Breaking Away (Assassins, #5)(7)

“Reese, please don’t kill my husband,” Piper said with a smile on her face.

Reese returned the smile as she cut up some of her steak. When Erik recovered, he shook his head before draining his milk.

“Actually, I don’t think Phillip would mind you using him,” Erik said midway through dinner.

Reese looked up. “Phillip?”

“Yeah, my best friend, Phillip Anderson.”

The name sounded familiar, and she was pretty sure she could see his face. He was hottie, with blue eyes, blond hair, and a strong bone structure. He was actually someone that she could be attracted to, but there was no way she was going to chance sleeping with him if he was Erik’s best friend. That would cause awkwardness, and Reese couldn’t handle that.

“Phillip has enough to worry about. He doesn’t have time to have his heart broken by my man-eating twin,” Piper teased.

Reese faked a hurt look as she said, “Hey, I make sure they are satisfied before I feed!”

“You two are nuts,” Erik said with a shake of his head before looking over at Dimitri. “Nuts, I tell you. They cray cray, bud.”

Dimitri rewarded him with a sloppy grin before Piper put a spoon in his mouth.

“We are not crazy at all. Well, at least I’m not,” Piper said with a smile before scooping some more gunk out of the jar for Dimitri.

“Whatever you say, sister dear. We shared a home, remember? I’m pretty sure we are just alike,” Reese joked as Piper shook her head.

“Nope, I’m the normal one.”

Erik laughed. “If I do remember correctly, you are the one that smashed thousands of dollars’ worth of electronics not eight months ago.”

Piper pinned him with a look that had Reese trying to hold in her laughter.

“And if I do remember correctly, a certain someone deserved that because they missed their son’s ultrasound.”

Erik glared back at her, but not for long. A smile came across his face before he leaned over, kissing her lips.

“Blah, get a room—innocent eyes in here,” Reese complained as she guarded her eyes.

Piper laughed. “Dimitri watches us kiss all the time!”

“I was talking about me!”

“You, my dear, are far from innocent,” Piper teased with a grin.

That had them all laughing, while Dimitri looked at them like they were crazy.

After dinner, Reese leaned against the counter as Piper washed the plates before handing them to Reese to dry. Erik was putting Dimitri to bed, and Reese knew it was about time for her to head out.

“Erik is leaving tomorrow morning,” Piper said. Reese could tell it bothered her. She wasn’t used to the whole hockey wife thing, but Reese had no doubt she’d catch on.

“That sucks.”

“Yeah, but it’s only for a week,” she said with a nod. “Oh, by the way, I think we are going to get a house in the city. We’ve been looking.”

Reese nodded. She had been asking Piper to move back to Nashville for months. When she first got pregnant, Piper decided to hide the pregnancy and moved out to Sweetbriar to her family friend, Elli Adler’s old house. Reese should have known something was up, but at the time, Piper wanted to be an illustrator, and said she needed the peace and quiet to draw. Really, she was pregnant and didn’t want anyone to know.

“That’s great; I can’t wait to have you and Dimitri closer to me.”

“And Erik,” Piper supplied.

“Yeah, him too,” Reese said teasingly as she dried a plate. “He’s okay, I guess. He’s growing on me.”

“He’s amazing, I love him so much.”

A small grin came across Reese face.

“Have you talked to Harper today?” Piper asked.

Reese shook her head. “Nope, what’s up?”

Piper smiled widely at her before saying, “Sadie is pregnant. The eggs stuck this time!”

Reese wanted to scream out in joy. It had been two months since they picked out Sadie Murray as the surrogate mother for Harper and Jakob. Sadie was a mother of two with a loving husband who believed that everyone needed a baby. She had been a surrogate once before, and she took great care of herself. Reese knew from first glance that Sadie was perfect. Knowing that everything was working out perfectly made Reese want to cry. Harper was probably elated.

But why hadn’t she called Reese?

“Oh my god, that’s awesome,” Reese said, but then asked, “I wonder why she didn’t call me? I picked Sadie out, for goodness sakes!”

Piper smiled. “She did call you, but your phone doesn’t work out here. That’s why I’m telling you.”

“Oh… Well, damn, that’s awesome. I can’t wait for another little baby!”

Piper laughed. “Me either. I’m so happy for them.”

Reese smiled. “Me too. So when you popping out another one?”

Piper dropped the plate she had in her hands, splashing water all over her shirt. Reese laughed as she took a step back.

“Do you not remember how loud I was screaming during the birth of my son? That shit is not a joke, it hurts, and it will take longer than six months for me to forget that pain, thank you. I don’t know how Elli did this back to back the way she did,” Piper said with a shake of her head.