Taking Shots (Assassins, #1)(26)

“You never know, honey; I heard that Shea Adler does have a nephew, a niece too.”

“Wow, wouldn’t that be awesome if we met him! Dad would be so jealous!” Riley exclaimed.

“Yeah, he would. Alright run along” she said, shushing them away. They ran off talking about Shea and she took a deep breath.

“Ryan talks a lot.” Elli looked over at Shea. He looked upset under his hat. She hated that she was the one to put that look on his face.

“Shea, I’m sorry.”

“It’s cool; do you want me to go, so you don’t have to explain why you’re sitting next to me?”

“No! I want to spend time with you.” She took his hand in hers, “You just don’t understand my family, you haven’t met them or, hell, I haven’t even talked about them, and they are crazy, so please just bare with me through this.”

“Only if you promise me one thing,” he said after a moment still not looking at her.

“Yeah?”

“Come spend the day with me tomorrow. We’ll watch movies, and just hang out, no interruptions, just us.” He had the cutest grin on his face as he kept his eyes on Amelia. When she noticed he only had one dimple, she poked it, and smiled.

“You only have one dimple.” He covered it with his hand, and blushed.

“Grace makes fun of me all the time for it.”

“I think it’s sexy,” she said with a grin, then she looked out to where the kids were. Should she go to his condo? All by herself?

“So, what do you say?”

“Um, I-“

“UNKY SHEA!!!!!!!!!!!!” They both jumped in shock as Ryan came towards them, his hand in the air as tears ran down his cheeks.

“Ryan, buddy, what happened?” Shea asked jumping up and going to him quickly.

“I,I,I, fell and hurt my hand!” he wailed, Shea cupped his hand looking at it. From what Elli could see, it was only a small scratch.

“Buddy, come on now, calm down. Hockey players don’t cry, remember,” Shea said with a smile as he rubbed Ryan’s back. Elli saw it coming but obviously Shea didn’t, because when Ryan’s face cringed up and he started wailing for his mommy, Shea freaked out. He picked Ryan up, hugging him close.

“I want my mommy!!!” Ryan cried. Elli went over, taking Ryan from Shea, cuddling him close to her chest.

“Oh goodness, you poor thang,” she cooed as she sat down on the bench, putting him across her legs. “Let me see this boo boo, honey.” He held out his hand for Elli to see. Rocks and dirt were mixed with a little blood on his small palm.

“Its hu,hu,hurts,” he stuttered.

“Oh, my goodness!” she exclaimed as she dug in her bag for a wipe. She then cleaned off his hand before bringing his palm to her lips, kissing it softly, “All better?”

“Ye, ye, yes, ma’am. Do you have a Band-Aid?” he asked, tears still in his eyes.

“I do, honey,” she said, putting a Spiderman one on his hand. He looked at his hand, then at her with a watery grin.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, darling,” she said with a grin as he jumped off her lap, grinning up at his uncle.

“Ms. Elli fixed me.”

“She sure did.”

“You need to learn how to do that, Unky, it’s good to know.”

“I know that now, bud, go play.”

“Kay!” He ran off with the biggest smile in the world and Shea looked down at Elli with appreciation all over his face.

“You are amazing, Elli.”

“Why, thank you,” she said with a grin as she leaned back on the bench. “He’s sweet.”

“He’s a pain,” he muttered as he sat down beside her. She loved how he moved, so fluid like. They sat in silence as they watched the kids play. Elli made sure to keep an eye on Amelia since she was so little but then she noticed that Shea was doing the same. Elli tore her eyes off the beautiful baby to do a head count.

“Max, Riley, Emma, Penny, Jason, and Jessica, oh, and Ryan,” she muttered as she counted each child.

“Are those you’re nieces and nephews names?”

“Yeah, Max, Penny, and Jason are Liam’s kids, and then Riley, Emma, and Jessica are Noah’s kids. We had a child born each year for 5 year; Emma and Max were born within a week of each other.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of birthdays.”

“Yeah, but it’s nice. I love them all so much.”

“You know, you’re always talking about the kids, but this is the first I’ve ever heard your brother’s names.”

Elli thought that over and then shrugged her shoulders.

“My family issues are not a good topic for today.” Shea nodded as Penny, Emma, and Jessica came running towards her.

“Auntie Elli, the boys are being mean,” Jessica complained.

“They are still pulling my pigtails,” Penny cried.

“They just stink in my opinion,” said Emma. Elli shook her head, as Shea chuckled beside her. All three girls looked at Shea, and when Elli saw how big Penny’s eyes got, she knew that Penny knew who he was. Penny came closer, still looking at Shea as she came close to Elli’s ear to whisper “Auntie Elli, do you know Big Daddy Adler is sitting next to you?”