,” Jordan said firmly. “I understand the threat and am doing what I can to find and eliminate it. I’m honestly fucking tired of the bullshit and just want my family to thrive and be happy.”

“We know.” I pressed a kiss to Jordan’s cheek.

“Dinner!” Greer called through the screen door into the kitchen. “I hope you like beef because I made a fuck ton of it.”

“Lovely,” Xaiden said sarcastically. “I can’t wait.”

“Don’t worry, I have a chicken breast for you.”

Xaiden turned and led us through the kitchen to the patio. “You didn’t have to cook specially for me, Greer.”

“Please,” he scoffed, “You’re family. Now get over here and help me plate this.”

Xaiden chuckled. “Just like family to put me to work.”

“You know it.”

I enjoyed listening to them talk. It was like hanging out with my sister. While Xaiden and Greer weren’t blood brothers, they’d known each other for a long time before Greer ever got with Dexen and JJ.

Dexen walked to Greer and smacked his ass. “Would you leave my brother alone? Wait, never mind. Put him to work.” Dexen grinned and spun away before Xaiden could make a move.

I helped bring plates to the table while Val and Jordan kept themselves a smart distance apart when they sat. Ava and Olivia were huddled on a swing in the backyard. They stood to come over, but I told them to grab food and go back to talking. The whole point of tonight was to bring them together.

Ava’s smile was big as she talked with Olivia. This was hopefully the start of a good friendship between them. I wouldn’t force them to hang out again if they didn’t get along, but thankfully, that didn’t seem to be the case.

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