Jami let out a soft sob as she hugged Akira, then Justina. “This is gonna sound lame, but I want my m…I want Silver. I didn’t want to tell her, because she’ll tell my dad, but she’ll get how scared I am.”
“Your mom.” Akira rubbed Jami’s back. “Silver is your mom. I think she’s earned the title.”
“Yeah.” Jami sniffled and leaned back against Ramos. “I want to tell her first.”
“Do you want me to get her?”
“Please?” Jami reached out and took Justina’s hand. “Thanks for being here. I keep wondering why anyone would want to be my friend. I’m a train wreck and you…well, you’ve got it all figured out.”
Justina laughed softly. “I play it well, don’t I? I didn’t think I was doing a good job, but now I do.”
“I don’t care if you do or not, Justina. I’ve claimed you as a friend. And if you aren’t sick of me yet, anyone who fucks with you better watch out.” Jami’s lips thinned. “Even Sam. I’m trying to get where she’s coming from, but…well, she needs to calm down.”
As much as Justina appreciated having Jami in her corner, she felt bad for Sam. So she shrugged. “Everyone has their issues. I’m not worried about her.”
“Good.” Jami grinned. “Didn’t I tell you Pisch was awesome? And he’s still around, even after the speech.”
‘The speech’ seemed to be a huge deal to everyone else. And hadn’t been one for Justina at all. She wasn’t sure how to respond. She didn’t want to tell everyone that she hadn’t heard it. That felt a bit too much like bragging.
She didn’t end up having to explain anything.
Akira returned with Silver. Richter looked like he wanted to follow, but Bower put a hand on his shoulder. He cooed to his daughter, whispering something to Amia that had her letting out a high-pitched baby laugh and reaching for her other daddy. Richter grinned, taking his baby girl in her fluffy pink dress and leaning over to whisper in Bower’s ear. Bower smirked at him.
Meanwhile, Silver reached for Jami, holding her close as Jami let out a muffled sob. “Talk to me, honey.”
“I’m scared, Mom. Real scared.” Jami sucked in a shaky breath. “I can’t do this without you.”
Rubbing Jami’s back, Silver shot Ramos a fierce look, like a wolf sensing a threat to a cub in her pack. “What did you do to her? Is this about that damn boy you can’t seem to control?”
Ramos’s eyes narrowed, and Justina wondered if getting Silver involved had really been the best idea. She seemed to lash out before considering potential damage.
Before Ramos had to defend himself, or Carter, Jami drew away from Silver. “Please don’t. I’m so tired of all this bullshit. We’re supposed to be a family. Which includes Sebastian and Luke. How would you feel like if I started on Landon the way my dad—and apparently you—constantly attack Luke?”
Regret filled Silver’s eyes. “I’m sorry, that’s not what I’m trying to do, Jami. It’s just…damn it, he does stupid shit, and it hurts you.”
“I do stupid shit too!” Jami lifted her hand to her stomach, her expression softening. “Not this time though. It’s not a mistake, it’s just…” She shook her head when Silver’s eyes widened. “I don’t need a lecture. I need you to tell me everything’s going to be okay.”
“Oh honey…” Silver cupped Jami’s cheek, lowering her voice. “Are you pregnant?”
Chewing on her bottom lip, Jami nodded.
By Justina’s side, Akira tensed. Justina held her breath and took Akira’s hand. If Silver reacted badly, Jami had them. And Ramos. They’d make sure she didn’t feel completely alone.
A brilliant smile spread across Silver’s lips. “That is amazing! Jami, you’re going to be fine. I promise. I have a feeling I know what you’re worried about, but I’ll set you up an appointment with one of my doctors. She’s the best. She’ll do some tests to see if there’s any risks.”
“But there might be?” Jami closed her eyes and Ramos wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head, showing support, even though he’d remained silent. “I wish I hadn’t been so stupid.”
“Mi cielo, you cannot change the past. You’ve come so far. You are a strong young woman.” Ramos met Silver’s eyes. “We haven’t shared the good news with Luke yet, so I would appreciate you keep this to yourself.”
Silver inclined her head. “Of course, but, Jami, don’t wait too long to tell your father. I think, once he considers how happy both your men make you, how good they are with kids…” Her lips quirked. “Actually, I’ve seen Luke with Amia and Casey. He’s great with Westy too. But I haven’t seen you spend much time with the children, Sebastian. Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
The big man blinked at Silver like she’d started speaking in tongues. “Why wouldn’t I be? Jami has Amia in our home quite often.”
Akira giggled. She apparently knew something Justina didn’t.
“Yes, but have you ever changed a diaper?” Silver arched a brow when Ramos’ brow furrowed. “Walked around for hours while she cries? Fixed a bottle?”
Ramos chuckled. “Ah, that will not be a problem. Jami will breastfeed.”
Jami frowned and turned sideways to stare up at her partner. “I will?”
“I simply assumed…” Ramos cleared his throat. “It seems we have much to figure out before our daughter is born.”
“Or son.”
“Gatita…”
Jami rolled her eyes. “Don’t ‘gatita’ me. You can’t command the sex of the baby.”
“I am aware of that.”
“And you don’t get to decide if I breastfeed.” She leaned close to Silver, kissed her cheek, whispering ‘thank you’ before towing Ramos away from the crowd. “And Silver’s right; why don’t you ever change diapers?”
Once they were out of hearing, Silver faced Akira and Justina, a satisfied smile on her lips. “I think they’re going to be just fine, don’t you?”
I can see why she meddles so much. Justina bit the inside of her cheek so she wouldn’t laugh at Akira’s stunned expression. It can be strangely effective.
“When I tell Cort and Ford that news, I’m going to make sure you’re far, far away,” Akira said dryly. “Preferably not in the country.”
Eyes wide, Silver put her hand over her parted lips.
Oh no. Justina winced as Silver spun around.
“Ford Delgado, get your dumb ass over here!” Silver put her arm over Akira’s shoulders. “You let me deal with him. I don’t know why you’re afraid to tell him. This is so exciting!”
Akira glanced back at Justina over her shoulder, mouthing, “Help!”
Ford and Cort rescued Akira before Justina had to figure out how. Hell, she couldn’t help but love all these crazy people. No risk of things ever being boring.
Hands settled on her hips and she smiled, not even needing to look to know it was Shawn. She could sense his presence with the same ease as moving around a familiar place in the dark, knowing things were exactly where they should be.
His lips brushed her ear. “I was tempted to save you for a minute, but you clearly didn’t need it.”
Turning in his arms, she brought her hands up to cup his cheeks. “Good boy.”
He chuckled, bending down to kiss the tip of her nose. “I should seriously nip this habit you’ve developed of disrespecting your Dom in the bud, but I like you cheeky.”
She wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. “Damn, how am I gonna earn spankings then?”
“You don’t have to earn them.” He rubbed his scruffy cheek lightly against her smooth one, which reminded her of how good it felt when his face brushed over other places. He slid his hands down to her ass with a soft laugh. “I can be very generous.”
His playful demeanor dropped abruptly, and he went still. She looked over her shoulder, not surprised to see Ian.
The poor guy slunk into the room, head down, shoulders hunched like the weight of the world rested on them. His hair was wet, pulled back
away from his face in a tight, low ponytail, sharpening his features. His suit was wrinkled, his tie crooked, as though he’d been tugging at it.
Shawn moved to go to him. Then stopped.
Justina hated that he even second-guessed where he needed to be. That had to stop. She gently nudged him forward. “Go. I’ve had you all to myself for long enough.”
Jaw hardening, Shawn opened his mouth. Then closed it, nodded, and crossed the distance between him and Ian.
Only superficially, because physically, he couldn’t seem to get very close. Emotionally, she could see how shut down Ian was.
She didn’t want to assume Sam was to blame. He could have gotten bad news. A family tragedy. A setback with his contract. Hell, maybe he hadn’t slept well without Shawn. At least, for the next few days, that wouldn’t be an issue.
That didn’t bother her, but knowing Ian would have once reached out to Shawn for any of those things did. Sam had taken on that role in his life. And like her or not, Ian needed her to be there for him as much as he was there for her.
Too bad life wasn’t fucking fair.
Ian was giving and giving, because he was that kind of man. Everyone had to see that he was drained. Tired. Needed to lean on someone else for a change.
A role Sam couldn’t fulfill, even if she tried.
Shawn can be that someone. Justina went to join her friends and give the two men some privacy.
Hoping it wasn’t too late for them to recover what they’d lost.
Chapter 30
The man standing in front of Shawn looked completely lost. Ian wouldn’t meet Shawn’s eyes until Shawn jutted his chin toward a quiet corner of the room. Then he simply followed, hands in his pockets, head down.
Shawn would have taken a walk with Ian, but the team would be heading out any minute. They could talk on the plane, but he needed to know what was going on with Ian. Now.
He brought his hand to the back of Ian’s neck, studying his face, noting the chill of the skin under his hand. “What’s wrong? Is it your grandma?”
Ian’s lips twitched, but he shook his head. “No. I talked to her. She was…her. She remembered me until the end of the conversation. It was nice.”
An issue, but not the big one. Shawn had seen Ian after a phone call from his grandmother when she didn’t know him at all. Those precious moments where she was the woman who’d raised him would have been good, but losing that abruptly must have cut deep.
The man always clung to the positives though. So he would fight how much it hurt, because at least he’d gotten those moments. Shawn could dig deeper and force him to acknowledge the pain, but that wouldn’t help. Not yet.
There was more going on, but Shawn had to get Ian to relax enough to discuss it.
He gave Ian a little smile, tugging lightly at his ponytail. “Why is your hair wet? It’s a bit cold out today.”
Ian shrugged, his jaw ticking. “I didn’t notice. I just needed a shower. A fucking ice cold one.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
Shit. Shawn was usually better at this, but he’d let Ian back them into a corner. He’d have to knock down a wall to make any progress, but this wasn’t the place for major emotional renovations.
“All right, guys!” Callahan shouted to be heard over the chatter. “Let’s roll out!”
Looking up, Ian grinned suddenly, and Shawn decided he loved the assistant coach. While Shawn was racking his brain for a way to get through to his man, Callahan had managed it with a quote from one of Ian’s favorite cartoons.
He caught Callahan’s eyes. The assistant coach inclined his head, and Shawn mouthed “Thank you.”
Setting a heavy hand on his shoulder, Ian took the lead, sights set on Justina. “Quit worrying about me. I’ll be fine. It’s stupid, but…maybe we can talk later. Give your girl a hug and kiss so she don’t feel abandoned.”
How the fuck do all these triads manage? Shawn struggled against the guilt cementing in his guts. Fine, he hadn’t needed the reminder from Ian to give Justina a proper goodbye, but he’d hated walking away from her to be there for Ian. And he was torn about how much time he and Ian spent apart. Cloning an option yet? Someone should fucking get on it.
“Hey, Ian.” Justina rocked in her sneakers, thumbs tucked into the back pocket of her jeans. “Ready to send the Leafs to the golf course?”
“Damn right we are.” Ian squeezed Shawn’s shoulder. “I’m gonna leave you with your man. Thanks for lending him to me.”
“I only charge for late fees.” Justina blushed, ducking her head like she felt silly. “You don’t have to go though. I need the mental image.”
Lust surged into Shawn’s cock. Fuck, he loved the naughty side of his girl. He glanced over to see Ian’s reaction.
Ian’s brow furrowed. “What mental image?”
Justina’s face reddened even more. “Never mind.”
If this is her idea of flirting, we’ve got some work to do. Shawn bit back a smile as Ian’s expression went from confused to surprised.
“Oh, shit. You mean…?” Crimson spread over Ian’s cheeks. “Were you hoping to see…uh… We don’t do that. Well, we do, but not in public.”
Giggling, Justina shook her head. “I don’t need to see it. In public.”
“Okay, that works.” Ian tugged at his collar, his gaze dropping down to Justina’s breasts. He gave her a crooked smile. “You’re a Dark Horse fan?”
“Yes! I know it’s not as cool as DC or Marvel, but I love ElfQuest.”
“ElfQuest used to be Marvel.”
“Was it? I didn’t know that.” Justina nibbled on her bottom lip. “I’m not a very good geek. I’ve never been to a con, and I couldn’t tell you all kinds of details, but I like reading all kinds of stuff. Including comics and manga. I’ve started watching Anime.”
All right, Shawn had gotten a comic book 101 from Ian, but he was so not on the level of this conversation. He had absolutely nothing to contribute, but he enjoyed seeing his two favorite people finding common ground.
“With that shirt, you’re doing a good job representing.” Ian licked his bottom lip, running his hand over his bound hair. “Umm, forget I said that. I shouldn’t be perving on my best friend’s girl.”
Shawn took a moment to admire the snug, black t-shirt with its horse logo. He couldn’t blame Ian at all for admiring how her beautiful breasts were displayed.
“You shouldn’t?” Justina’s eyes widened. She looked over her shoulder as Akira called for her. Almost all the players had headed for the pre-approved TSA screening area, and most of the families had left. Justina hopped up to Shawn, giving him a soft kiss before shooting Ian a sly grin. “I guess I missed the memo. I assumed it was one of the perks of belonging to this man.”
Ian’s mouth hung open.
Shawn snorted, and turned all his focus to Justina. “I’ll call you tonight, Röschen.”
“If you’re too busy, I completely understand.” Justina patted his cheek, blew Ian a kiss, then scampered off to join her friends.
Placing one finger under Ian’s chin to close his mouth, Shawn smirked. “She’s incredible, isn’t she?”
“She’s…” Ian shook his head as they made their way to TSA. “She really doesn’t have a problem with me, does she.”
“No. She worries about you.”
“Is that why she was flirting?”
“If you call that flirting?” Shawn’s lip curved, a sweet warmth filling him every time he pictured Justina, cute and bold and shy all at once. “I’m surprised you noticed.”
“I’m not stupid.”
That word again. Fuck, he hated that word. He frowned at Ian. “Have I ever treated you like you are?”
“Yes.” Ian’s lips thinned. He sighed. “No, but you’re like everyone else, thinking you know what I need. And it’s fucking with my head, and I don’t like it.”
Okay, this was new. Shawn tried to think of anything he’d done differentl
y that might have pissed Ian off, but he drew a blank. Dropping his overnight bag on the belt, he stepped up to the metal detector, which didn’t usually give him any trouble.
He spotted the two healthy trouble triplets apart from the rest, getting patted down, and sighed. If they’d been stopped, no way was he getting through.
As predicted, he was motioned off to the side.
Thankfully, he hadn’t gotten his dick pierced yet. He wanted to, but the idea of months without sex had him putting it off indefinitely. He did have two in each of his nipples and five in each ear. Those in his ears were small, except for his one plug, so he wasn’t worried about them. But he’d assumed there wouldn’t be any problem, so he’d worn his small, titanium circle loops with spikes in his nipples.
Spreading his arms as instructed, he remained still as the TSA agent went over his body with the wand. The man stopped at his chest and shook his head.
“I’m sorry, I’m going to have to pat you down.”
The man was kinda hot in his uniform. Shawn gave him a crooked grin. “I’m good with that.”
Standing in the area where everyone was stuffing their laptops back in their bags and their change back in their pockets, Ian gave him a dirty look.
Behave yourself, Easy.
He kept his mouth shut as the agent used the back of his hand to feel over his piercings.
“I apologize, sir, but I’m going to have to take you to a private room to—”
“Oh for fuck’s sakes.” Shawn rolled his eyes and pulled off his shirt. “Hold this for me, cutie.”
The man’s face lost all color. He took the shirt, shaking his head. “Sir, the procedure is—”
“Are these going to be an issue?” Shawn pointed to his piercings. He could hear Vanek snickering and Ramos telling him to be quiet. Ian was growling and Callahan, thankfully, was making sure he stayed put.
Clearing his throat, the agent eyed his loops. “I’m afraid the spikes could be considered a weapon.”
“Got it.” Shawn popped one loop open, then the other, palming both and holding them out. The agent waved off another uniformed man who approached as though making sure the guy didn’t need backup.
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