Page 45 of Playing the Neutral Zone

I looked over to see her holding something in her hands.

“What you got there?”I asked, getting up out of the chair I was sitting and making my way toward her.

She giggled as she opened her tiny hands to show me a little frog she’d caught.

“I found him.Can I keep him?”she asked, looking up at me with hopeful eyes.

“Oh, well, I don’t think he’d be happy at home,” I said.

“Yes, he can live in a jar.I will make him a bed and everything.”

“No, sweet pea, he needs to be outside with all his other frog friends.Now, how about we put him down in the flower bed over there?”I said, pointing toward Aurora’s small garden while guiding her over to the corner.

She looked down at the small frog in her hand and sniffled.

“Sorry I can’t take you home,” she said to her hands, clasping them together as the frog tried to crawl away.

“Let him go right here.”I pointed to a shady spot under one flower.

“Okay.”She sniffled as she released the frog and watched him hop away.

I placed a kiss on her forehead, picked her up, and carried her over to the small sandbox Dylan had been working on for Jackson, then I made my way back over to the guys.

“So, you seem distraught.Everything okay?”Knox asked as I sat down.

I looked over at Scarlett to see she was knee deep in a conversation with Lorelai and Aurora and then looked back at the guys, who all sat there waiting for me to answer Knox’s question.

“This doesn’t leave this group.”

“Got it,” they all said in unison.

“I mean it, not a fucking word of it,” I whispered.

The guys all looked at me, a seriousness falling over them.

“Got it,” Dylan said, sitting down, leaning forward and resting his forearms on his knees.

“I got a letter this morning from a family law office in New York.Apparently, Mia’s mom is coming after her.”

The look on the guys’ faces was the same as mine, and I could tell none of them knew what to say.

“When did you find this out?”Colton asked.

“This morning.The letter was in my pile of mail.Thing is, she’s never been a part of Mia’s life after she walked out that door, so I do not know how she even found me.”

Colton glanced over his shoulder to where the girls sat, quickly drawing my attention to them.

“What about her?”he asked.

“No fucking way would she ever do something like that,” I said with certainty in my voice.

“What are you going to do about it?”Dylan asked.

“Get myself a lawyer because there is no way she is taking Mia from me.”

Chapter 13

Scarlett - Wednesday Morning

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