“Woman, why are you always putting me to work?” Zip demanded.
“Because you like it when I tell you what to do,” she sassed.
He gave her such a heated look that I didn’t need to guess where their banter would lead.
“That’s my sister,” Colt remarked dryly.
“I put a ring on it,” Zip stated. “I can do what I want.”
“Let’s get out of here before they pound on their chests like gorillas,” Joni said to me.
“Excellent idea.” I dropped Boxer’s hand, but I couldn’t stop myself from touching his shoulder before heading inside the house.
Mia was nowhere to be found. The other Old Ladies were in the kitchen, waiting to follow Joni.
A hallway door opened, and Mia stepped out of the bathroom, and then we all trekked to the second floor. The walls were in the middle of being stripped of paint. Joni pushed opened a bedroom door and waved us all inside.
“Ah, I get it now,” Rachel said. “You really did start with the main bedroom.”
“And bathroom,” she said. “We didn’t want to start on anything until we had the pipes and electricity inspected. Zip was ready to gut the place down the studs, but luckily it didn’t have to come to that. And seriously, thank God for the prospects. There’s no way any of this would’ve come together without their help.”
A black and white photo of Joni and Zip hung over the bed. She was in a wedding dress, and he was wearing his leather cut with a white shirt and black tie, and he was looking at her with love and naked adoration. Zip’s expression stated that he was deeply devoted to Joni.
“I love that photo,” Darcy commented.
Joni gently touched the dark frame. “Me too.” She shook her head and grinned. “We couldn’t agree on a wall color for our bedroom. I wanted blue; Zip wanted gray. We settled for a blue gray.”
“You two are vile,” Rachel teased with a grin.
Mia ran her hand across the darker blue gray coverlet on the king-sized bed. “I’m slowly phasing out the dude fortress decor in our house, but Colt is stubborn.”
“That man gives you everything,” Darcy said, laughing. “He really won’t let you re-decorate?”
“He’s really attached to brown furniture.” She sighed. “I’m hoping having a girl will eventually turn the tide.”
“Gray swore when we had Lily that he wouldn’t change. Guess who Lily asks to play princess tea party with? I’ll give you a hint, it’s not me.” Darcy shook her head. “Blue Angels and their daughters.”
“Babies melt that hard place inside you,” Allison said. “I’d never call Torque squishy, but sometimes I see him watching Tank…”
A daydream flickered in my mind. A picture, a flash, of Boxer cradling his own infant.
I firmly rejected the vision.
“Soft and squishy with their children,” Darcy said. “But not in the bedroom.”
“True story,” Mia said with a laugh.
“So, am I allowed to completely change the conversation?” Rachel asked.
“Yup,” Joni said.
“Are your men acting different? Reap’s been distant,” Rachel announced. “It started a week ago, I think. Something’s eating away at him. I thought he’d be over it by now, but…”
“I was going to ask you guys the same thing. Torque’s been working out twice a day, hard. He keeps yelling while he’s working out like he’s trying to become Superman or something,” Allison said. “He says he’s fine, but he’s clearly not. Whenever I ask him about it, he makes up some bullshit excuse and changes the subject.”
“What about you?” Rachel asked Joni. “Has Zip been acting different?”
Joni frowned, and then nodded. “Kind of absent. Like I’ll say something to him and then have to repeat myself. He’s been smoking again.”