Taking Shots (Assassins, #1)(28)

“Sure am buddy, wanna say bye to your new friends, and Ms. Elli?”

“Bye guys,” he said to the kids, then went and gave Elli a hug, looking up at her, “Thank you for fixing my boo boo, bye.”

“Bye Ryan,” she said with a grin, then she looked over at Shea. “Bye, Shea.”

“Bye babe, I’ll call ya.”

“Alright,” she said with a shake of her head, Shea looked down at the kids as he began to walk away. They all had their mouths hanging open at the sight of him.

“Bye guys.” Their eyes never left him as he walked with Ryan to the car with Amelia on his hip. It seemed as soon as he got Amelia in the car seat, she passed out. That wasn’t the case with Ryan. He was talkative untill they got to the house, even up the driveway, and even when his dad came to the door.

“You’re a Godsend, Shea. Thanks,” James said as he took a sleeping Amelia from him.

“No problem, where’s Grace?”

“Sleeping. I figured I’d meet ya at the door, take the kids, and try to keep them out her hair.”

“You’re a good man, James. Good man.” Shea leaned over kissing Amelia’s head, then he hugged Ryan tightly. “Love you, bud.”

“Love you too, Unky. Thanks for a fun day.”

“No problem, bud, we’ll do it more often.”

“Am I still going Wednesday to your game?”

“Absolutely, bud, everyone will be there.”

“Awesome!” he said with a punch in the air, and then he ran off. James smiled at Shea as he said goodbye and shut the door after giving Shea his keys. Shea walked to his truck, a smile on his face. He felt good, today was a good day, hell, maybe a great one. When he got into the truck and started it, he went through the drive through for some Taco Bell before he headed home.

It was close to six when Shea finally sat in front of his TV watching Sports Center. He was ready for the opener on Wednesday, ready to play. The thought that Elli would be watching him made him smile, then he started wondering what she was doing. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted her.

At the wedding?

He only waited a moment before she answered back.

Yup, bored. Some weddings are awesome, while others are drags, and this one is a drag.

Sorry about that, how was your ride home with the kids?

Interesting to say the least. I just dropped them off, didn’t even stay for the fireworks. My mother has called me 10 times.

Shea smiled to himself. Her family probably wasn’t that bad. She was the baby, so they probably picked on her.

Wow, sorry about that. It was good seeing you today, can’t wait till tomorrow.

Me neither ?

Shea smiled to himself as he laid his phone down. He didn’t want to keep her busy so he decided to wait till later when she would call on her way home. What he didn’t expect was to fall asleep; he guessed the kids wore him out more than he thought. He woke with a jump when his phone started ringing. It was Elli. He answered as he looked at the time, it was past Midnight.

“You were sleeping.” He smiled as he rubbed his eyes.

“I was.”

“Sorry! Just text me your address in the morning.”

“Okay, babe, I’m sorry, I’m really tired.”

“Its fine, I’ll see you tomorrow, sorry to call so late.”

“No, don’t be sorry, are you home?”

“Just left Nashville.”

“Okay, text me when you get home, so I know you got there safe. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Alright, goodnight.”

“Night, baby.” He hung up the phone and texted her his address before walking to the back room where he fell face first onto his bed. He was almost asleep when his phone went off again. He glanced at it seeing that Elli had made it home, and she would see him tomorrow. With a smile, he closed his eyes, pulling the pillow that was beside him up under his chin, wishing it was Elli as he went back to sleep.





“Hello, brother dear.” Shea smiled when he answered his phone. Shea was excited to be cooking lunch for Elli. He wasn’t much of a cook, but he made a mean sandwich and heating soup wasn’t that hard.

“Hey, you sleep well?”

“Amazing, I haven’t gotten more than twelve hours of sleep in God knows how long. So thank you!”

“No problem, only for you,” she gave a little laugh and he knew it was coming. Ryan had the biggest mouth in Nashville.

“So, all I heard this morning was, Ms. Elli this, Ms. Elli that, and oh mommy, then Ms. Elli and Unky Shea were open mouth kissing.” Shea shook his head, a grin on his face. “Shea, where the hell did my four year old learn about open mouth kissing?” Shea let out a hoot of laughter, slapping the top of the counter with his hand.

“Not my fault, Elli’s niece yelled it at us.”

“You were making out in front of the kids?”

“No, we kissed goodbye and it got a little hot.”

“I mean, jeez, protect the younger eyes please.”

“Sorry, is he scarred for life?” She laughed, as he smiled.

“No, but he is wondering why Unky Shea and Ms. Elli don’t have kids since they kiss like that.” Shea was practically choking on his laughter.