“Lucas.” Raegan beams. “Would you like to hold him?”
“Oh yes, please!” Barbara answers excitedly. She runs to wash her hands and returns quickly. “I haven’t held a baby in years.”
Raegan hands Lucas to her, and she acts like she’s holding the most amazing prize in the world. Lance walks out from behind them with a very pregnant girlfriend. “Hil’s parents wanted to keep Laney, but you can rub the belly if you want,” he jokes.
Mom begins laughing and walks up to Hilary. “My goodness, dear, you look ready to pop. When are you due?”
Hilary’s face lights up as she replies, “Two weeks. I can hardly wait. I’m ready to meet this baby. We didn’t want to find out the sex. We want to be surprised.” She turns to smile at Lance and he grins back at her.
“Oh, how sweet! I can’t wait to have a grandbaby to hold.” Mom glances at me, and I roll my eyes.
“Garrett, Lance, you guys want a beer?” I ask.
Both nod so I walk to the refrigerator and grab a few. I lead them outside and leave the women alone to talk babies and whatever else they want. My brain is beginning to turn to mush and things haven’t even gotten started yet.
Chapter 23
Austin
Tamilyn walks outside to meet her dad and I smile at her. I want to pull her aside and ask about what I saw last night but I don’t want to upset her or anyone else here so I decide to leave it alone, for now. She hasn’t really spoken to me yet, she’s just casually sipping her beer, watching her dad prepare the pit, but she’s so damn close to me.
The door opens and out walks Ruston, Garrett, and Lance. I’m glad they made it. When I invited them, there was no promise they’d come. “Hey, man, I heard you killed it last night. I wish I could have seen it.”
“Thanks, Garrett. It was definitely amazing. I’ve never felt adrenaline like that in my life.” It means a lot to hear him say that. He’s one of the best.
“Austin made a bitch out of Parker,” Lance chimes in. I laugh as Ruston hands me a beer.
My uncle and Tamilyn’s dad laugh at us guys talking. I don’t blame them; we’re quite hilarious.
Tamilyn excuses herself and walks back inside. I want to follow her but I realize that Raegan and Hilary are also inside, so I stay with the guys. Tamilyn emerges a few minutes later with a bowl of jello shots and begins passing them out. Lance’s eyes light up as he grabs one.
“I haven’t had a jello shot in forever. Come on, Garrett, it’ll be like old times.”
Garrett chuckles as he grabs one from the bowl. We all stand in a circle and toast to some bullshit as we toss the shot back. The sweet jello flavor fills my mouth and I swallow it quickly. Damn, these things are smooth. I glance over toward Tamilyn and notice her and Ruston grinning at each other. Envy fills my eyes. I know something is going on with them. I’m not a fucking idiot. I make up my mind that I will confront one, if not both, of them tonight.
“So, have you seen the pictures from last night yet?” Lance asks, pulling me from my jealousy.
“Not yet. I’m hoping to get to see them tonight or tomorrow.” I reach into the bowl for another shot. I have a feeling I’ll need a ton of these tonight.
“Let me know if she shows them tonight. I want to see.”
“Hell yeah, you know it. When’s the Disney trip?”
Garrett rolls his eyes and laughs. “When pigs fly, but according to this dipshit, that’s today.”
“I want to go to Disney, Garrett!” Lance stomps his foot.
“Then go, I’m not stopping you.”
“He’s a killjoy.” Lance laughs, pointing at Garrett.
Garrett rolls his eyes and takes a sip of his beer. “See what I put up with on a daily basis?”
“I can’t help it. I want to meet Goofy.”
“Have you looked in the mirror?” I joke with him.
“Dude, that’s a good one. Fucking epic.” Garrett chuckles as he high-fives me.