Page 15 of Damaged Protector
“For fuck’s sake,” he muttered as he ambled toward me, shaking his head in frustration. “She’s going to be the death of me.”
“Do you think her thong is pink to match her hair?” I asked, barely keeping a straight face.
Tank glared at me in silence for a long beat. “I hate you.”
I laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, dude. Gram is awesome. Everyone should be as joyful as her at her age.”
“I know, and I’m glad she’s living her life to the fullest, but if she’d have fallen off that damn camel, it would have broken every bone in her body. And I certainly don’t want to know about her underwear situation.” A shudder ran through his large frame.
Tank’s wife approached, her dark hair flowing around her shoulders. “Here, Waylon. Hold this little chunk. I’m going to ride the camel now.” She stuffed Amelia into his arms, and he turned exasperated eyes toward me.
“Are all the women in my life trying to give me an aneurysm?” he asked, his eyes diverting to Bristol’s swinging ass as she strolled away. The woman knew how to walk… I’d give her that.
He was distracted by Amelia smacking him in the face. “DaDa!”
“What is it, angel?” he asked, turning his full attention to his little one. She had Bris’s dark hair and Tank’s bright blue eyes, and she looked like a living doll.
“I hungry.”
“Let DaDa search his magic pockets,” he teased, fumbling around with his right hand.
“Here, let me take her,” I said, and he handed Amelia over to me before pulling about five different items from the pockets of his cargo shorts. Magic pockets, indeed.
“Okay, baby. I’ve got fruit snacks, Cheetos—”
“Teetos!” she squealed happily, and he opened a Ziploc bag of the orange puffy snacks before handing her two of them. Amelia promptly stuffed one in my mouth before chomping on the end of the other. “Mmm,” she hummed, her eyes rolling back in bliss.
“Do you want to ride the camel, sweetie?” I asked, and she dipped her chin shyly, shaking her head.
“Thank god,” I heard Tank mumble.
I nibbled on her downy soft cheek, making her giggle when my beard tickled her. After downing her Cheeto, she snuggled her face into my neck.
“She likes her Uncle Hawk,” her father said, smiling fondly.
None of my buddies and I were actually related, but we were brothers in every way that counted. Ever since we’d all met in the Navy when we were in our early twenties.
I patted her tiny back and winked at Tank. “What can I say? Chicks dig me.”
“The food was delicious,” Shark said, patting his stomach as we all sat around Bode and Landree’s living room.
“I think I ate an entire rack of ribs by myself,” Taz groaned, and her husband leaned over and rubbed her belly. They’d found out the week before that she’s expecting a baby. She had no baby bump yet. None at all. Yet Woody acted as if she was nine months pregnant by the way he had his hand on her abdomen as much as humanly possible.
“Glad you enjoyed them,” Bode said. “We used Landree’s special rub on them.” He winked over at his pretty, red-haired wife.
“It’s Dad’s original recipe. I just tweaked it a little.”
Her father, Ray, smiled. “I use the usual stuff. Paprika, cumin, brown sugar, salt, pepper, garlic. But I also add a little coyote pepper. That’s where that spice comes from.”
Everyone exchanged looks. Ray often did this… mixed up words or phrases.
“Dad, that’s cayenne pepper,” Landree said, her lips twitching.
His face creased into a frown. “Are you sure? I thought it was coyote. I’ve always wondered if they just called it that or if it had some kind of coyote extract or something.”
“Dear, it’s cayenne,” his wife, Linda, confirmed patiently, patting his hand as the rest of us tried to fight our snickers.
“Huh. Learn something new every day, don’t cha?” Ray said with a big grin. “So, what’s everyone up to this summer? Any big plans?”