My Cone and Only (King Family #1) - Susannah Nix Page 0,17
spotted my brother Ryan’s red hair in the crowd and headed in that direction.
Before I’d made it halfway there, I was attacked by a three-foot-high tornado that nearly racked me as it attached itself to my leg. Peeling it off, I tossed it up into the air before peering into the giggling face of my niece, Isabella.
“Again,” she commanded, and I obliged her because I was a sucker for the little munchkin.
“Don’t get her too keyed up,” her father Manny said, looking tired as he trailed after her. “We’re trying to keep her from melting down until we get this picture taken.”
Isabella bounced in my arms. “More! More!” She shared Manny’s jet-black hair and light brown complexion, but her curls and her huge round eyes were one hundred percent her mother’s.
“Can’t right now.” I switched her to my left side and balanced her on my hip, trying not to wrinkle her pretty yellow dress. “My arms are too tired because you’re getting so big.”
Manny’s mouth twisted into a sardonic grin as his gaze settled on my chest. “Nice shirt.”
Manny’s father, Manuel Sr., had been my dad’s best friend and right-hand man at the creamery. When Manny was ten years old, both his parents had died in a boating accident and my parents had adopted him. Although Manny had kept the Reyes family name, he was as much a part of the King family as any of my other siblings.
Isabella’s tiny fingers touched my sore cheekbone. “Why’s your face look like that?”
“It’s bruised ’cause I ran into something.”
“Boo-boo.” She smacked a wet kiss on my cheek. “Make it all better.”
“Thanks, it feels better already.” I returned her kiss with a loud sucking sound that made her giggle and try to squirm away.
“Whose fist was it?” Manny asked.
“No one important.” While Isabella played with my hair, I glanced across the room at Manny’s wife, who was sitting with her bare feet propped up on a chair. “When’s Adriana’s due date again?”
“Eight more weeks.” Manny rubbed his forehead. “I might need your help painting the nursery. I’m starting to get a little underwater.” Manny had followed in his father’s footsteps and gone to work for my dad, who’d recently put him in charge of all our plant operations.
“No problem,” I told him. “Just let me know when.”
“What the fuck are you wearing?” my asswipe older brother Nate demanded, stalking up to us.
I covered one of Isabella’s ears with my hand and pressed her other ear against my chest. “Dang, Nate, even I know not to curse around a three-year-old.”
Nate winced and offered Manny a muttered, “Sorry.”
Pressing his lips together to stifle a laugh, Manny relieved me of his daughter and left me to face Nate alone.
The two of them worked together at the creamery, but Manny was a thousand percent less of a prick than Nate, who I tried to avoid as much as possible. Which mostly wasn’t too hard, because he felt the exact same way about me.
I looked down at my Adios Bitchachos T-shirt proudly and tugged on the hem. “Like it? I got it in South Padre a few years back, but you can probably find yourself one on the internet.”
“Did you not read the part of the email that said ‘church dress’?” Nate was wearing a suit, but that wasn’t a surprise because he always wore suits nowadays—ever since he’d been promoted to executive vice president of sales.
“You don’t think I should wear this to church?” I asked him, flashing a shit-eating grin.
Nate finally noticed my shiner and his face got even redder. “Jesus Christ, Wyatt!” The muscles in his jaw tightened as he ground his teeth together. At this point the man’s molars had to be smooth as glass from all the angry tooth grinding he did. “You just had to go and mess up your face right before we’re supposed to do this photo.”
“Yes, Nate, that’s what I did. I intentionally threw my face in front of someone’s fist with no other thought than to ruin your precious little picture. Because you and your priorities are always at the forefront of my mind.”
While Nate continued to bitch at me, my gaze flicked over his shoulder and I saw Dad eyeing us, his attention caught by the sound of Nate’s raised voice. As soon as Dad noticed me looking at him, he turned his back.
Typical.
“What happened to your face?” My sister Josie appeared beside Nate and grabbed my chin. I winced