“Damn straight,” I said, leaning in for a kiss. Her lips were so soft against mine it made me a little delirious. And she was sweet like strawberries and smelled like orange Creamsicle suntan lotion. It was a heady combination, and I considered handing Gibson to Liam and staying in the car with Anna so we could spend a little quality time together. It had been too long, nearly three whole days, and with her due date right around the corner, I knew it might be three more until she was comfortable enough to get horny. This last week and a half were going to be long for me as well as for her, just for different reasons.
As our kiss deepened, I heard Liam make a disgusted noise and open the car door. Gibson whined about wanting to see Ryder, so I sadly disengaged from my wife to take care of my daughter. Anna was breathing a little heavier when we separated, and I reconsidered my earlier assessment of her libido. I knew the gleam in her eye fairly well, and I was certain we’d be busting out the toys tonight. Maybe something pink, with a lovely hint of vibration to give my girl that oh-so-special release that she deserved. She was about to deliver my second child, after all.
“Ready?” she asked. My hands flew to my jeans and I started unfastening them. Shit, if she wanted to do it now, I was all in for that. Surely someone would remove Gibson for us. Laughing, Anna stopped my fumbling fingers. “No.” She nodded outside, to where my family was gathering and staring. “Ready to see the guys again?”
I sighed, remembering the last words I’d spoken to Kellan when we’d parted ways. Thanks for being a complete and total tool and yanking me around for the past few weeks. That was awesome. We should do it again sometime. Or never. We could try that.
Kellan had given me a Try to understand face. It wasn’t intentional. We just didn’t have time to properly plan anything. Next tour, okay?
I’d walked away without even dignifying that comment with a response. Next tour sounded an awfully lot like Tomorrow, Griffin, tomorrow. But the problem with tomorrow was that it never actually came to pass. There was always another one, waiting.
Shaking off my malaise, I gave Anna a bright smile. “I’m always ready. For anything.” Stepping out of the car, I walked to the back to unleash my child. Once she was wrapped around me tight, like a python crushing the life out of its prey, we headed up the numerous steps to Kellan’s front door.
Mom was huffing and puffing long before we reached the top. Maybe this would convince her to ease back on the cigs. “Wow…he needs an elevator,” she murmured. Having had the same thought more than once, I agreed with her.
When we got to the top, we were all grateful that the trek was over with. At least the trip back to the car wasn’t so bad. I set Gibson down while Mom rang the doorbell. I told Mom to just go inside, but she ignored me. Guess she figured she couldn’t be as informal as me, since she hadn’t met Kellan yet.
With a charming smile, Kellan opened the door and welcomed us all inside. I could tell right off the bat that Mom and Chelsey were a bit taken with Kellan’s looks. Their gazes flicked over his jaw, his hair, his “smoldering” eyes, and their smiles grew with each feature they studied. Whatever. He couldn’t rock a pair of shorts like I could. Dude had chicken legs. No one ever mentioned that about him, but it was true. His feet were tiny too, but that was to be expected since, well…everyone knew the answer to that.
Feeling pretty good in my size thirteen shoes—in your face, Kellan!—I sauntered through the door after the women. Kiera had wandered into the entryway, and extended her hand to my mom in greeting. “Hello, Mrs. Hancock. I’m Kiera, this is Kellan. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
Mom looked back at me as she shook Kiera’s hand. “Yes, I don’t know how we missed so many opportunities to meet while you were visiting Los Angeles. It’s almost like it was orchestrated…”
I shrugged at her implication. “We were recording an album. That’s kind of time-consuming.”
Mom rolled her eyes then looked back at Kiera. “You have a lovely home…but way too many steps.”
“We get that a lot,” Kellan said with a laugh. I swear Chelsey let out a wistful sigh beside me. That better be because she missed her husband. If she turned into a simpering, starstruck Kellan fanatic, I was going to smack her. Repeatedly, if necessary.
I indicated her once Mom was done with Kellan. “This is my sister, Chelsey. These are her kids, Dawn and Della.” They were running around the group of us in one big looping circle, chasing Gibson, so I merely pointed in their general direction.
Kiera’s eyes turned sympathetic as she took Chelsey’s hand. “Sister, huh? You have my condolences.”
Kellan laughed again, and I swear my sister muttered, “Damn.” More loudly, she said to Kiera, “Thanks. There have been times when I’ve needed them.”
With a guffawing noise of disbelief, I raised an eyebrow at Chelsey. She may get smacked just for fun if she kept it up. “The only sympathy you’ve ever needed was over the fact that you could never be as awesome as me. You’ve come close a time or two, but you’re still so far…”
Chelsey smiled at my joke. She was one of the rare human beings who saw the humor behind the things I said, and she usually didn’t get too irritated at me. Usually.
Dad and Liam were finally in the house, so I introduced them too. “This is my dad, Gregory, and my brother, Liam.”
Liam immediately reached out for Kiera’s hand. When she extended it to him, he daintily kissed her knuckles, like we were suddenly back in the fifteenth century or something. I nearly expected him to tell her that her beauty hath no rival, or something equally flowery, but all he said was, “Nice to meet you.” You wasted your moment, dumbass.