Thunderstruck (Providence Family Ties 3)

“Oh, hell no,” Sebastian hissed. “I’ll kick his ass.”

Following where his son was glaring, Marcus’s spine stiffened. “You go, I’ll cover for you. Just head to the bathroom afterward and make sure people see you, so we can say you got caught in the line for it.”

Before he could get up, I grabbed Seb’s wrist and dug my nails in, doing the same to his father on the other side. “If either of you even blinks in their direction, I’ll break out the story of Battleshits. In it, I’ll make up you playing with it, Seb, and your dad having to shave his head to get it out of his hair. Don’t think I won’t.”

Every time something like this happened, I pulled out that threat, adding changes to the story each time that’d humiliate them even more than the original did.

Like that wasn’t bad enough, as a joke, I’d had a Battleshits board made for Marcus the following Father’s Day, so I had the proof because who would do that on a whim?

Hey, the tomato juggling stories had worked for Nonna, and still did, so the Battleships one would work for me.

Glaring at me, Seb went to say something when a female voice called his name, distracting him from his family instantly and leaving me with my seething husband.

“You play an evil game, woman.”

Smiling innocently at him, I leaned in close. “I know, and yet you love me more each day.”

I knew this was the case because he told me every morning and every night.

Before he could say anything back, my parents waved up at us from their seats closer to the front of the stadium. Given that their joints were getting stiff, we always reserved those seats for them and took the ones higher up the bleachers, plus they had Nonna in her wheelchair to consider.

She might still think she was young, but at ninety years old, she was still dating, just from her chair on wheels. They even had a filter to remove it or hide it, so she was in heaven.

What made it even better was the fact her great-grandchildren adored her, so she never went without company. At the end of the school day, they’d both stop there to spend an hour with her, either playing music or just talking about random crap in general. My parents had moved into the house that’d once been mine, and so far, no blood had been spilled. That’s more than we’d thought would ever happen!

Snuggling into Marcus when he put his arm around me, I inhaled deeply. “Mmm, you still smell fantastic.”

Feeling him laughing, I winked down at Mom when she turned around again.

“You smell like Teen Spirit.”

Pushing the side of his head, I burst out laughing, drawing more attention to us from the other spectators.

“Hey, Marcus, Addy. Do you know where Dana went?”

Glancing up, I watched as Toby searched through the crowd of people, stopping and frowning when he saw our daughter talking to her friend’s brother.

“Uh, I think she’s down there, man. Maybe go and kick his ass for even breathing the same air as her.”

My head snapped around so I could glare at Marcus before turning slowly back to the almost-man, who was the double of his dad.

Shooting us a grin and a thumbs up, he walked off before I could tell him not to do what the dickhead had suggested.

And, because I was a firm believer in Karma, I sighed. “That’s so romantic, him rescuing her from that other boy. You know he’s going to marry her, don’t you? I’ve already found the perfect dress for her. And oh, you should see the shoes.”

In the last fifteen years, I’d learned it paid to keep your husband on his toes. I’d given that lesson to Santana and Adia, and I’d also let Dana know it as soon as she started showing an interest in boys. To be fair, I’d have adapted it to her keeping her wife on her toes if she’d decided that’s where her heart laid.

But, to be honest, I think a little boy who’d rocked her to sleep the day I brought her home and never missed an opportunity to hold her after that stole her heart from the first minute she met him.

A bit like her father had done with me.