Page 67 of At Their Mercy: Part I

“It is to us.” Reese planted a hand on top of Shay’s head and kissed his temple. “You can call Danny whatever you want, though. I usually go with asshole.”

“The fuck you do, the fuck you will.” Danny stepped forward and extended a hand to Shay. “Nice to finally meet you, kid. If you ever need verbal weaponry against Reese, I’m your guy.”

Shay was on board. “Awesome to meet you too, and we’ll talk.”

Reese glanced over at me. “I knew we’d have regrets.”

I smirked and shrugged. He was the one with a target on his back. I was in the clear.

“I have to give the pups water,” Shay said, bending down to scratch Lima behind the ear. “Are we ready to go inside?”

“Absolutely,” Reese said. “Time for the appetizer to go on the grill too.”

So, we all headed in, and Reese did an okay job of giving a not-so-grand tour. As in, he pointed out where shit was when Em and Danny complimented our new house. Danny called it nice and open. Em used the words cozy and light.

“Well, damn,” Danny uttered when he saw the dining room table. “Did we miss the party?”

“Cover for me, brother.” Reese squeezed my shoulder before heading outside.

Right. I cleared my throat. “All those gifts are from Shay. That’s how much he loves us.”

Danny eyed me. “So either he’s batshit crazy like you are, or you’re putting up some front to be someone you’re not.”

We were done hiding, so…

Shay emerged from the kitchen with a grin. “I’m as batshit as they are.”

I smiled.

“Well, we didn’t arrive empty-handed.” Em unceremoniously dug through a side pocket of Danny’s pants. “You can add these to your gift mountain. I hope you don’t mind we went with the usual.”

Fuck no, their usual was stellar. I accepted the two small boxes and grinned. “I love your usual.”

It was almost always EDC knives. They had single-handedly built up my Spyderco collection. Reese was more of a Benchmade guy, aside from the Spyderco PM2, of which I believed he had six. He was also a nerd for Zero Tolerance when he felt like splurging.

“This is great—thank you.” I opened them both, revealing a new Manix 2 for me and a⁠—

“Um, Sir, you’re not supposed to open Reese’s,” Shay said helpfully.

I furrowed my brow. “He told me to cover for him.”

Emerson and Danny found that funny.

We should have done this ages ago.

What the fuck had we been so afraid of? Why had this idea never even entered our minds?

I’d forgotten how at home I felt around Danny and Em.

Throughout dinner, Reese and I cast each other brief glances. We were on the same page. We needed them back in our lives. They were, in fact, family. What family was supposed to be.

“I’m not even gonna pretend to be embarrassed—I’m going in for a third round.” Danny reached for the brisket platter and loaded up on more food.

I was getting full, but the food was so damn good. The brisket was perfect, the grilled potatoes were just… Amazing. The aioli too, and the green pepper sauce, the barbecue dip, the bread, even the greens. And the beer was ice-cold.

The meat didn’t need added sauce; he’d locked in the moisture like a fucking expert. But I was a big fan of some potatoes with my sauce. Carbs and fat.

“You’ve outdone yourself, Reese,” Em said.