Brogan (Carolina Reapers 9)

Or maybe it was watching Fiona smile across the table at something Langley had said. Fiona made everything a little sweeter. How had she only been in my life a little over three months? It was hard to remember a time when I didn’t have Skye and Fiona to come home to. My life was completely, totally different than anything I’d imagined this time last year…but there wasn’t a single thing I would change about it.

“I still can’t believe you dropped gloves on that one,” Axel muttered, pulling my head out of the clouds.

“What was I supposed to do? The guy was pretty much trying to take Sawyer’s head off.” I shrugged.

“I for one, am with Brogan on this one,” Sawyer raised a glass of water from down the table, his daughter on his lap.

“You’re not helping,” Axel argued, a grin tugging at the corners of his lips.

“What’s the use of having someone with Brogan’s boxing skills if we aren’t putting them to use?” Briggs questioned between forkfuls of mashed potatoes. “And who made these? Because they’re fucking scrumptious.”

“Hey! Kids!” Sawyer argued, throwing hands over his daughter’s ears.

Maxim rolled his eyes. “Like she hasn’t heard worse out of the two of you.”

“He has a point,” Echo agreed, leaning over to kiss her daughter’s cheek.

“And it’s not like Skye and Collin are over there picking up on the language, either.” Maxim nodded back toward the living room where two baby swings rocked our very sleepy kiddos.

“I think it was sick,” McKittrick, one of the rookies, said from the far end of the table. “You dropped him in like two punches.”

“Shut up or we’ll put you at the kiddie table,” Cannon responded.

“Be nice.” Persephone, his wife, elbowed him in the ribs.

“I’m only nice to you,” he mumbled.

“I’m surprised you didn’t want to spend Thanksgiving with your mom,” Langley said to Fiona.

Immediately, my ears perked up. I knew next to nothing about Fiona’s family, and it wasn’t for lack of asking. She had a unique way of diverting me from the topic. I knew her mother got married…a lot, and that she had a ton of siblings, but that’s about where the info stopped.

Not that I could blame her. I wasn’t exactly over here pouring out my emotions about having been raised like an unwanted stray by my aunt and uncle. The past was the past. It made us who we were but didn’t define what our futures could be. At least mine didn’t, and I could only assume she felt the same way since she didn’t talk about her family much.

“Oh.” Fiona’s fork paused mid-air, and she looked lost for a second before shaking her head. “She’s having Thanksgiving with her fiancé’s family.”

“You weren’t invited?” Langley gawked for a second before snapping her mouth shut.

My blood simmered to a boil at the possibility of Fiona being excluded.

“Oh, no!” Fiona shook her head, putting her fork down. “She absolutely invited me, but I knew the guys had the matinee game, and it just seemed so…weird to meet a whole other family today when we have all this.” She glanced over the table at me.

My rage subsided and I nodded. Something in my chest lit up like a fucking Christmas tree that she’d chosen me, chosen us today.

“That makes sense. Besides, it’s kind of like we have our own family here, anyway,” Langley remarked with a loving look down the table.

“Even if we do have to include McKittrick and Greene,” Axel muttered, his eyes narrowing at the rookies at the end of the table who had opened their second bottle of wine.

“Leave the toddlers alone,” Langley whispered with a grin.

Axel grunted.

“This…” Fiona sighed with a little smile. “This family really is amazing. I didn’t realize you guys were all so tight-knit until I moved in with Brogan.” The look she sent my way heated my blood in a whole other way.

Okay, I was ready for everyone to leave. Now.

“We’re just glad he didn’t scare you off,” Bristol added, leaning into her boyfriend, Briggs.

“It would take a whole lot more than Brogan’s moods to scare me away,” Fiona answered.

“You are one brave woman.” Maxim lifted his glass in salute.

“I’m not that bad.” Fuck, these sweet potatoes were heavenly.

“You are,” Maxim argued.

Fiona laughed.

We finished up dinner and I stood, shaking my head at Fiona when she moved to do the same. “Okay, boys. Since these lovely ladies of ours were kind enough to cook up all this food while we were playing today, we’re doing dishes. Off your asses.” I sent a pointed look to the rookies.

“And what are we supposed to do?” Langley asked.

“Relax while Colin is napping,” Axel urged his wife, kissing her forehead.

I walked around the end of the table and took Fiona’s plate from in front of her. “Same goes to you,” I whispered.