The Summer He Came Home (Bad Boys of Crystal Lake 1)

Cain’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah”—his eyes narrowed—“it is.”

Jake’s mouth opened wide. “Holy shit.”

“What?” Cain settled back into his chair.

“Man, are you in trouble.”

“Trouble?” He grabbed his guitar again and strummed a few chords. “How so?”

Jake stretched his arms out and rested them behind his head. “This girl means something to you, and that, my friend, means trouble. You crossed the sacred line of just sex. You’re now in the land of sex with consequence.”

“Since when did you become so damn cynical?”

“Don’t get your panties in a knot, it’s an observation. I’m just saying, the little redhead obviously means more than a quick lay to you. But she comes with baggage, in case you weren’t looking past that tight little body and mess of red hair.”

“Baggage,” he said drily.

“A kid.”

Cain frowned. He didn’t like the analogy. He glanced at Jake, but the soldier was focused on the boys. Michael was wrestling at the edge of the water, his buddy Tommy in a headlock, as the two of them struggled to get the upper hand. They rolled over and both went under, and a few choice words that neither one of their mothers would ever want to hear followed them down.

“God, they seem just like us.” Jake sighed and rolled his shoulders.

“Yeah.”

“You ever think about having kids?”

Cain stopped playing. He glanced at Jake and set the guitar down once more. To say he was surprised at the turn in conversation would have been an understatement.

“No, never.” He scratched the stubble along his jaw. “Natasha wanted one before the ink had dried on our marriage license, but I was dead set against it.” He kept his eyes on the boys. “God, if we’d had a child together, it would have been a disaster.” He eyed his friend closely. “You?”

Jake’s face was hard. “Nah. That’s one hell of a commitment, which is why…”

“Why what?” Something was up. “What the hell’s going on, Jake?”

Jake scowled. “Raine wants to have a kid.”

“A kid.” Cain let that settle a bit. This was serious shit.

“A goddamn kid.” Jake shook his head. “She’s clearly nuts.”

Cain couldn’t lie. He was shocked. “Raine wants a baby? With who?”

Jake ignored his question. “The girl can’t even look after a fucking cat. How the hell is she going to raise a kid on her own?”

“Back the truck up.” Cain swung his legs over the side of his chair. “Who the hell is she having a kid with?”

“Jesse.”

Cain was dumbfounded and confused.

“Jesse froze his junk before we shipped out last time. It’s all he talked about”—he snorted—“having a kid with Raine. He made me promise that if anything happened to him, I’d look after her.” Jake shook his head. “It’s like he knew he wasn’t coming back, and he just dumped this crap on me anyway.”

“Shit.” Cain didn’t know what else to say.

“Exactly.” Jake exhaled, his eyes still on the boys.

“Is that why you’re not going back to Afghanistan?”