Gray winced through a chuckle. “Not the face, please. Or his knee—or his shoulder. Or his—”
“Ew, gross.” Willow shoved hard at Gray, who let out a laugh. “Just get out of here, you horndog. You reek of fish.”
Fair enough. Gray grinned and said he’d be back soon.
It sounded like Ryan wouldn’t be done ranting any time soon, so Gray put him on speaker instead so he could jot down some stuff in his day planner at the same time. Justin needed winter boots and another couple beanies and sets of mittens. The weather was getting colder every day, it seemed. Thanksgiving was around the corner too, which was the initial reason Gray’d called Angel, but she wasn’t home, so Ryan had taken over to discuss the last episode of Grace & Frankie. He was heated. He’d seen the show at least four times now, and the last two episodes of season one still pissed him off. It was endearing.
“…but I stand by what I’ve been saying all along,” he said. “There’s no way Sol is monogamous. He’s clearly poly. Not to mention a schmuck.”
Gray grinned faintly and chewed on his pen. “Yeah, he’s no mensch.”
“Definitely not a mensch.” There was some rustling in the background before Ryan spoke again. “JJ, where’s your brother? Greg! Is Ryder with you? Angel gets so mad when I lose the kids.”
Gray’s shoulders shook with silent laughter.
Thankfully, Ryan received quick confirmation that Ryder was with Greg in the kitchen, and there’d be no reason for Angel to be upset when she came home from yoga.
“Anyway. What’re you up to?” Ryan asked.
“I’m sitting in my mom’s driveway jotting things down in our planner and listening to you,” Gray chuckled.
“A planner? Like an actual paper planner? A Filofax?”
“Have you met your brother? Yes, a Filofax. Syncing our schedules in a calendar app worked for five minutes before he threw a fit.”
Ryan howled a laugh, but it couldn’t come as a surprise.
Gray didn’t mention that he’d come to prefer the paper kind. It was just easier to flip through the days and make sure everyone got the same information.
“So about Thanksgiving… When do you think Angel will be home?”
For some reason, Ryan then felt the need to puff out his chest. “Hey, I’m the king around here. You can ask me about Thanksgiving, you know.”
Oh, really. Well, then. “Wonderful, because your mom and my mom have been trying to come up with a solution for weeks, and the goal is to get everyone together for the holiday, but I distinctly remember Angel telling me that Abby’s with her mom this Thanksgiving, Greg has a court date the day before, James is pushing for separate Thanksgivings and a big Christmas instead, in which case, Darius and I will be at my parents’ this Thanksgiving so your folks can fly down to San Francisco to be with you guys, but—”
“Jesus fucking Christ!” Ryan exclaimed.
Exactly.
Gray smirked wryly.
“I’m getting a headache just listening to this,” Ryan bitched.
Gray only thought it was funny. He was ridiculously fond of their first world problems. It made his life more normal. So many times in captivity, he had begged and wished desperately to have these issues.
“You want me to talk to Angel instead?” he asked knowingly.
“Fuckin’ hell, yes,” Ryan replied. “She’ll be home in half an hour.”
Gray grinned.
At first, Gray expected a momma bear hug and the warmest of welcomes, and none of that happened. Because why would it? According to Mom, Gray had only been out of town for a few days to go fishing with James. And a quick getaway to see the kids, of course. But she didn’t know what Gray had been up to, and so she merely hugged him briefly and gave him her cheek so he could kiss it. Then she left the hallway and trailed into the kitchen while rambling about a bachelorette party she was hosting at the inn the weekend after Thanksgiving. And the weekend after that, she and Aiden were flying to Chicago to visit Gabriel.
“Sounds fun, Mom.” He joined her around the kitchen island and handed over the fish. “I come bearing treats from nature.”
“I thought I smelled something,” she replied with a grin. “How sweet of you. That takes care of dinner tomorrow. I’m reheating a casserole for tonight.” She paused as she tied her apron. “By the way, next time you head out, could you be a dear and ask Aiden to come along? He usually goes fishing with William, but they haven’t found a time that works for both of them in a while.”
“Yeah, of course.” Gray went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. “Where is he, anyway?” Probably upstairs writing in his office. “And where’s Gage?”
“Your brother is still out.” She checked the time on the microwave. “He and a couple friends from high school went out hunting this morning, and they took sleeping bags, so I don’t know if they’re returning today.” Ah, that made sense. Gray remembered one of Gage’s closest friends had a hunting lodge up in the mountains. “Aiden’s at Isla and Jack’s. He thought he’d drive over to see the babies—in his words.”