“Cocktail sauce? On potato chips?”
I turned to see Aiden standing there with his arm around Ash. “It was all I could come up with on short notice. What the hell are you two doing here?” I stepped forward to give each of them a big hug. We hadn’t seen them since Xander and Bennett’s wedding.
Aiden gestured proudly to his fiancé. “Ash has a gig booked at Red Rocks in a few days. He’s opening for Viscount Smash.”
Ash blushed and smacked Aiden. “Stop telling everyone. I’m pretty sure the entire passenger manifest of our flight has the details memorized.”
“I’m just so fucking excited for you, babe. It’s going to be amazing. Jake, I hope you and Oz can come.”
I looked over at Oz, holding Atticus and saying something that made my mom and Zoey burst out laughing.
“Unfortunately, I can’t. Xander and I are taking our first group of kids for the season out the day after tomorrow. We’ll be gone for a week. I’m sure Oz would love to go, though. Maybe he and Bennett can ride together and take Lucky.”
Ash’s brow furrowed. “But we thought you were going back to work in medicine. Bennett told Aiden you were in line to take over the practice from the local doctor here.”
I nodded. “I am. It’s just taking a while to get my license back… lots of red tape to work through. Doc Sharma isn’t retiring until the end of the year, so the plan is for me to come on board full-time at the end of the summer and start the transition. In the meantime, I’m working for Xander one last summer on the wilderness expeditions.” I winked at Aiden. “Thought maybe you’d want to join us again on one of our trips?”
Aiden threw back his head and laughed. “Oh, hell no. Once was enough, thank you very much. I’m perfectly happy being a city dweller from here on out. Roughing it at the Haven lodge and our beach house is about as outdoorsy as I get these days. Well, hopefully your busy schedule won’t keep you from coming to the wedding?”
Aiden and Ash had finally set a date for their wedding. They were to be married at the Botanical Gardens with a reception in the Conservatory. The place was apparently special to them, and I looked forward to seeing them joined together officially in a location that meant so much.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I assured them. “Now, let’s find some of that champagne I was promised and get this celebration started.”
That night, when all was finally quiet and everyone had returned to their own homes or Xander and Bennett’s lodge rooms, I found myself staring at Oz across the tiny kitchen. He was drying the last of the wine glasses, and I couldn’t help but follow the movement of his hands as the kitchen light glinted off his new ring.
“I have to say, as much as I love holding Atti, it is pretty fantastic being able to hand him off when he gets fussy like that,” Oz said. He’d been chattering on about everyone who’d been there for the cookout, and I could tell he was in heaven with so many people to talk about.
“We never really talked about whether or not you wanted children,” I said.
He put the last glass away and turned to me, placing the kitchen towel on the counter and crossing his arms. His butt leaned back against the counter as he studied me.
“I don’t, really. But I guess I’d be open to it if it was something you wanted. Is it?”
I let out a breath. “Not really. Don’t get me wrong, I adore kids, but I like being able to leave and come home to just you at the end of the day. I’m not sure how I’d handle sharing you with a child. It’s hard enough being jealous of the hairless piranha over there.”
After glancing at Boo sacked out on her back in the middle of her kitchen bed as if she didn’t have a care in the world, I stood up and went over to Oz, pulling him into my arms.
A teasing glint entered his eyes as he looked at me. “You know, instead of kids we could get another—”
“Nope.” My mouth landed on his too fast for him to even be able to get out a laugh. Just as with the Ralph Lauren whatever-it-was fabric, we both knew if Oz wanted another dog, we’d get another dog.
And I was totally fine with that.
Whatever made Ozias Ballard happy made me even happier.
“Come to bed with me, almost-husband,” I mumbled into his mouth. “While I may not want a baby screaming in my house tonight, I sure as hell want an Ozzie screaming in my house tonight.”
“Mm-hm,” he hummed into my mouth.
I tried to run my hands down into the back of his fancy skinny jeans, but they were too snug. “Pants off.”