to avoid a collision. Then she set it down on the counter with a dramatic sigh. “I swear, she woke me up before dawn asking if you were here yet.”
Thea laughed. “The girls have been excited too.”
And, honestly, if it were just going to be their two families, today wouldn’t be so bad. Nessa was genuine and kind and funny, the only one of the other wives and girlfriends that Thea would remotely call a friend. Mostly because Del and Gavin were such good friends. And the twins adored playing with Jo-Jo. Today could have been OK. But it wouldn’t be. Because pretty soon, she’d be swimming with the sharks.
Nessa took the other pie from Thea and set it on the counter. Thea could tell just from the way her eyes pinched at the corners what was coming next.
“So . . .” Nessa said, leaning closer. “I hope you don’t mind, but Del told me that Gavin has moved home. Are things going OK?”
“Great,” Thea said automatically. Wait. No. She wasn’t going to do that anymore. Thea straightened her spine. “Actually, it’s not going great. He came home last night, and we haven’t stopped fighting since.”
“Del saw Gavin last week. He said he’s never seen Gavin so broken up.”
Thea bristled. Gavin was broken up? “It hasn’t been a picnic for me, either.”
“Of course not,” Nessa said quickly. “I just . . . I know a little about what you’re going through. These men of ours, they’re not great at expressing themselves. Give it time.”
Thea wanted to press her—because how could Nessa know anything about marital trouble? She and Del had the perfect marriage. But she was cut off by a knock at the front door, which was followed immediately by an impatient dinging of the doorbell. Nessa swore and rolled her eyes again. “Lord give me strength. I have no idea why Del invited him.”
“Invited who?”
“Well, well, you must be Mrs. Thea Scott.”
Thea turned around and came face-to-chest with an impressive set of pecs beneath a tight white T-shirt. She looked up and was nearly blinded by a sparkling smile that may or may not have brought a little whimper from her mouth. Her eyes catalogued the gloriousness of thick dark hair, mischievous brown eyes, and a jawline that could cut glass. He winked, and angels began to sing.
“Braden Mack,” he said, lifting Thea’s mouth toward his lips. “Pleasure to finally meet you.”
His lips brushed her knuckles, and Thea’s mouth went dry.
“I— How do you know who I am?”
“I know your husband, but obviously not well enough because he failed to mention how beautiful you are.”
Thea tried to respond but could only squeak.
Nessa cleared her throat. “Mack, it’s too early for your brand of charm. Why don’t you go out back and help the men?”
Braden stroked Thea’s wrist with his thumb. “They need advice about women?”
“No, they’re trying to fry a turkey.”
Braden dropped the act and Thea’s hand. “Oh, shit.” He took off through the back door.
Thea swallowed and shivered. “Whoa. I feel like I just met the god of seduction.”
“Lord, don’t tell him that. His ego doesn’t need any help.”
Thea and Nessa wandered to the glass doors to watch him walk. She licked her lips and then looked up. Her eyes collided with Gavin’s unmistakably jealous glare. “Oh, crap.”
* * *
• • •
“I’m going to kill him.”
The minute Gavin looked through the glass door and saw Mack kiss Thea’s hand, something hot and red took hold of his senses, which were already scrambled from the past twenty-four hours. And now the asshole was headed their way, waving and swaggering like nothing had happened.
“He’s just doing it to get you riled up,” Del said. “He hits on all our wives.”
“And you let him get away with it?”
“He doesn’t mean anything by it.”
Gavin curled his hands into fists as jealousy surged. It was childish and immature and completely irrational, but Braden-Fucking-Mack was exactly the kind of interference he and Thea didn’t need right now. Gavin had been competing with smooth-talking, cock-swinging fuckboys like Mack his entire life. He sure as shit wasn’t going to compete with him for his own wife.
And fuck if he didn’t feel like a loser for even thinking about that. This wasn’t high school. Thea was his wife, not the girl he wanted to take to prom. But logic and reason were scarce quantities in his life these days. Case in point: the argument about masturbation this morning.
“You dipshits are gonna burn the house down,” Mack joked