Grind (Powertools The Original Crew Returns #3)- Jayne Rylon Page 0,38

to earn this.

“What he means is, he’ll take it,” Ms. Brown told Kayla with a heartfelt smile. “As long as the sale includes a provision for us to get massages once a week for life.”

Kayla laughed then, and Dave was unable to believe how the universe had a way of setting things right.

He remembered something Kayla had told him when he was struggling with his new normal after his accident, before he’d relearned how to walk or fuck. So he turned to her and repeated it back, “You know, Kayla, storms don’t last forever.”

Her lip wobbled and she dashed away a tear before it could roll down her face. “Damn it. I wasn’t going to cry.”

Morgan got up then and smothered Kayla in a hug. Sally, who was looking pretty preggers these days, piled on, shocking Dave with a few tears of her own. She grumbled, “Fucking hormones.”

Everyone cracked up, especially Alanso, who was there to pull Sally into his lap and wipe her cheeks after she relinquished her hold on Kayla. For a few minutes they enjoyed the cookies and each other, knowing it was only the first of many fun times spent around this table in each other’s company.

“Hey, Uncle Tom,” Joe asked without looking away from Kayla and Dave or letting go of Morgan’s hand.

“Yeah?”

“Will you keep our kids overnight? Mike’s too?” Joe grinned then. “I think we have some crew negotiations to deal with.”

“Are those naked negotiations?” Alanso asked with a smirk.

“Yes. Yes, they will be.” Dave answered on behalf of the crew. The younger generation laughed as Ms. Brown hid her face against Tom’s shoulder and he simply smirked.

14

Dave carried a pile of blankets out to the backyard of Joe and Morgan’s rental house. Mike was lugging a cooler and several others had trays of snacks. They’d stayed over at Hot Rods most of the afternoon, and had already kicked off the festivities with their friends and extended family. The Hot Rides gang had joined them when they’d heard the good news.

Dave hadn’t stopped grinning for long enough to keep his face from aching. But damn, this felt right.

Kate took a quilt from him and spread it out on the grass in the backyard where they’d decided to lay out, look at the stars, and envision the empire they were about to start building down in the valley beyond the manicured lawn and hedge fence of this gorgeous house.

In their enthusiasm, they might have forgotten that the nights were starting to get chillier. Dave took a seat next to Kayla and grabbed another cover, wrapping it around his shoulders before tugging his wife into his lap and surrounding her in his heat and arms. “I guess we’ll need to snuggle to stay warm.”

“Or we could start a fire,” Joe suggested. “There’s a bunch of wood in the shed.”

Kayla went stiff in Dave’s hold. “I don’t know…”

“Oh shit, sorry.” Joe bent down and kissed her cheek in apology. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Wait.” Kayla reached out and squeezed his forearm. “So much has already been taken away from us. I don’t want to lose this too. Do it. Just, Dave, don’t let go and no one else do something dumb and set your ass on fire or some shit, okay?”

Neil saluted her. “I promise I will try not to be a moron. In fact, want me to go get the fire extinguisher I saw in the garage before?”

Kayla nodded. “Please.”

“I’m so proud of you,” Dave murmured in her ear, but the rest of the crew were huddled around close and echoed his approval. “For being brave and willing to make the smartest decisions for our future, even if they’re hard now. You’re incredible, you know that?”

“I couldn’t do this without you. All of you, really.” Kayla leaned against him fully and let her gaze roam the gathering, including Neil, who returned with the fire extinguisher and set it close by. Then she paused extra on Devon. They’d always been close and he knew she still felt bad about their falling out, even though Devon had pretty much immediately forgiven her as soon as they’d cooled off. “Thank you. I love each of you. And I’m sorry if I’m super stressed out and snippy for the next year or two until we find out for sure if I can really pull this off and get this new thing up and running even half as successfully as I imagine it could be.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be here for you on the