“In for a game of poker?”
He realized a half second later than he should have that Eli was talking to him. “Sure,” he agreed easily.
And before long, they were dealing out cards.
“You gotta watch Katie,” Jack said. “She’s a very sore loser. And she’s mean as all get out when she doesn’t get her way.”
Kate leaned in and bit her husband swiftly on the side of the neck.
He covered the spot where she’d got her teeth into him with his hand. “Is anyone elseseeingthis?”
“You poke the bear you get the teeth,” Eli said. “Seems to me it’s your dumbass move, Monaghan.”
“And you’re the one who married her,” Connor reminded Jack. “You knew what you were getting into. You’ve known her for her entire life.”
“I figured she’d domesticate,” Jack said, but his tone made it very clear that he had thought no such thing.
“I’m not domesticated,” Kate said, dramatically picking her teeth with her pinky finger. “I’m as wild as ever. And not malleable in the least. Motherhood has not steadied me. If anything, it has made me more fearsome.”
“And the kids are hellions,” Jack said. “Seriously questioning the addition of the third.”
“It was not intentional,” Kate said.
Connor and Eli shared a glance. Liss and Sadie were in the kitchen, clucking away, and he had a feeling they opted to do dishes to stay away from the family sparring.
“You’re happy, Katie,” Jack said, “and you know it.”
She smiled up at him like the sun shone out his ass. It was a lot of...a lot.
“So this is us,” Eli said. “But really, we are glad to have you. It’ll be good to get to know each other. Sawyer and Elsie should come out at some point.”
“That will depend if you can pry Sawyer away from the land. And from his house he’s pretty much nested in with his new wife.”
“Well, his wife is welcome to come, too,” Eli said. “Connor and I like wives.”
“Better only like yours,” came a singsong voice from the kitchen that Wolf couldn’t readily identify.
“Of course,” Connor answered, which made it clear which wife it had been.
They played poker and Wolf lost, Kate ending up with the bulk of the change, laughing evilly as she collected it all. The evening began to wind down, with Liss, Sadie and Jack dispersing to take care of children, while the cousins lingered.
“It’s a shame the family’s been so splintered,” Eli said after a long moment and his third beer.
“I guess so,” Wolf said.
He didn’t really know how he felt about it. Mostly because he didn’t put much thought into things like family. He was squarely around his family—his brother and sister—all the time. And that felt like enough family to him more or less. He wasn’t here for any kind of great reunion. It just seemed... It did seem like a good opportunity to get himself out for a while. And he was feeling the need to.
“Yeah. But unavoidable as far as I know. Our dads hated each other.”
“And how,” Connor said. “The only time I ever heard our dad mention either of his brothers, it was with a curse word beside it.”
“It wasn’t much better from our dad.”
“But you and Sawyer... You get along just fine.”
Wolf shrugged. “You don’t not get along with Sawyer. That’s not how it works. It’s his way or the highway. And you can not be there if you don’t want.”
“You ever think of starting your own spread?” That question came from Connor.