Page 30 of The Troublemaker
“We’re busy!”Hayes shouts from the background.
“We have Easton here, who has news,” Callie says.
Leighton is giggling.
I’m pretty sure every one of my teammates is getting laid tonight, while Decker’s right, my fist will be my partner in bed.
“That Tanner is his?We know.Bye,” Hayes says.
“He’s joking.”Leighton continues to laugh.
“You do know it’s the last night before the season, right?”Hayes asks.
“We do,” Foster and Davis say in unison.
Again, Penelope and Callie share a look like they’re falling in love with their partners all over again.
“Here.”Callie positions the phone so they can see me on FaceTime.
“Is this really necessary?”I ask, not loving the audience for probably the first time in my life.
“Yes!Just because we don’t live there anymore doesn’t mean we want to be excluded,” Leighton says.
Hayes gets into the camera, shirtless.Fucking hell.“Actually, we’re cool with being excluded.Catch me up tomorrow.”His finger goes toward the screen, but Leighton slaps it back.
“Let’s go, Kodiak,” Foster says in a low growl.
Honestly, I find Foster intimidating at times.He has zero tolerance for bullshit—unless it’s Callie’s.
“Fine.Hadley?—”
Callie puts her face into view of the camera.“Miss Hadley!From The Story Jar!”
“Remember we have a kid sleeping,” Decker reminds her due to the volume of her voice.
“And your daughter is right here, also sleeping,” Foster says.
“And my kid too.”I smile at Penelope, who is still holding Tanner.
I give her and Decker one month before she’s knocked up.
“No way.We just saw her.She had the perfect voices for the train engines,” Leighton says.
She and Callie talk about Hadley being so great at story time, and a small part of me is proud of her.Maybe it’s my way of knowing that I’m doing something good for her.
“Let’s stay on task, ladies.”Decker turns his pointed gaze my way.
Then all eyes are on me.Hayes and Leighton have squeezed into the same frame.
Might as well just come out with it.“I’m marrying Hadley, and she’s going to move in with me and be Tanner’s nanny.”
None of them say anything at first.
That’s awesome.I’ll take their silence.I should grab Tanner and get out of here before their reactions change.
“Why are you marrying her?”Penelope asks.
It’s always the quiet ones who process faster.I should’ve expected that.
