“No promises,” she murmured as she rolled onto her side. “Never know when I’ll have to drop it into the conversation.”
I laughed and shook my head, shutting off the light as I left the room. By the time I’d made it back to the main room of the club, Brenna wasn’t on the floor anymore and Casper was sitting at the bar.
“You got the list?” I asked, sitting down beside him.
“Yup. I’ll take the names from the top to here,” he pointed. “You take the rest.”
“I can help, too,” Tommy said, coming out of the hallway.
“You start movin’ tables,” Casper ordered with a nod. “Gonna need the room for sleepin’ bags and shit.”
“What a fuckin’ headache,” I mumbled, scratching at my beard as I found my first name on the list.
“Better than the alternative,” Casper replied darkly.#p#分页标题#e#
* * *
I woke up the next morning to a little hand petting my beard.
“Good morning,” Molly said huskily as I opened my eyes. Rebel was sitting between us with a stuffed duck in her lap.
“We need to get her a dog or something,” I replied, trying not to move my mouth as Rebel’s fingers found my mustache.
“I don’t have much of a yard,” Molly mused, scooting in closer to me. At some point, she must have pulled on a t-shirt while I was sleeping, because she’d been naked when I’d come to bed. Hell of a way to fall asleep.
“We’ll get a place,” I said, turning my head toward her when Rebel got bored with my beard.
“You want to move in together?” Molly asked, raising her eyebrows.
“Marry me first?”
“Eventually,” she said with a secretive little smile.
“Wanna have more kids before Reb’s old enough to be their mother,” I told her, surprised when her head jerked back.
“Will,” she replied, her face pained.
“What?”
“I just—” she shook her head. “I’m not sure that I want more kids.”
“Oh.” My mind went completely blank for a minute. It wasn’t even something that had crossed my mind. Hell, there were four kids in my family. Everyone I was close to had at least two.
“The chances of having another child with Down syndrome is higher for me,” Molly said quietly. “And I’m not saying no, I’m just saying that’s something we’d have to discuss, you know? It’s not a fly by the seat of your pants type of decision.”
“No, I get it,” I mumbled, looking at Rebel. She was licking her lips as she poked at the duck’s eye, rubbing the pad of her finger over the smooth plastic. I imagined her as she grew. Going to school. Learning how to play a sport, maybe. Teaching her how to drive on the back of the club’s property, the same way my dad had taught me. I let myself worry about the people who would try and take advantage of her, of the inevitable discussion Molly would have to have about men and being careful. I tried to imagine her as an adult. Wondered if she’d be able to live on her own, and decided that I didn’t care if she ever moved out.
“I’m all in, sugar,” I said thickly, meeting Molly’s eyes. “You take as much time as you want to decide, but I’m good with whatever we get. Maybe we’ll stop at one more, you know? If we think that’s all we can handle.” I looked back at Rebel. “But Reb needs a brother.”
“Okay,” Molly choked out, kissing my shoulder. “I’ll think about it.”
I lifted my arm and Molly moved in to lie against my chest.
“But you’ll marry me?” I asked as Rebel got bored with the duck and tossed it behind her.
“That wasn’t a proposal,” Molly said dryly, sniffling. “A proposal comes with a ring.”
I laughed, and it made the bed move so much that Rebel startled and gripped my thigh through the blankets . . . which only made me laugh harder.
“So I gotta get you a ring, huh?” I asked, still laughing.
“A big one,” Molly confirmed.
“I can do that.”
“Maybe by the time you find the perfect one, I’ll give you an answer.”
I shook my head and opened my mouth to reply, but a knocking at my door interrupted.
“Brother,” Tommy called. “They’re back.”
Adrenaline hit me hard, and I sat straight up in bed. “Take Reb,” I told Molly, making sure she had a good hold on her before I climbed off the bed.#p#分页标题#e#
Shit, I was naked. My hands went straight to cover my junk as I crossed the room to where I’d dropped my jeans the night before.