“Don't listen to him. His brain-to-mouth filter is completely nonexistent, and he will most definitely ask you about your vagina at some point in the future.”
“Not if he wants to keep his testicles attached to his body,” Nasa stated blithely, as though commenting on the weather.
“Hey, asshole, you're supposed to be on my side,” Duke bitched, punching Tobias in the shoulder.
Tobias responded by whacking Duke in the forehead with his spoon. “I am on your side, Himbo. But you've got your whole goddamn foot in your mouth. I don't know where you think you're gonna put pancakes.”
“Who's making pancakes?” Ruckus appeared, as though summoned by magic, quickly followed by Gee. Then another guy Dillon had seen around but wasn't familiar with, Frankie.
Nasa scowled darkly at all of them, muttering under his breath about rethinking a small kitchen down in the basement.
A chime came from the watch on his wrist, which made Nasa bang the skillet down on the range and reach for a cabinet beside the big fridge.
It pulled open to reveal a large computer screen with split images, showing a multitude of angles outside.
A tap to the screen and they all saw Ever driving up in her beetle green Jeep, half out the window shaking her fist at Roar who rode ahead of them on his Harley.
“Fuck me,” Nasa snapped, slamming the cabinet closed to open another one, hefting out a pair of waffle irons.
“They're still gonna be lemon whatever, right?” Duke asked hopefully.
Nasa shot a rather frigid glare his way in answer. “Only if you're doing the dishes.”
Duke looked crestfallen. “Dishes are for girls!”
“And you wonder why you're still single.” Tobias sighed, pointedly getting up to wash his spoon and cereal bowl out in the sink.
“If you're cookin', I'll do the dishes,” Gee volunteered, then turned a less than impressed look on Duke. “‘Cause dishes are definitely not just for girls.”
Ruckus bounced his head in time to music only he could hear. “True that, brother. I'll help clean up.”
Nasa heaved a defeated sigh. “Fine, fine. Better set the table while you're at it. Roar obviously forgot Ever has inventory to do today at the nursery.”
On cue, a door opened somewhere close by, and Roar could be heard getting his ass chewed out by his wife.
Despite the racket, Dillon found herself enjoying the craziness of the morning. A hairy golden retriever came skipping into the kitchen alongside Lyon, who announced himself with a loud whoop.
“Mornin, bishes! Oooh! Unka, you makin' waffuhs!?” Like a magnet, Lyon latched onto Nasa's leg, wide-eyed with the same exuberant hope as Duke. “I'm starvin’! Mama only made us toast, and I'm gonna die if I don't get some waffuhs!”
Nasa shook his leg like he was trying to dislodge Lyon, who cackled and held on with arms and legs like a monkey, his happy giggles filling up the kitchen.
“Well, I guess if you're gonna die…” Nasa answered with dubious reluctance. “Go help Ruckus and Gee set the table.”
Elka's warning growl tore Dillon's gaze away from Lyon's adorable attack on Nasa's leg to see Ever's dog go belly-up in answer to Elka's rebuke.
His fluffy blond tail wagged ten miles an hour, he had all four paws in the air, his body curved in a half circle so he could lick at Elka's leg.
Elka looked absolutely disgusted. Her lip curled up to expose her teeth, and she even went so far as to lift her leg up out of the line of fire, but it only made Ever's dog wiggle and writhe like a worm to have at her hip.
“Looks like Nasa isn't the only one with a hard on for bad bitches.” Ruckus chortled. “Watch out now, Squatch. She'll take your nuts off.”
“Squatch don't have any nuts,” Lyon announced, coming around with a roll of paper towels under each arm. “Daddy calls him the nutless wonder. Hi, Dilly! We havin’ waffuhs for beffast!”
The little boy's cuteness was too much. “Hi, Lyon. I better help out so you don't starve.”
“I sure would ah-peeshate it, I wanna grow up biggin stong like Unka Nasaw, wight?” Lyon beamed up at Nasa, who shot him a wink as he grated the rind of a lemon.
“That's right.”
Dillon got up to help Nasa get the ingredients together for the waffle batter, falling into sync alongside him.
It wasn't long before the entire kitchen smelled of vanilla, yeast, and lemons. At one point, Roar came in and handed his daughter to Frankie, then strolled out with a grin on his face.
Frankie waited until Lyon was out of earshot before bouncing Harper on his hip. “It's a good thing Roar got neutered, otherwise we'd be overrun with kids. Two'a them can't keep their damn hands off one another.”
Frankie reached out to snitch one of the waffles, and quick as a flash, Nasa smacked his hand with a spatula. “Don't even think about it.”
Harper laughed like Frankie getting whacked was the funniest thing she'd ever seen, so Nasa did it again, whipping out to smack Frankie's arm. Harper went wild, bending backward, chubby cheeks round and rosy, giggling like crazy.
“Quit teaching her to be so violent,” Frankie grumbled, fighting his grin.
Nasa tore off a tiny piece of waffle and fed it to Harper, who then made grabby hands for him to take her.
“The world needs a few more badass women, don't they, sweetheart? Yeah.”
Nasa put his spatula down to take her from Frankie, giving her diapered butt a pat when she wrapped her chubby arms around his neck.
Nasa seemed perfectly capable to continue working with one hand, talking softly into Harper's ear, doting on her by feeding her more bits of waffle.
The little girl absolutely adored him, and Dillon would be lying if she said she didn't feel the same way.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“That poor dog is dumber than a box of rocks.”
Dillon shaded her eyes and looked up at Top, still wearing his thick sweatshirt out in the summer heat.
Lyon had a bright blue gadget
