A Perfect Ten (Forbidden Men #5)(135)

A moment of awkward silence followed his question before I exploded. “What the hell, douche bag? You know she can’t get pregnant.”

Gam immediately closed his eyes and winced. “Shit. I forgot. Sorry.” When he opened his lashes, Caroline took a step away from him.

She gave a small shake of the head. Then she glanced at Aspen and her younger brothers. “You guys have fun. I think I’m going to stay behind this trip.”

She turned away from them, and me too, but her * big brother rushed after her, catching her arm.

“Caroline.” His voice was desperate and regretful. He pulled her back against him so he could squeeze his eyes shut and press his lips to her hair. “I’m an idiot. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ve been so concerned with getting you away from him so he can’t hurt you, I end up hurting you, myself. I don’t know how to do this, how to back off. I’m used to being your big brother—and a surrogate parent—it’s second nature for me to want to jump in and pull you away from anything I think is dangerous. It’s scary as shit to watch you walk into something I can’t protect you from. And I don’t know how to...I just keep f*cking it up. But what I know for sure is that I can’t lose you. You’re a part of this family. I don’t want you to leave us just because I’m having trouble behaving myself. If...” He sent me a scathing glance. “If you want to bring someone else along with you, fine. But it can’t be a real family day without you.”

Caroline drew in a deep breath. Then she glanced over at me. “Okay, but Oren’s coming, too.”

Gam lifted his hands in surrender. “Fine.”

“Can I ride with Ten and Caroline?” Brandt asked.

“Ooh, me too. I want to go with them.” Colton skipped toward his sister to wrap his arms around her waist.

Gamble shot me a look full of hatred, silently accusing me of stealing his entire family from him. I lifted my eyebrows, daring him to say something. He opened his mouth, but no words came.

Shakespeare hooked her arm through his. “Looks like you and I have an entire ride all to ourselves.”

When he glanced at her and she smiled up at him, a warmth entered his gaze. I guess the two of them had made up from the biggest fight of their marriage. That was awesome, because I was forever grateful for that woman’s presence in his life. No one calmed his moody temper as much as Shakespeare did.

“I guess it’s settled then,” I announced, clapping my hands together. “Everyone, load up!”





I definitely rode in the “fun” truck on the way to Rainly Park. We barely got a mile down the road when Oren smacked me lightly on the side of the arm with the back of his hand.

“Padiddle.”

I glanced at him, completely confused. “Huh?”

He briefly glanced back. “What? Didn’t you ever play car games when you were little?”

Both Brandt and Colton leaned forward curiously from the backseat as I said, “My family never went on long car rides.”

Sympathy crossed his features before he shrugged and grasped my hand, lacing our fingers together over the center console. Then he sent me a quick smile. “Well, my sister and I played endless hours of car games when we were growing up.”

I turned to the side in my seat to face him. “So, how does padiddle go?”

He shrugged. “It’s easy. You see a car with only one headlight and slap someone else in the car while you call out, padiddle.”

I blinked, waiting for the point of the game. Finally, Colton scratched his head. “And that’s it?”

With a chuckle, Oren shrugged again. “I didn’t say it was an enlightening, complicated, or educational game. But it’s a fun reason to slap your sister without getting into trouble.”

“Except it’s daytime,” I said dryly. “And our chances of finding someone with only one daytime headlight is fairly low.”

Oren scratched his scruff a second before saying, “My friend’s family used to play the same game, but they would thump the roof of the car whenever they saw a yellow car.”

“I like slapping arms better,” Brandt said just as Colton suggested, “Let’s do red cars.”

A second later, three different hands attacked my poor short-sleeve-covered arm.

“Padiddle,” they said in unison. “Red car.”

“What the f*ck!” I lifted my hands in self-defense, shying away from them. “Why did you all go after me?”

Oren wiggled his eyebrows. “Weakest link.”

“Oh, what the hell ever.” Spotting a red truck, I swung out with both hands, catching Oren and Colton. Brandt was saved that time only because he was the farthest away. “Padiddle.”

And so the war began.

It had to be the stupidest, silliest game I’d ever played, but I was giggling by the time we reached the park. My brothers were talking a million miles a minute as we alighted from Oren’s truck.

Aspen and Noel paused midway between unloading blankets and baskets full of lunch. Noel scowled at us—probably for being so happy—and his glower fixated itself on Oren.

Ignoring my crabby brother, Oren skipped toward Aspen. “Here, Shakespeare. Let me carry that for you.” As he swept the laden basket from her arms, Noel’s glower only darkened.