“What in the hell happened to you?”
Wyatt and Wes were on the couch, each holding one of the girls. Wyatt cradled Veda in his arms while Jane looked snug as a bug curled into Wes. The giant of a man was absolutely terrified of little Jane when she first came into Wyatt’s life. Now, he was nearly as wrapped around her finger as my brother. They both turned to me. There was a touch of appreciation in Wes’s nod to me. Wyatt’s smirk tugged at his lips, loving the fact that I looked like a fuckup who gets into bar fights. It was a stupid thing to do, but I couldn’t bring myself to regret it. The dick deserved to be decked in the face once or twice.
“You should see the other guy, Dad,” Wyatt joked.
“You weren’t even there,” I grumbled.
“I heard what happened.”
I shot my gaze to Wes. It wasn’t like I could have expected him to keep his mouth shut. Wyatt was his best friend; he was bound to say something.
“Lose the fucking attitude, brother. Yeah, Wes told me what happened. Along with at least twelve other people in the last week. Although it would have been nice to hear it from you.”
That was fair. If it were the other way around, I wouldn’t want to hear it through the grapevine. Then again, as a police officer, if one of my brothers was picked up for a bar fight, I would have heard about it before they were escorted from the cruiser. Wyatt had his hands full between his fiancée, a toddler, an infant, and his shop; the last thing he needed was to get involved in the drama that my life had turned into.
“Hear about what?” Reid asked from behind me as hewalked into the house with Claire. “Luke’s one-two knockout with fu…freaking Monroe?”
Reid had started watching his language as soon as Jane came into our lives, even though Wyatt dropped more f-bombs than any one of us.
“I didn’t knock him out.” I rolled my eyes. This town had a way of exaggerating the truth as stories passed from one person to the next.
Claire cringed at my face… always an ego boost when that happened. “That looks like it hurts.”
“It’s fine,” I told her.
“What am I missing? Did Reid say you got into a fight with Monroe? Matt Monroe? Were you sparring or something?” my dad asked.
I opened my mouth to explain, but Sheila beat me to it as she and Maeve walked out of the kitchen. “Oh, Luke, look at you. How are you feeling? I have some arnica cream that will help with the bruises. Let me get it for you,” she fussed. “I’m not usually an advocate for fistfights, but it sounded to me like that boy had it coming.”
“Sheila!” Wyatt hissed-yelled, trying not to wake the baby on his chest. “When did you get so bloodthirsty?”
“Wait… you knew about this?” my father asked, his eyes pinging around the room. It looked like everyone had already heard about my brawl except for him.
“I told you he was a douche,” Reid quipped. I glared at him, rolling my eyes at his smart-ass comment.
“Matt and Juliet…” I trailed off, scratching at my jaw.
My father’s jaw hit the floor. He huffed, unamused, “Ha. Say no more.” Shaking his head, he added, “I hope he looks a lot worse than you.”
“Luke held his own,” Wes said from the couch. His deep rumble was the final word on the conversation, thankfully.
With the inquisition out of the way, I turned to Sheila so I could change the subject to literally anything else. “Dinner smells great. I know these asshats are lazy, but let me know if I can help.” I tilted my head in the direction of my father, Wyatt, and Wes. It didn’t escape my notice that the men were all sitting in the living room while the women were in the kitchen. This wasn’t some 1950s bullshit.
“No, no. I’ve got everything covered,” she replied. “You just sit and relax. Dinner will be ready soon.”
Veda was waking from where she rested on Wyatt’s chest, her little head wiggling around as she searched for a food source. Wyatt looked down at her in complete awe and captivation before turning to Maeve. “You know I would help if I could, doll, but this is all you.”
Maeve obviously bottle-fed Jane since she hadn’t given birth to her and didn’t have a milk source, but she had decided to breastfeed Veda, so feedings weren’t something that Wyatt participated in. Although his hungry eyes as he tracked his fiancée as she walked toward him and Veda told me he would be happy to do so. Wyatt pulled Maeve in for a kiss that started sweet but was turning obscene quickly. She pulled back, her face flushed, and took Veda from him. He didn’t take his eyes off her until she was officially out of sight.
Reid took a seat on the other side of the L-shaped couch and pulled Claire down with him to sit on his lap. She wrapped her arm around him, her fingers combing through his hair absently. My father got up to follow Sheila into the kitchen, giving her a chaste kiss along the way. The love in this house was overwhelming, almost stifling, but still, it brought a smileto my face.
Sheila had whipped up a full chicken, three side dishes, and a salad like it was nothing. In fairness, to her, it probably was nothing special. She had owned and operated the Downtown Diner for decades. We sat around the table with Dad at the head of the table and Sheila at his right. Claire and Reid completed that side of the table. Wyatt was at the foot of the table with Maeve to his right. After all the couples had found seats near their partners, Wes and I were left as the awkward two single folks to round out the table.
Luckily, conversation stayed away from my bruises and any further discussion about my failed marriage and backstabbing partner. With two babies in the house, it was easy to put the attention on Wyatt and Maeve’s family instead of me. Reid was making good progress on the house he was building for himself and Claire. Everyone seemed to have good things happening for them right now. Except me.
“Luke, have you talked to Scarlett lately?” Claire asked.
“Every day, why?” Claire was always a pretty sunny person, but her smile right now looked more calculated than happy. She looked across the table at me with a satisfied smirk on her face.
