A Redo (Sterling Shore 6)

I thread my fingers through Allie’s when Kade and Raya start splashing each other in the pool, their laughter replacing their anger. Allie leans against me, watching the couple as though she can’t look away, and a small, thoughtful grin plays on her lips.

Kade pulls Raya flush against his body, sucking her bottom lip before pulling her into a kiss that has me turning away. The second things start getting heated in a new way, we back away from the patio doors.

“Bye,” I tell my uncle through a laugh. He laughs and waves before shaking his head and heading back through the house.

Allie sighs happily, glancing back as though she’s looking for Raya and Kade one last time, and I swallow hard while pulling her with me to the car. Why the hell am I holding her hand?

“I’m not sure I want to see Tag,” she says under her breath when we get inside my car.

I grimace, but quickly try to recover. “He’s as different as I am. More so. He has a wife and a kid he loves more than life. And he has another little one on the way.”

Her eyes grow wide. “I saw them at the school, but I didn’t realize he was married. Or that the child was his.”

I fill her in on the reformed Tag, omitting the drama that got him there. She doesn’t need the closet secrets to know about the happy ending.

It doesn’t take us long to get there, but my eyes narrow when I see we’re not alone. Corbin Fucking Sterling is here, too.

His tall, broad-shouldered body steps out of his car, and his shoulder-length hair gets tossed around by the wind, catching Allie’s attention. This isn’t good.

“Damn,” he says in a loud breath as we get out. His eyes leisurely rake over Allie until she reaches my side.

Hell, I forgot to get her one of Raya’s shirts.

“What’s going on?” I ask, considering Corbin doesn’t hang out with Tag very often unless Dane is here.

“Came over to drop off Dane’s Christmas present for Rain.” He holds up a bag. “He has to hide shit well from her. She has no problem snooping through mine or the other guys’ houses, but she won’t snoop through Tag’s.”

Ah.

“You going to introduce me to the girl in your threads?” he drawls, letting his eyes fall on Allie again.

Trying not to grind my teeth, I motion between the two. “Allie, this is Corbin Sterling. Corbin, this is Allie Thrash.”

I make sure to annunciate her name slowly, letting the jackass realize she’s not just some random girl. Which is almost stupid, considering I don’t have random girls hanging on me. Hell, I just got divorced a few months ago.

Corbin’s smile grows. “Ah, Angel’s mom. Makes sense now.”

Allie tilts her head in confusion, and I groan inwardly before stupidly asking, “What does that mean?”

“She’s wearing your shirt, very little makeup, and just-fucked hair, but still looks tempting to me. She’s off-limits. Like I said, makes sense.”

Allie gasps, and I curse myself for opening the door for that one. Between him and Maverick, I don’t know who is worse. At least Corbin acts a little better around Rain, and she’ll be there this weekend.

“Sorry,” I mumble when Allie clutches my arm tighter.

“I have just-fucked hair?” she asks in a raspy voice. Now that it’s been mentioned…

“No. It looks nothing like that,” I lie, slipping my arm around her shoulders to keep her away from Corbin.

“You’re lying,” she hisses. “I do look just-fucked. You said everyone would know it was Rye’s fault!”

I can’t help myself; I burst out laughing just as Corbin does.

“Sorry,” he says, catching on. “I just assumed… Yeah. I’m going to go stash this in the room Tag told me to. See you guys later.”

He walks through the front door without knocking, still laughing, and I snicker to myself.

“Everyone is going to think we’ve had sex?” she asks, her voice quieter this time as she follows me into the house.

“Nah. Just Corbin. He’s like that. Don’t worry.”

“Do they think we’re… together?”

They would if they had seen her grinding on me this morning. “No. Most everyone knows the deal, but things around here also change daily, so they don’t put anything past anyone.”

“Damn water balloons,” she grumbles, kicking at an imaginary rock on the elegant stone-tiled floor.

I’m still laughing when we round the corner to Tag’s office to see him struggling with a laughing Trip. Tag mutters a few censored words that sound so foreign coming out of his once filthy mouth. He peels his jacket off while Trip lays sprawled across the desk without a diaper on.

“What’s going on?” I muse, prompting Tag to glare at me.

“I just got pissed on. Again. Third time today.”

And this day just keeps getting funnier. My laughter soars free, and Tag’s eyes narrow.