wanting a hell of a lot of not-just-friends things from her. Not after he’d kissed those soft lips. Or tasted her. Or felt her come apart on his fingers.
Darcy was addictive. And that was a problem.
No amount of labeling the relationship would solve it, either.
She hit the controller like a woman possessed, then groaned, falling back against the couch dramatically. “Dammit. I’m dead.”
“Language,” Clint said, mimicking the line he’d picked up from Darcy’s Pop Pop.
Clint, unlike Vince, was running very low on grandparents, only seeing Denise’s parents once or twice a year, whenever they came to Baltimore for a visit. Ryder’s parents had seen Clint just one time in his life, when he was still a baby. So, the kid adapted, just like he always did, adopting Darcy’s grandfather as her own.
Of course, it was fair to say, Patrick Collins had adopted Clint right back.
Their family dynamics had changed a great deal over the last year or so since Leo and Yvonne had married. Where before, it had been he and Leo raising the boys alone, now, there were three parents in the house. And it worked pretty well.
So well, in fact, he’d named Yvonne and Leo as Clint’s guardians in his will because there was no one else he’d want raising his son if anything happened to him.
“Smarty pants,” Darcy said, ruffling Clint’s hair.
Clint and Vince laughed but kept playing.
“I think these ravenous beasts might have left a few cookies for you. They’re in the kitchen.”
“Darcy made us chocolate chip cookies,” Clint said, his eyes still glued to the game.
“And by made,” Darcy said, acting out her words as she explained, “I opened a roll of dough, sliced it, and baked them. I do not have Yvonne’s mad skills in the kitchen.”
Clint leaned toward her, bumping his shoulder to hers in a friendly, affectionate way. “They were really good.”
“They were okay,” Vince added, though Ryder could tell from his tone he was teasing Darcy. “Not as good as Vonnie’s, but…”
“Kick his butt, Clint,” Darcy said as she gestured toward the game.
“Hey,” Vince protested. “I was just kidding.”
“Doesn’t matter, you ruthless fiend. I still haven’t forgotten the last game.”
Vince grinned, and it was obvious his stepson had beaten her a couple times tonight.
Darcy stood up and walked over to him.
“Leo and Yvonne went out to dinner and a movie. Leo decided to start date night back up. Yvonne’s had a hard time separating from Reba, and she’s supposed to go back to work next week. He told her tonight would be good practice. Apparently, the Halloween party was a little rocky for her. They got there late because Yvonne was giving her mom seventy-two thousand instructions, then the second the power went out, she helped her dad close the restaurant and bailed on returning to the party in favor of coming back here to Reba. Leo said they weren’t away from the baby more than a couple hours. Aunt Natalie was apparently pissed she didn’t get more alone time with her granddaughter.”
Ryder shook his head, amazed by Darcy’s family dynamics. He and his parents hadn’t spoken in years, that silence a blessing. Darcy, on the other hand, always seemed to know everything that was going on in the lives of her relatives.
“Why are you shaking your head?” she asked curiously.
“It’s just you and your family…knowing everything about everyone…doesn’t that wear you out?”
She looked at him like he was six eggs short of a dozen. “Seriously? Of course not. Would it wear you out?”
“I’m not a ‘people’ person, and every single member of your family is the equivalent of six people in one.”
“What do you mean you’re not a people person?”
He shrugged. “I don’t really like people.”
Her eyes widened. “That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Nevertheless, it’s true.” Then he added, “Yvonne and Leo should have called me. I would have come—”
Before Ryder could finish speaking, the baby started crying.
“Reba again,” Vince said, not bothering to look away from the game, in true teenage, somebody-else’s-problem fashion.
“Poor thing is having a hard time settling down tonight.” Darcy started down the hall toward the nursery. Ryder stood frozen in the doorway, glancing back at the boys, then in the direction Darcy had gone.
He sighed. “Why don’t you guys move the gaming into your bedroom? I’d like to watch some TV before bed.”
“Two minutes,” Clint said, clearly unwilling to end the game they were currently playing. Ryder also knew two minutes in video-game speak was always closer to fifteen.
“Two minutes,” he stressed in