Page 55 of Flirt

Chapter Twenty-One

Gabriella

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Ifelt my face flamingas I rushed down the hallway toward the kitchen. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the women, but I knew I could handle their ribbing better than the men’s.

When I walked into the kitchen, the women were talking to each other as they each worked on different tasks to get dinner set up buffet style on the island.

“Where do you want these?” I asked, holding up the paper plates and plastic cups as all heads whipped in my direction.

“Look who finally made it back. Did you and Flirt have to make the plates and cups? We thought we were going to have to eat without you guys,” Carly said, then snickered. The other women shook their heads and rolled their eyes at Carly while my face felt as if it was going to burst into flames.

“Ignore her, Brie. You can put a stack there,” Sami said and pointed to the open space at one end of the bar, “then place the rest inside the pantry, so the packages are out of the way. Flirt can take those back to his place when you guys are ready to leave. It’s probably what he regularly eats on, then he doesn’t have to wash dishes.”

“Dominic would use them at every meal. He cooked dinner last week when I had a meeting after school, and I came home to a spaghetti-soaked paper plate in the microwave,” River said.

“We don’t even have any in the house. Emery does most of the cooking, and I’ve never seen him use one, even for a sandwich,” Mac said as she looked over her shoulder at us while putting together a salad.

“We don’t use them either, but I admit, it would come in handy. I do all the cooking now since I came home to Lance’s idea of a hearty dinner of beans and weenies. Thank goodness, I prepared meals ahead of time before Brock was born because I don’t think I could have handled any of Lance’s cooking,” Bailey said, and I grinned when I saw her glance at the doorway that led into the living room. I could hear the noise from the TV and the men talking, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Surprised Sawyer hadn’t come to look for me, I leaned as far as I could over the island to look into the living room. I could see Coast on the floor with Tracker, and Sawyer and the other kids sitting on the floor playing a game around the coffee table, but for the other men and babies, they were out of view from my position.

“Please, what do you think Brax and I have been eating on since we brought the boys home. Washing dishes is one less chore to do,” Luna said, then reached over and snatched a cucumber slice from the cutting board Mac was using and popped it into her mouth.

“Bitch, like you have to do that many fucking chores by yourself. I know for a damn fact Shakes helps you out, and Ghost hardly lets you lift a finger when he is home,” Carly said, and I smiled when Luna flipped her off.

It hadn’t taken me long after meeting all the women to realize that Sami, Bailey, River, and Mac were calm compared to Carly and Luna. They were fun to be around, and they had welcomed Sawyer and me into the fold before Max had even come into the picture.

When I first moved to Shades Valley and started my practice, I questioned daily my decision of moving Sawyer and me away from our family. Since meeting the women and men of Black Hawk, it was starting to feel more like home.

“Shakes comes over and watches the boys so I can shower and get a few things done. It isn’t as if she’s doing chores and waiting on me while I sit on my butt. And the motivation behind Brax helping is because he hopes I will give him at least one more kid. The man has it in his head that we need a little girl to round out our family. I said we could revisit that idea later after I’ve had time to forget what childbirth felt like. Besides, if the boys don’t slow down on my nipples, I will need to have reconstructive surgery. The way the two go at them, they are definitely going to be breast men,” Luna said and rolled her eyes.

All of us chuckled, but then started laughing when Sami, River, Bailey, and I replied at the same time, “I have a daughter he can have.”

“Yeah, thanks, but no thanks. Ally has no filter. Neely has a temper. Sawyer doesn’t talk; she asks questions. Poppy...well, okay, maybe Poppy. She’s still young enough she hasn’t picked up any bad habits from you and Jag,” Luna said, looking over at River.

“Pfft, our girls,” River said, pointing to Sami, Bailey, me, then to her own chest, “on their worst day will never be as bad as a little girl you have.”

“I am so hurt,” Luna said, placed her hand over her heart, and batted her eyelashes. I laughed, enjoying the women’s antics and the fact their focus wasn’t on me. I wanted to share about marrying Max with my friends, but I thought Sawyer needed to be told first.

“We all might believe that if you had fucking feelings to hurt,” Carly replied as she pulled the aluminum foil off a huge pan of chicken. Then set it on the island with the various other steaming bowls of food.

“I was going to be the bigger person, but with that remark, I hope you have cash on hand,” Luna said, and the smile she gave to Carly made her look sinister.

“For what?” Carly sneered.

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