I nodded and closed my eyes, breathing in the scent of the man in front of me.
* * *
Keller was grounded off all electronics indefinitely, but he was still refusing to talk to me or Shane about what was going on. I didn’t know what to do with him.
For a while, things went back to normal.
Then one day while I was folding laundry on the couch, the doorbell rang.
Keller and Sage were still at school, Gunner and Iris were napping—Lord, how I loved nap time—and Gavin was sitting at the coffee table coloring quietly. I hopped off the couch and practically sprinted to the door, afraid that whoever was there would ring the bell again and wake up the babies, ruining the few moments of quiet I’d come to relish.
“What the heck?” I exclaimed happily as my cousin Henry wrapped his arms around me and spun me in a circle.
“Hey, Katiebear!” he said, grinning broadly.
“What the heck are you guys doing here?”
I looked past him to see Bram, Anita, and Trevor standing around with bags spread at their feet.
“Came to celebrate your dirty thirty,” Anita announced, stepping forward to shove Henry out of the way so she could hug me. “Now where is my beautiful niece?” She pushed by me into the house, and I had to let her go because Bram and then Trevor were hugging me hello.
“I can’t believe you guys are here,” I called, grabbing Anita’s bag before Bram pulled it from my arms. “This is so awesome. Come in.”
The guys followed me into the house just as Anita came down the stairs carrying Iris. “She was awake,” Anita told me happily, making faces at the baby.
“You’re so full of shit,” I laughed, giddy at my unexpected company.
“Uncle Bram! Uncle Trev!” Gavin yelled, hopping from his spot on the floor.
“Hey, little man,” Bram said softly, pulling Gavin into his arms.
I looked around the crowded entryway, so excited I didn’t know what to do with myself. My favorite people in the entire world were all in one place. If Alex had come with them, it would have been completely perfect.
“Alex wanted to come, but he didn’t have any leave.” Henry read my mind, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. “Now, do you have beer in this house, or is it all apple juice and breast milk?”
I punched him lightly in the chest and dragged him toward the kitchen.
I couldn’t wait for Keller and Sage to get off the bus that afternoon.
“What time does Shane get home?” Trevor asked as the entire group migrated to the kitchen table.
I ignored Bram’s scowl as I passed out the last of the beer in our fridge. I wasn’t even sure how long the stuff had been in there. Shane and I rarely drank. “He usually gets home between four thirty and five,” I answered. “Was he in on this?”
“Hell no,” Bram grumbled, setting Gavin on his feet as he picked a spot at the table.
“Oh, man. He’s going to be stoked,” I exclaimed, clapping my hands together.
“Doubtful.”
“Can it, Bram,” I scolded, but there was little heat in my voice. I couldn’t believe they were all there, sitting in my kitchen and bantering back and forth. I freaking loved it.
“So what’s the plan for your birthday?” Henry asked, kicking back in his seat. “Any good bars around here?”
“I have no idea.” I chuckled. “I don’t get out much, and I lived in Carlsbad before.”
“Well, we’ll find one. Karaoke bar?” Anita asked, grinning.
“Not happening.” Trevor scowled.
“Bawk!”
“Real mature, Ani.”
We sat around the table for the next two hours as Gunner woke up and the boys ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. We rarely had anyone but the Camden family or Miles over for dinner. I wasn’t sure the kitchen had ever held so many people at one time.
Sage and Keller were equally excited when they clamored off the bus to see their aunties and uncles waiting for them on the front porch. I sighed in happiness as Keller wrestled around with Trevor and Bram in the front yard, his giggles echoing throughout the neighborhood.
We’d needed this, and I hadn’t realized how badly until I saw how happy the kids were.
Anita and Henry brought Sage with them to the store for supplies that afternoon. By the time Shane got home that night, I had a huge pot of spaghetti simmering on the stove and my face hurt from smiling.
“What the hell?” Shane asked, laughing as he came in the front door. His eyes immediately found mine across the room. “We’ve been overrun.”
“Hey, man!” Henry called, climbing off the couch. “Long time no see.”
“How the hell did you get here?” Shane asked in amazement as they wrapped their arms around each other and did the weird back-patting thing guys did.
“Had some time, decided to take it and come visit my favorite cousin,” Henry answered with a smile. “Trying to get stationed out here. We’ll see how it goes.”
“Kate would fucking love that,” Shane said with a nod.
The noise in the room grew with everyone talking over each other, and I relaxed into my brother’s side on the couch. I was so incredibly happy I could have screamed with it.
* * *
“You’re staying here?” I asked everyone, looking around to where they were lying on the floor and couches.
“I told them it was a bad idea,” Anita called out from where she was resting her head on Trevor’s belly. They looked like a giant T covering half the living room floor. “No one listens to me.”
“We don’t have that many beds,” I said softly, looking over to where Henry and Shane were talking shop across the room.
“Couch!” Bram and Trevor yelled at the same time, locking in their places to sleep for the night.
“Nice, guys,” Anita grumbled. “Real fucking gentlemen.”
“I can sleep anywhere,” Henry piped up with a chuckle. “The floor’s going to feel like a fucking feather bed.”
“Ani can sleep in my room,” Shane said, tipping his beer bottle toward her.
“The fuck?” Bram growled, looking between Shane and me.
“I’m not gonna sleep in there with her, asshole,” Shane scoffed, a snarky smile crossing his face. “We don’t use that room anyway.”
Ani’s eyebrows lifted up and down when I glanced at her, and I shook my head in annoyance. My excitement over their visit was slowly losing steam.
The kids still had school in the morning, and after staying up well past their bedtime that night, they were going to be complete terrors in the morning. How the hell was I going to get them ready to go when I had people sleeping on every available surface in the house?
“We’re gonna head up,” Shane announced suddenly, seeing the panic on my face. “I’ll show you where to sleep, Ani.”
Everyone agreed it was time to hit the sack and began moving quietly around the house getting ready for bed. Thankfully, we had blankets and pillows for everyone, and before long the lights were turned off and Shane, Ani, and I were moving up the stairs.
“You don’t sleep in the master bedroom?” Anita asked quietly as I brought her into Shane’s room while he checked on the kids.
“No,” I answered simply. “I have my own room.”
“Which it sounds like Shane sleeps in?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s weird,” she mused, closing the door so she could change into some pajamas.
“I’m not sleeping in here,” I mumbled, going into the bathroom to brush my teeth.
“Oh, yeah,” she said, following in behind me. “I wouldn’t want to sleep in Rachel’s room, either.”
I put some toothpaste on my brush and stuffed it into my mouth without answering. I didn’t know what to say. Shane had taken away anything that had belonged to Rachel long before his deployment, and the room looked like it had always been exclusively his…but I’d been in there with Rachel more times than I could count.
“So, what, you’re just going to leave the master bedroom empty? That doesn’t make much sense.”
“Hell, I don’t know.” I spit and rinsed my mouth with water from the tap.
“Things are good with you guys now?” Ani asked, following my lead and spitting out her toothpaste.
“I guess.”
“What do you mean?”
“Kate, you ready for bed?” Shane asked, poking his head in the door.
“Yeah.” I turned to Ani and gave her a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me too.”
Shane opened the door wide so I could pass by him, then followed me into my room.
“I can’t believe they’re all here,” I whispered with a smile, meeting Shane’s eyes as I pulled my yoga pants down my legs.
“I can’t believe they’re all staying at our house,” Shane snickered, pulling his T-shirt over his head. “I thought Bram’s head was going to explode when I told Ani she could take my bed.”
“You did that on purpose.” I rolled my eyes.
“Hell yeah, I did. God, your brother’s such a dick.”
Iris stirred, and we both froze, our eyes snapping to the crib wedged in between the bed and the wall. Her arms jerked before she went limp again, and as soon as she was still, we climbed gingerly into bed, lying down to face each other.
“He’s just protective,” I whispered as Shane pulled me into him.
“He’s in my fucking house,” he replied incredulously.
“Yeah, bad form.” I chuckled silently, reaching up to rub one hand over his short hair. He’d just gotten another haircut, and I loved the way it felt against my palms.
“I love this tank top,” Shane said out of nowhere, his nostrils flaring.
“What?” I looked down at the nursing tank top I was wearing. I had, like, four of them, and I wore them all the time so they were getting a little ragged looking.
“Just one little tug…” He slid his finger underneath the small snap by my collarbone.
My breath caught as I watched his face, his finger snapping and unsnapping the strap. We’d been riding a fine line, sometimes crawling into bed practically vibrating with sexual tension—but we still hadn’t had sex. Shane was beyond ready, but I was still putting him off.
He finally left the snap undone and glanced up at my face as his fingers pulled the fabric down.
“What are you doing?” I whispered breathlessly.
“I’ve been watching you all night,” he said softly. “So gorgeous. Smiling and laughing—and you’ve been using your nursing cover so I haven’t even gotten a glimpse—”
The fabric caught on my nipple and finally fell beneath my breast. “Ah, there it is,” Shane breathed, his fingers ghosting up and over my nipple.
“I think this probably has more to do with the beer you were drinking,” I replied, swallowing hard.
Shane chose that moment to lean down and wrap his lips around my nipple, making my hips jerk forward. He groaned deep in his throat, sucking slightly to pull my nipple into a sharp point as he reached down to pull my leg over his.
My neck arched as his hand slid down between us, and I gasped as his fingers slid over my inner thigh. I should’ve wore pants to bed, I thought as his fingers tunneled under the fabric of my underwear. I’m playing with fire.
“This isn’t a good idea,” I tried to say as his fingers brushed over my entrance.
“Fantastic idea,” Shane mumbled around my breast. “Look how wet you are. Just let me—” He stopped speaking as a finger slid inside me, making both of us groan.
“Shit,” I gasped, rolling my hips. It had been so freaking long that it felt like my entire body was going to burst into flames from just that small point of contact.
“There you go,” he whispered back, lifting his head to catch my lips with his as he added another finger.
He slid his tongue into my mouth as I began to shake, and I kissed him back until I finally couldn’t concentrate on both his mouth and his hand at the same time.
“Harder,” I ordered, clenching my teeth so hard it was a wonder I didn’t shatter them.
“Goddamn,” he groaned, sucking on my shoulder as I got closer and closer to the edge.
My hands were frantic as I tried to touch all of his torso at once, the nails of one hand digging into the forearm between us as it flexed over and over. His fingers were curled up inside me, and every time he jerked his hand up, his palm rubbed over my swollen clit.
I came hard, my mouth at his throat as I tried not to make any noise.
“I can’t—” I began as his fingers finally slid out of my underwear, his wet hand coming to rest gently on my lower belly.
“I know, baby,” he said, breathing hard. “Fuck. That was all I wanted.”
I stared at him incredulously, and he chuckled before groaning. “I wasn’t expecting anything else.”
“Well, now I really feel like an asshole,” I mumbled, making him snort.
“After all this waiting, I’m not going to fuck you with our house full of family,” he said with a shake of his head. “Bad timing.”
“Well what was this?” I asked as he pulled away, climbing off the bed to grab a baby wipe to clean his hands.
“I knew I could keep you quiet but no way would I be able to,” he told me with a wicked smile, crawling back up the bed on his hands and knees.
“I am pretty good at the sexing,” I replied seriously, relaxing my body into the bed as I nodded.
His face showed surprise for a moment before he began laughing loudly, falling to his side on the bed.
I watched him, giggling at the way he clutched at his belly. “You are,” he agreed through chuckles.
I couldn’t even be frustrated as Iris woke up and started babbling from her crib.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had such an awesome day.
Chapter 18
Shane
Kate was practically bouncing around the house when I got home from work on Friday afternoon. She and Anita were deciding on what they were going to wear when we went out for her birthday that night.
She actually didn’t turn thirty until Monday, but with everyone’s jobs, it made more sense for the group—whom Ellie and Liz had aptly but unoriginally referred to as “the kids” even though all of us had been adults for a while—to visit for the weekend.
Kate had been worried about a babysitter after the initial excitement over their visit waned a little, but I’d promised her I’d take care of it. Trevor had pulled me aside and let me know that Kate’s surprises weren’t quite over yet.
Katie was sitting at the kitchen table with Anita, makeup spread out in front of them, when excited shouts filled the front of the house.
“What?” Kate asked in confusion, her entire face lighting up as the new arrivals came into her view.
“Holy crap,” she yelled, coming to her feet.
“Happy birthday,” Liz called, raising her hands and shaking them from side to side.
“I can’t believe this!” Kate pulled her mom into a hug and shot me a huge smile over her shoulder.
She was looking at me like I’d cured some disease, even though I’d had nothing to do with any of it. I didn’t care—I’d take credit for it if she was going to look at me like that.
Kate made the rounds, giving out hugs to my foster dad, Dan, Ellie, and Mike while she chattered happily.
“Hey, son,” Mike said, making his way to where I was leaning against the counter. “Missed you.”
“Missed you, too,” I told him, going in for a hug. “How long are you staying?”
“Oh, just until Sunday,” he assured me, giving me a wink. “Ellie and Liz are staying a bit longer, though. Wanted some
extra time after everyone left.”
“Are you guys staying here?” Katie called out nervously over the noise.
“Why the hell would we do that when we can stay in a hotel room with room service?” her dad asked quietly, laughing.
“Well, everyone else is staying here—”
“Abraham!” Liz scolded, turning to glare at her son. “Your sister has her hands full already.”
“We’re only here a couple of days,” Bram grumbled.
“I tried to tell him,” Anita tattled.
“Good grief,” Ellie snapped, making her way toward me. “We didn’t raise you guys to act like a bunch of locusts. Bring it on in,” she ordered as she reached me, lifting her arms.
“Hey, Mom,” I said softly, leaning down to hug her.
“How you doing?”
“Good,” I answered with a nod.
“Yeah?”
I glanced at Kate laughing with her dad across the room and smiled. “Yeah.”
* * *
Later that night, we piled into Kate’s SUV while Anita and Henry bitched about having to sit in the very back. I didn’t know why they bothered; as the youngest they’d pretty much always been bullied into getting the last piece of pizza or the worst seats in the car.
“Karaoke!” Anita yelled once I was pulling out of the driveway.
“Do you know a karaoke bar around here?” Kate asked excitedly, turning to face me.
“That’s where you want to go?” I asked, reaching out to take her hand in mine.
We didn’t do public displays of affection normally. Kate was too nervous for that kind of shit—like it mattered in the long run what people thought about our relationship. So I was surprised when she turned her hand and laced her fingers through mine.
“Yeah!”
“Okay, I know of one. Here—” I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Call Miles and tell him where we’re going.”
“I’m having the best time,” she said, scrolling through my phone.
“We’ve barely left the house.” I laughed.
“It doesn’t matter.” She smiled, lifting the phone to her ear. “It’s already the best birthday ever.”
* * *