Page 26 of At Their Mercy: Part I

So, that was on my mind.

I loved that River and Reese wore the beaded bracelets I’d made them. They only took them off to shower. In other words, they always walked around with the words “Shay’s Daddy” and “Shay’s Owner” on them. But lately…it felt like it wasn’t enough.

I was never gonna be able to get married to my partners, and I wasn’t sure I cared, but I wanted something. I wanted the symbolism of it. I wanted to wear proof.

I wanted to be a Tenley.

It was probably too soon to even bring it up, though. The guys had literally just told me their birthday, and now I was meeting Emerson and Danny for the first time on Monday. I was being included. It was a big step.

I came through the club area with another stack of chairs, and I headed outside onto the patio.

Daddy was shirtless, wearing only jeans, and he was just so fucking sexy that I didn’t know what to do with myself. He was busy clearing the pool area of loungers and tables. River was outside our old cabin, equally mouthwatering, wearing one of Reese’s ball caps, cargo shorts, and his “No” tee. He’d been joined by Kingsley, so Tate should be here somewhere too. They were assembling what was gonna be the gift table.

“How many more chairs, Daddy?” I asked, out of breath. I set them down on the edge of the patio.

He looked over here and wiped his forehead. “I reckon about a dozen more. But you know, leave ’em where they are. They’re promisin’ rain all day tomorrow, so I’m hesitant to put more out on the lawn. It’s possible we’ll have to move the ceremony indoors.”

Oh. That would suck. I’d seen Mr. West’s plan for the ceremony. He’d drawn it up for Tate and Macklin. The “aisle” would be framed by pretty lights and go all the way around the pool and then down between two blocks of chairs on the lawn.

The original plan had been to host the ceremony in the evening, when the lights would be even prettier, but then they’d booked their wedding trip, and they had to leave the same night. They were on a flight to Houston tomorrow at six, after which they’d fly to…I wanted to say Mexico, but I wasn’t sure.

Regardless, an outdoor ceremony would be nicer than having it in the club area.

“Drink some water, pup,” Owner reminded me.

“Yes, Sir,” I said.

Returning inside, I walked past Master Lucian and—I guessed Walker had shown up. Maybe with Macklin?

“At the very least, we’ll put the gift table and buffet inside,” Master Lucian was saying.

“Good plan,” Master Walker replied, and I agreed. “Hello, Shay.”

“Hi, Sir.” I smiled politely and continued to the kitchen.

Were Lane and Ty showing up too?

Instead of finding Tate and Macklin in the kitchen, where I expected them to be in preparation mode for tomorrow, I only found Noa. Digging through the fridge.

“Hey. Could you grab me a water?” I asked.

Noa glanced back at me. “Yeah, sure.” He found a bottle and tossed it to me.

“Thanks.” I unscrewed the lid and took a swig as I eyed him a little. He wasn’t his usual happy self today, which had happened more lately. It could be about his mom, but…I wasn’t sure. No one had escaped the rumors of Noa’s run-in with one of the online trolls.

Axel or whatever his name was. He was just a dick talking shit online all the time. He had nothing nice to say about any subs. In my eyes? He was bitter and jealous. He kissed Top ass like he was being paid for it.

“You okay?” I wondered.

He shrugged. “I guess.”

I cocked my head.

He seemed like he didn’t know where to go. If he was going. He shifted from one foot to the other and ended up leaning back against the kitchen counter.

“I was looking for Nutella,” he said. “Didn’t find any.”

“Got it.” I chugged more of my water, and I wiped my mouth. “Did you ever get any repercussions after you kicked that fucker’s ass?”