Page 31 of Cannon

“Told you,” Hennessy yelled.

Whiskey walked over and handed Hennessy a stack of money.

“You guys bet on the babies?” Cannon asked.

“Yo, we bet on anything. I bet the least likeliest because I knew the payout would be worth it,” Hennessy yelled up.

“Fuck, we have to wear that stupid shirt for a week unless nobody tells my wife,” Whiskey grumbled.

“Oh no, I had to wear that shirt last week, so I’m for sure telling Vivi,” Hennessy replied, shoving Whiskey. “Though I rock the pink shirt. Maybe I should have it be my signature color.”

“Well, you have to wear it enough,” Quinton replied.

Cannon chuckled because suddenly Ellie was running toward the edge of the area because the Nelson cousins were hitting and knocking each other down. Ellie left for a minute and thenreturned with a pitcher of water. Ellie was fitting in just fine if she was going to do what he thought she was.

She dodged a couple guys to dump the water on Hennessy and Whiskey, who were wrestling on the floor. When they sprang apart, she blew a whistle.

“Now, if everyone could listen, we’ll get this started. You want to brawl, then get out of the course. Got it?”

Hennessy grinned despite being soaked. “She’s feisty, isn’t she? We’re listening.”

Cannon listened to Ellie and didn’t hear anything that he wasn’t pleased with. War, Bear, Flick, Rascal, Baron, and Roam joined him in the observation area. Once Ellie and Dex got them started, he turned to the men gathered around him. They were his best chance at putting this with Jesse on solid ground.

“Hey, I’d like your help with something.”

A chorus ofsureandanythinghad him relaxing. He knew they’d have his back but sometimes, it was good to be reminded.

“First, I need to find someone to talk to about my fucked-up childhood. I don’t want what I went through to ever influence or touch the girls. And I need some ideas on how to show Jesse that I’m all in and so fucking sorry.”

“I can give you a name of who I talked to. Easy going guy but the homework he gives you and the way he has you examine stuff really helps,” Roam said.

“I’ll take it. I want to be the best dad I can be, and I need some more help.”

Cannon paused because he hated being out of control and asking for help seemed like he couldn’t handle how to be a good boyfriend.

“You can share with us. We’re all brothers and let’s face it, Baron and I have royally screwed up with women,” Rascal coaxed.

“Speak for yourself. My woman thinks the sun rises and sets with my presence,” Baron bragged.

Roam and War chuckled.

“Yeah, and I bet when she was yelling at you for throwing away her sourdough starter, she was dreaming of how you brought the sun into her life,” War said.

“Yep, Cannon. Now you’re joining the club. You raise your kids. Do your best so they can give you crap the rest of your life. And how was I to know that globby jar open on the counter was something she wanted to keep. Heck, the stuff was crawling up the sides of the jar like that old movie The Blob. I cleaned the kitchen and jar, then put it in the dishwasher. I thought I’d get thanked. Instead, she yelled at me that I’d set her back seven days in creating the best sourdough starter. Women,” Baron groused.

Cannon laughed along with everyone else, then winced when Quinton took out four of his cousins from his place on top of one of the fake buildings.

“It’s getting a little wild down there,” Cannon commented.

“Yeah, but when you’re well, we so need to do this,” Flick said.

“Now on to what you need to do, you need to show her she matters,” Rascal said.

Cannon waited for him to continue and stared at his friends, who had their own women, and they were nodding yes. That was it? Show her she matters? He was wanting concrete ways to show Jesse he was all in.

“How about an example because ‘show her she matters’ sucks balls as far as helping me.”

Bear leaned against the railing, looking directly at Cannon.