“Shit, man. You’re gonna be lucky to have everything set up by Christmas at this point.”
No shit, Sherlock. Travis clamped his jaw shut and tried his best to ignore his brothers.
“Lay off him,” Braydon said in a mock sympathetic tone. “He doesn’t need us to tell him he’s gonna look like a jackass when he doesn’t have a present for his wife.”
The room erupted in laughter and Travis stared down at his phone, noticing he had a text message, but the phone must’ve been turned to silent.
Nope. You know how to use the internet, ya know.
So not helping.
“What about you?” Travis asked Kaleb directly. “You find that heartfelt gift for your wife yet?”
The scowl on Kaleb’s face told him that he wasn’t having any more luck with finding the perfect present than anyone else in the room.
“So, what’s the plan for Mom and Dad?” Ethan asked, always the one to get right to the point.
Considering that was the whole reason they’d all gathered around Travis’ kitchen table first thing on a Monday morning when they all should be at work, they truly needed to get this worked out.
From the looks of it, Travis was going to run out of time completely, and sitting around wasn’t helping.
♀♀♀♀
Kylie
“I still don’t know where you put all that,” V said to Zoey as the foursome finished their breakfast.
Kylie grinned, loving the banter between the women. These shopping trips had become a regular thing with the four of them, and the more they got together, the closer they became. Granted, Monday mornings generally weren’t reserved for shopping excursions, but there were a few last minute things they were all looking to get, which meant they had to make time where they could.
“I’m eating for two, don’t you know?” Zoey laughed, grabbing her orange juice and finishing it off.
“Exactly. Two. Not ten,” V said good-naturedly.
“Sometimes I feel like there are ten of them in there,” Zoey added, grabbing the last piece of bacon from her plate.
“How are you feeling? Last time I talked to you, you said you were tired all the time,” Jessie asked, pushing her plate away as she stared over at Zoey.
“Well, nothing’s changed on that front.” Zoey’s grin was mischievous, and Kylie laughed. If she had to guess, Zoey’s exhaustion wasn’t just related to pregnancy.
“We do not want to hear about your sex life,” V said with a grin, reading Kylie’s mind.
“Sure we do,” Jessie teased. “I’m all for hearing about someone else’s sex life.”
“Right. Like you don’t have enough action to write a romantic suspense novel.” V winked at Jessie as she pushed her half empty bowl of oatmeal away.
“Not the point.” Jessie laughed. “And besides, my sister here is the one with the action. I’m still not sure how she manages to crawl out of bed each day. Not with two cowboys like that flanking her through the night.”
Kylie turned to face her younger sister, trying to come up with a witty comeback, but nothing came. It was the truth, Travis and Gage ensured each and every night that she was well sated. And sometimes, when she wasn’t in the mood, they would turn to one another, which was just as erotic to watch as it was to join in.
The waitress arrived, clearing the empty plates and setting the check down on the edge of the table and letting them know there was no rush.
Sure there was. They were now counting down to Christmas and if they didn’t get a move on, Kylie feared she’d never find that perfect gift for Travis and Gage. Unfortunately, no matter how hard she had tried, she still had not found them anything. Well, nothing other than a few novelty items that she knew they’d love.
“You finished over there? Or are you ready to order lunch?” V teased Zoey and the table erupted in laughter, including Zoey.
Zoey was usually the first one to joke about how much she ate these days. By the looks of her, Zoey had gained the weight of the baby, and that was about it.
“Keep it up and I’ll do just that,” Zoey said, trying to sound serious but failing.
“I’ve got this,” Kylie said, grabbing the check before V could snatch it up off of the table.
“No way. You bought last time,” V argued. “It’s my turn.”
“The hell it is,” Zoey said firmly. “It’s my turn.”
“Nuh-uh. This time it’s my turn,” Jessie added.
While the three of them argued, Kylie slipped her credit card into the little leather bound booklet and handed it off to the waitress when she walked by.