Page 10 of Inviting Trouble
Ty went on. “Zach’s out in no-man’s land, completely out of touch, so he won’t be here or at the wedding. As usual. Ethan, Ben, Marcus, and Logan should be here any minute.” Ty thought for a moment and looked around. “Where’s Mad? She was here earlier.” He looked to the ceiling and boomed, “Mad, you up there?”
No reply.
“She did all this,” Ty said, gesturing to the streamers festively hung all over the room.
“Really?” Park asked, surprised. He couldn’t really see Mad doing decorating stuff.
“She’s got this book club of women friends now,” Ty said with a smirk. “They read smutty books. They must’ve helped her out. I don’t think she would do such a good job by herself. You know Mad.”
Park inclined his head. Yeah, he did know Mad. At least he used to. Now that he was home for good, he wanted to be part of her life again. Nerves thrummed through him. “You want to shoot some hoops?”
Ty gave him a sideways look. “It’s freezing.”
Okay, it was mid-December, but the beer wasn’t cutting it for the jumpy feeling in his stomach, the prickly feeling along his legs that made him want to run hard just to get the extra energy out.
“Ty,” Alex called, “can you watch her for a minute? I need to make a phone call.”
“I got it,” Park said, volunteering. He was used to looking out for little Mad. Oh, man, that girl had given him heart attacks on a regular basis, fooling around on the stairs, hanging over the top rail, sliding down the banister. He went to the staircase, where Vivian was making the arduous journey to the top, the stairs extra high for her little legs. He scooped her up, and she squealed in delight. She felt so light, which made him nervous, like she was fragile.
“How about an elevator ride?” he asked, putting her in the crook of his arm like she was sitting on a chair.
“Wee!” she squealed.
He made an elevator noise, walking her up the stairs.
“More!” she exclaimed when they reached the top.
He turned and did the elevator back down.
“Who’s hungry?” Josh called, setting a platter of appetizers on the coffee table.
“Me!” Vivian hollered.
He set her in front of the food. She reached out with a wide-open hand, but Josh stopped her. “What do you want?” Josh asked, squatting next to her. “Point and I’ll put it on your plate.”
Park helped himself to bruschetta, pigs in a blanket, and some bacon-wrapped scallops.
“There’s more food coming,” Josh said as he put some pigs in a blanket on a plate for Vivian. “Dad’s warming up some chicken wings, meatballs, and meatloaf. I got all your favorites.” Josh straightened and grinned at Park. “Meat.”
“Awesome.”
The front door opened and the rest of the guys came in all at once. Park set his plate down, a smile so big it nearly brought tears to his eyes at the sight of his brothers. Logan Campbell, the brother only a year older than Park, and his blood brothers, the kids like him from troubled homes that had found each other through the Police Athletic League.
“Where the hell you been?” Park barked, clapping Logan on the back.
“Where the hellI’vebeen?” Logan fired back. “Whereyoubeen?”
Ethan Case saluted him with a small smirk. “Serving our country. We thank you for your service.”
Park socked Ethan in the stomach and met hard muscle. “Damn, you been working out.”
“Comes with the territory,” Ethan said. He was a cop like Joe, who’d taken them all under his wing.
He greeted Ben and Marcus with similar hug handshakes, his eyes tearing up. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed everyone.
They all stood there just staring at each other for a minute. The faces so familiar and yet different. Even in just the two years since he’d last seen them, they’d changed. Their faces showed the years of hard experience, yet there was some bone-deep part of him that knew them all the way through like only lifelong friends could.
He stepped out of their way. “Come in, there’s lots to eat.”
