Revealing Annie - Freya Barker Page 0,89

should also know I don’t blame you. I blame the asshole who pinned that shit on me. I just wish we coulda met under different circumstances.” He holds out his hand.

“I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am,” I mutter again, shaking his hand.

He holds on a little longer than comfortable.

“It’s all good, Annie.” With a last little squeeze he releases my hand.

“I should be on my way.”

He tips an imaginary hat and with an awkward little wave I turn toward my car. Now that I know he’s not a creepy stalker, he actually seems like a really nice guy. It’s on my lips to invite him over for the cookout too, but realize just in time that might be insensitive.

Still, as I climb behind the wheel of my Matrix to head home, my heart is much lighter.

Sumo

“I’m hungry.”

Bryce fell asleep on the couch not long after Annie left to visit her old neighbors.

I’ve been restless ever since. Rationally I know the guy’s in jail and may well be extradited to California where he could face charges for the murder of David Finch, but my gut would prefer to have Annie within reach.

I look over at my son, who is rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“I can do hungry. What do you feel like?”

“Grilled cheese,” he says without thinking. “And can you put tomatoes on again?”

I duck in the fridge, giving myself a mental pat on the back. Last week he’d almost gagged when I told him I put slices of tomato sprinkled with oregano between the cheese slices before I grilled it. I got him to try and he wolfed them down, but didn’t say a word.

“What’d I tell ya? Just like pizza, right?” I taunt him.

“Whatever,” he mumbles, unwilling to concede.

I recognize myself at that age. I was a smart-ass, too cool for my boots, and my parents didn’t know anything worth knowing. Bryce is tame in comparison. I’m lucky.

I’m about to start putting the sandwiches together when the front door opens.

“Hey, babe,” I call out. “Just making us grilled cheese, want one?”

“Sure, doll!” comes back in a horrendous falsetto.

I swing around to find Blue, Annie, and fucking Tony standing by the couch, all of them grinning, Bryce included. I ignore them and zoom in on Esme, looking on from the car seat dangling from Tony’s hand.

“Hey, baby-girl,” I coo, earning her curious gaze as I abandon the grilled cheese under construction.

Disregarding the adults, I kneel down in front of her and deftly unclip her from the harness, plucking her from her seat. She immediately cuddles her body to my chest as I round the couch and sit down beside my son.

“Next time leave your annoying parents at home, okay, peanut?” Her response is a kick of her legs as her hand grabs hold of my bottom lip, attempting to detach it from my face. “I need to introduce you to someone.” I sound like a drunken sailor, with my mouth still in her death grip and I careful pry her little fingers back.

“Bryce, meet Esme—Esme, this is your new best friend, Bryce.”

Without warning I lift the baby from my shoulder and hand her to Bryce, who looks like she’s a venomous snake.

“She won’t bite,” I assure him.

“Just don’t get your fingers close to her mouth,” Blue’s dry warning drifts over my shoulder and I bite down a grin.

“I’ll hurt her,” he mutters, a panicked look on his face as he reluctantly holds out his hands.

“Nah,” Tony pipes up. “She’s pretty bendy. You can just put her on your lap if you like.” To me he says, “Now what’s this about grilled cheese?”

“Fine,” I grumble, getting to my feet and walking over to Annie, dropping a kiss to her lips. “You girls too?”

“Is my name Blue?” My partner is a smart-ass.

“I’ll give you a hand,” Annie says smiling.

“Everything okay with Edward?” I ask when she steps up to the counter beside me and starts slicing tomatoes.

“He’s fine. Hattie’s seeing to it.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

“Oh.” I pretend an exaggerated shiver and Annie snickers. “Didn’t need that visual.”

She bumps her shoulder into my arm.

“Don’t worry, I’ll replace it with something better later.”

We haven’t done much more than cuddle and sleep these past few days, so at her suggestive tone my cock jumps to attention.

“Now you’re just being cruel,” I mutter under my breath. “We’ve got company.”

I turn around and see Blue sitting beside Bryce on the couch, talking quietly. Then my glance slides to Tony, who is just

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