Page 44 of The Wildcat

“Yeah. Those nicknames suck.” I walk away and see Kerrigan’s confused little eyes bouncing like a pinball between Everly and her sister.

“Cross,” Everly calls to me, and I move as if being pulled by an invisible string. “Cross Wilder, I’d like to introduce you to my other half, my sister, Grace.”

“It’s so nice to meet you, Cross,” Grace offers and then reaches out. “Could I hold the baby?”

“Sure. But fair warning. He’s cranky,” I tell her as Ares moves in next to us.

“Dude. There’s two of them.” He doesn’t even bother to whisper, and Everly and Grace both glare.

“You’re an asshole,” I mutter, but Ares keeps going.

“Did you guys ever, ya know... switch places?”

At least that’s all he asks, because I thought he was going somewhere else with that question. “Why did I bring you?”

“We did it a few times growing up. No one could ever tell us apart.” Everly smiles like she’s remembering a funny story she can’t share in front of little ears.

“You guys used to try that shit every summer,” the bartender grunts.

“And you’d fall for it every time,” Grace laughs.

The bartender, whose name I know but I’d rather ignore, crosses his arms over his chest. “You’re identical twins. Of course we’d fall for it. It was impossible to tell you apart.”

Dumbass. I run my thumb over Everly’s cheek. It’s been minutes, and I can already tell them apart. “You have a freckle on your cheek.” I look over again at Grace. “Yours is on your right cheek. Grace’s is on her left.”

Ares laughs, and bartender boy stares like he’s never noticed before. Maybe he really doesn’t have a thing for my girl.

MaybeI’ll start using his name.

“They used to wear more makeup,” he grunts.

Grace runs her hand over Jax’s back as he snuggles in against her chest, then she cups Maddox’s cheek with the same hand. “We’ve never worn that much makeup, Madman, but nice try.” She turns to me and flashes a smile so similar to her sister’s, it’s almost eerie. “I knew you were one of the good ones.”

Grace hands Jax off to Everly, who’s never held my son before. “I’m going to go shower and change. Practice was awful today, and my whole body hurts.”

“You need any help in the shower?” Ares asks Grace, and she’s polite enough to just laugh, not tell my idiot brother off.

Everly, on the other hand, looks like she’s contemplating his death.

“You want to die, God of War?” Yup—contemplating his death. I was right.

He puts his hands up in front of himself, and I think I hear Maddox growl. Then the strangest thing happens. As if in slo-mo, Kerrigan moves in front of Maddox and grabs his hand.

My daughter, who doesn’t talk to strangers.

“It’s okay. Daddy says Uncle Ares gets hit in the head too many times, and ice is hard. We have to be nice to him.”

The dude looks like he’s about to choke on his laughter, but he mans up and doesn’t laugh at my kid, who’s clearly very serious right now. Instead, he lays his arm across the back of the couch, where he and Kerrigan are both sitting, and watches as she scooches closer to him. “Your uncle is lucky to have you watching his back.”

She nods silently and settles in next to him, like some kind of alternate reality where she likes strangers. I stand there, stuck in place for a few beats before turning to my brother. “Do you ever think before you speak?”

Ares looks less than impressed. “What the fuck, dude? Too many hits to the head?”

“Be grateful that’s all I told her.”

He walks away, sulking.

Everly laughs as she steps into me, her beautiful body swaying to a silent beat to soothe my son. “I swear, I didn’t know everyone was going to be here today when I invited you. I hope this is okay.”

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