Page 24 of Wilder
Wilder winks at me, then grins at my child, making a funny face, and lifts both hands in the air. “Yes! I can’t wait to swing on the monkey bars!”
Chase’s head swivels to mine. “I wanna swing da monkey baws, too, Mama.”
A smile creeps onto my face as I melt inside all over again.Don’t cry. No. Don’t.I draw in a shuddering breath. “I think you might finally have some friends tall enough to help you do that, baby.”
TEN
BECKHAM
Ahhh,fuck. This kid is fun. Chase squeals as he zips down the slide into my waiting arms. I immediately turn him around and guide him as he scrambles back up the slide. I taught him that. I smirk at the semi-irked look Echo is giving me.
“Becky, maybe you’re not the best influence after all.”
Chase is inside the alcove at the top of the slide where there’s a steering wheel and a window that he probably can’t quite see out of, but he’s making noises like he’s driving the ship, anyway. His mother is close enough to grab, so I do, hauling Echo up and spinning her around in repayment for her smart, sassy mouth—a smart, sassy mouth that I want to kiss the fuck out of right now. I nuzzle the side of her neck, then bite down on the tender flesh as I continue to hold her in my arms with her legs dangling and my hand splayed over her delectable backside. “Call me Becky one more time, and I’ll spank this lush ass.” I give a playful squeeze that has her sucking in her breath and my dick stiffening behind my jeans. “Besides, you know I’m the best influence, especially when it comes to you. I’ll show you again sometime, if you’ll let me.” I flick my tongue out, rather obscenely kissing her neck under the cover of her flame-red hair.
“Quit mauling me in front of my son.” Her demand is followed by a laugh as I nip at her earlobe.
“If Chase weren’t right there, you’d love it if I took things further. Don’t deny it.”
Her eyes sparkle as she laughs and swats at me. “Shut up, Becky.”
I finally set her on her feet with a salacious wink. “You’ll pay for that later, Calamity Jane.”
She grins, throwing a smile over her shoulder as she walks toward Royal, who’s on the other side of the slide. “I always pay my debts.”
Royal immediately draws her back to his front as he watches Wilder taking his turn helping Chase. His stance with Echo, as well as his eyes on Chase, tell me he’s as possessive as ever. But he’s got this obvious interest in everything Wilder does, and… I gotta say, I’m getting an interesting vibe from him as well. I don’t have a clue how that’ll play out, but I wouldn’t kick Royal out of bed for eating crackers, that’s for damn sure. My eyes trail down his muscular body, then immediately up Echo’s. I exhale as my focus shifts to Wilder, remembering the scene of the four of us in bed together.Fuck.I’ve gotta rein it in.
“Move aside, man, the pilot of the spaceship wants to exit the craft.” Wilder nudges me aside as he makes some goofy fucking sound effects and beckons to Chase that he should come down, but Chase immediately holds his arms out, wanting him closer, so Wilder positions himself beside the slide, taking the toddler’s hands in his. That’s all it takes, and Chase blasts right on down. I think he about gives Wilder a heart attack, but fortunately, my friend is agile as fuck and recovers quickly enough to snatch Chase up just as he’d have probably face-planted. “Ha. Well, I see what Royal meant. You’re a little daredevil sometimes, aren’t ya?”
Chase wrinkles his nose, then points to the monkey bars for the third time since we’ve been here.
“We’d better get going soon, I think.” Echo’s words have Chase’s little lip quivering. She disengages from Royal and hurries over to squat in front of her energetic child. “One more time, okay? Then we have to get back home. I promised Aunt Kara I’d make dinner tonight.”
Royal and Wilder both wave Chase over to the shiny play equipment and assist him, passing him from one pair of hands to the other as they maneuver him across the bars.
“He’s so happy.”
“Yeah, he is.” I swing an arm around her neck, tugging her to my side.
When Chase makes it all the way across, we all cheer like idiots, which makes the little guy grin big, then Royal and Wilder encourage him to slap them high fives, which puts him into overdrive, and he runs around in tight circles, shooting his chubby toddler arms into the air.Oh boy.You’d think he’d have run and climbed out all that energy, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.
As the guys corral Chase and make their way back over to us, a sniffle from beside me gets my attention. I look down to find Echo’s chest flushed with color, her nose quickly reddening.
I turn her to me and dip my head even with hers, catching her cheek with my hand. “Hey. What’s this?”
She stares into my eyes, hers all glossy with unshed tears before flicking her gaze over to the pair trying to wrangle her son so we can head back to the house. She swallows hard, like she’s got a lump the size of an elephant caught in her throat. “I-I didn’t expect this.”
“Gorgeous girl, I don’t like to see you upset, but at least this is the good kind of emotion building up in those eyes, right? Take a deep breath for me.”
She nods, closing her eyes and slowly filling her lungs with air before she lets it all go again.
Royal’s got a sweaty, squirming Chase in his arms as the trio walks over to join us. His gaze moves swiftly from Echo’s bowed head to me. “Everything okay?” He gently turns the child’s head so he can’t see his mother’s distress.
I tug Echo close again. “Oh, we’re good. Just having a moment.”
Wilder and Royal exchange an uncertain look.
I jut my chin toward the path, signaling that we should go. I get the feeling Echo really doesn’t want to say anything more about what she’s feeling. Honestly, I think she’s simply overwhelmed to find out that we’re more than willing to be part of Chase’s life. But I swear to fuck the maternal aura she gives off is part of what does it for me. And obviously, a child comes with that. He’s an extension of her. Not to mention he’s so fuckin’ cute, I can’t stand it.
