Page 72 of Collision of Winters
“It’s over,” Wade confirmed. “Everything went well.”
“Aside from the fact that I wanna ground you and Coach too,” Dad huffed. He clapped me on the back and eased off.
That was funny, picturing my Daddy grounded and moping.
“Don’t even try,” Wade replied dryly. “You raised a Winters. What did you expect?”
Oooh, shots fired!
“You’re puttin’ this on me?” Dad turned to disbelief. “We agreed to protect him from the family business, and thenyoutell him all about it.”
It was the perfect time for Chris to walk toward us. “Fellas, fellas—calm down. Kayden’s where he’s supposed to be. Can we eat pancakes now?”
“Yeah, I’m hungry,” I chimed in.
We got lucky in the lunch rush and were shown to the last booth in the iconic diner, and I slid in next to Wade.
Dad and Chris took the other side, and neither of us required a lot of time with the novel-length menu. We all wanted pancakes with sides of bacon and some other toppings, and I ordered a large Coke too.
That one earned me a wry smirk from Wade, but he said nothing.
Booyah.
It was a good time to take out the earpiece and hand it back to Chris, with the wristband.
Chris and Dad covered the small talk, which in this case revolved around the case they’d worked. Everyone was relieved it was finally over. I was safe again, and, as Chris said, he had fewer targets on his back.
I quirked a brow. “That sounds ominous.”
“It also sounds worse than it is,” he assured.
Their coffees and my soda arrived quickly, and I pinched the paper tip off the straw.
“Can we talk about your future now, son?” Dad asked. “You want to become a logistics officer at Hillcroft?”
“Yessir, I know I’d be good at it with the right training.” I sucked from the straw. Ahhh, deliciousness.
Chris sat back and smirked. “Don’t you two have an announcement first?”
I shot him a look.
“For chrissakes.” Wade wasn’t too happy either. “Have you heard of tact and timing?”
“Life’s too short,” Chris chuckled and sipped his coffee. “Go on.”
“Go on with what?” Dad became suspicious and glanced between the three of us. “Am I missing somethin’?”
Jeesh. My stomach tightened, and I glanced up at Wade. To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t too worried; Quinlan Winters was a kind man, and he was very open-minded. People’s first impressions of him usually included being intimidated or thinking he was a gruff old-timer you didn’t want to meet in a dark alley. But once you got to know him, he was all heart and generosity.
That said… He was protective of me, and our family ties could blur things in an initial reaction.
“Aw, you gotta be fucking kidding me.” Dad grimaced and scrubbed his hands over his face. I stared, wide-eyed. We hadn’t said anything yet!
Wade sighed and winced. “I’d apologize, but I’m not sorry.”
Wait, did he know or not? We hadn’t told him! What was happening?
Chris was still smirking. “No secrets,” he mouthed.
