Page 24 of Colton
Jonas, in his favorite cardigan, Nick, and Declan all stared at me, eyes wide.
“Holy fuck,” Nicks whispers, “She’s scary as hell… I like her.”
Jonas chokes out a laugh. “She’s right. We can’t be so reckless with a child around. Or Holly. She’s child-sized too.”
They’re both right, and I have to adjust my fucking pants. Ireallyliked the way she put Declan in his place.
When it’s time to fill our plates, it's chaos, as usual, my brothers descending on the food like they hadn’t eaten in a month. It’s typical.
What’s less typical is the way we all hang back, waiting patiently as the women and a little princess fill their plates first, choosing from about twenty-five different Chinese takeout containers.
Then, it’s a fucking free-for-all.
Holly’s seen this show more than a few times, but she still watches, wide-eyed as we shove and juggle for position.
“Enough!”
We all freeze, startled by Evie’s roar. She gets up from her seat, moving to the other side of the island. Arms crossed, fingers tapping on her arm, she stares us down, one by one. This has got to be what she’s like at work, taking charge, dealing with assholes.
So fucking hot.
“Gentlemen…it’s clear that you’re starving, but may I remind you I have a very impressionable little girl watching every move you’re making? Do you want to teach her that to get her fair share, she needs to push and shove and generally beat down the people she loves?”
Our chorus of “No’s” is subdued, but I can see my brothers struggling to hold in their grins. There’s something about being scolded by this woman that we’re fucking loving. It’s been way too long since we’ve been mom’d.
Holly’s still a little quiet around all of us. We care for her like she’s a wounded bird. And Becca? Well, Becca’s fought for her share of the food more than once. She’s scary. So this dynamic, the mom energy coming off Evie, is new.
“I didn’t think so,” she says, watching us with an eagle eye. “Now, I’m sure you’ve ordered more than enough food. But on the off chance that you didn’t, I have some good news for you.”
She leans in like she’s about to share a secret, a small smile playing on her lips. “You’re all really fucking rich,” she whispers, making us chuckle. “You can get more food. So ease up and set a good example for my little girl, please.” Then she smiles sunnily, giving Mia tickles as she sits back down. Becca and Holly are laughing hysterically at the table, and lean over to give her high-fives.
“Well, I feel like an asshole,” Nick mutters, stepping back with his plate, a smile curving his lips.
“Yeah,” Kade echoes, grinning down at the food.
“Maybe…I don’t know, we should line up or something?” Declan suggests, looking like he’s not quite sure how we would do that.
I’m not sure either.
We’ve got this habit, formed in the lean years when we’d often go the whole day without eating. Now, when we have plenty, we still revert to those starving kids around food.
We all shuffle around until we’ve formed…a water droplet. Maybe a line was too lofty a goal for our first attempt at being civilized. We sneak glances at Evie as we shove and jostle, all freezing when she turns towards us with a laugh.
“You, cardigan guy. You first. Then mohawk guy. I’m sorry, I can’t remember your names. I’m sure you guys can figure it out from there.”
We grumble, but let Jonas, then Declan go first, and somehow we’re all sitting with full plates of food, with not a swelling eye or bloody nose in sight.
Maybe there is something to this whole line thing.
Most of us are quiet as we satisfy our hunger, but slowly the volume at the table rises. The guys are all watching Evie in a way that they don’t Holly or Becca. Like she’s a lioness or a teacher with a huge ruler. Both equally terrifying and interesting.
“Evie,” Ransom says, “We don’t want to push you, but I think we’d all love to know how your job interview went?”
She leans back in her chair, grinning. “I’m surprised you guys restrained yourself this long. Patience doesn’t seem to be a strong suit.” The guys smile and snort. “I accepted a job in the ER. I’ll be starting tomorrow.”
“You didn’t want to work with the babies?” Holly asks in surprise.
“They needed me more in the ER. I’d rather work in a department that needs help. Working in a short-staffed department is exhausting, I know. You still have the same workload as a fully staffed unit, so you’re running around like a madwoman the whole shift. If I can help relieve some of the burden in the Emergency Room, then that’s where I want to be.”
