“You’re a real-life angel doll!” she shrieks with so much excitement, and then she grabs hold of me and yanks me to her.
I suck in a breath of air but instantly begin to cough when I only get a lung full of perfume.
My eyes dart to Layla for help, but she’s staring at the woman with wide eyes and parted lips. Falcon begins to chuckle, and then I hear Lake and Mason laugh.
Luckily Lake comes to my rescue, and he pulls me to him, freeing me from the woman.
“She’s yours?” the woman asks, and I nod before Lake can even answer which has Mason laughing harder.
“Hi, Miss Sebastian,” Lake greets her.
Miss Sebastian leans right over me and hugs Lake, which has me holding my breath until she pulls back.
“An angel doll for my chucklelicious. Bestill my swooning heart,” Miss Sebastian coos.
I get a moment to look at her face, and then a smile splits over mine. “You’re Asian?”
“Momma’s side comes from Taiwan. Unfortunately, Momma didn’t have good taste, and she hooked up with a good-for-nothing pavement special.” She inclines her head, then says, “Wang Kao aka Sebastian Ward, but you can just call me Miss Sebastian.”
I bow my head. “Park Lee-ann. Just call me Lee.”
“Woman!” A man shouts from the other side of the road. “Can you at least let them come in before you bombard them?”
“Rhett Daniels!” she shrieks as she spins around and stalks toward him. “Don’t you dare raise your voice at me. I will kick you right in the sparklies and make you sound like you have a helium balloon stuck up your ass.”
Lake begins to laugh, and feeling his body shake against mine makes my smile widen.
“Ooh kinky,” Rhett says to her. “Is that a promise?”
She shoves at him, but he only staggers back two steps before he grabs hold of her and yanks her back to him.
“Oh, holy mother of fashion. My heels! You’re scraping my heels!”
Lake laughs so hard, he drops his forehead to my shoulder, and he has to lean back against the car to stay upright.
Kingsley keeps snorting, and it makes laughter burst over my lips.Chapter 19LakeWe’ve been at the BBQ for ten minutes, and my stomach is already aching from all the laughter.
Suddenly a little girl comes running out of the house, shrieking, “Uncle Ledge!”
Rhett throws the tongs at Jaxson who manages to catch it. Swinging around, Rhett holds his arms open, and the girl jumps, flinging herself at him. “Fuck, Princess. I missed you.”
A girl who could easily be eighteen comes out, shouting, “I heard that. A hundred dollars in the swear jar.”
“Jamie, are you still saving for college?” Marcus asks her.
She wags her brows at him. “I’m hoping Carter will pay and I can use it for something else. The way you all keep cursing up a storm I’ll be able to buy my first house with cash.”
More people arrive, and Marcus begins to introduce us. When everyone has arrived, I’m so confused, I lean over to Miss Sebastian, and ask, “Whose who again?”
She clears her throat and points at Carter. “Carter, Jaxson, Marcus, Logan and my babykins, Rhett, are all best friends. Della’s married to Carter and Danny’s their daughter. Jamie is Della’s sister.” She pauses and gives me a stern look. “Are you still with me on the crazy train?”
“Yes,” I chuckle.
“Evie is married to Rhett. Willow is married to Marcus. Leigh is married to Jaxson, and she’s my bestie. Mia is married to Logan, and she’s also Rhett’s sister.”
Miss Sebastian scowls as her eyes sweep over everyone. “I think I covered it all. It confused me like a hamster in a bigass dryer in the beginning. That’s why I call them my chunk of hunks and my angel girls. It was easier just doing that until I figured out who was who and which magic wand went into which cave of wonder.”
I crack up which has Miss Sebastian patting my back as I hunch over, while she sips on her cosmopolitan.
“He needs air, Miss Sebastian,” Marcus scolds her.
“You better watch yourself, Marcus Reed. Just because I washed your ding dong a couple of times, it doesn’t mean you can take that tone with me.”
Marcus starts nodding and holds up his beer. “Thanks for that. Now everyone knows.”
“What’s wrong with that?” She stands up and wags her finger in front of him. “Are you ashamed of the special moments we shared?”
“I didn’t say that at all.” Marcus places his arm around her shoulder, then he looks at me. “She held my heart in her hands.”
I blink a couple of times before I ask, “Figuratively?”
He shakes his head. “No, she’s one of two people who held my actual heart in their hands.”
“Long story short,” Miss Sebastian jumps in. “His bedazzled ass was on the bullet train to Valhalla when Leigh, my bestie, performed a miracle, and I assisted her during the operation.”