“How are you doing, big guy?” Palmer asks. You can hear the amusement in her voice.
“Good,” Brooks grits.
“You sure, brother?” Orrin asks. He has a look of horror on his face.
“Yep.”
“You can tap out,” Declan tells him.
“Hell with that,” Ryder speaks up. “Crank it up to ten, Palmer.”
“I vote for ten too,” Maverick cackles.
“I’m in for ten,” Merrick adds.
“Damn,” Rushton mutters. “We totally should have bet on how far we thought he would go.”
“Shit, that would have been a good idea,” Archer tells him. “For what it’s worth, I think he can take ten.”
“Thanks.” Brooks breathes heavily.
“I’d have put money on ten,” Sterling speaks up from his spot beside me.
“No way,” I whisper to him. “He’s going to lose his shit if she goes any higher.”
Sterling looks over at me and winks. “I know.”
Something inside me settles. This is us. It’s who we are. We confide in one another and tease each other, and that’s something that I cherish about our relationship.
“Sorry, B,” Deacon says with regret in his tone. “I think you’re at your max.”
“Give me ten, Palmer,” Brooks says. His jaw is tight, and he called Palmer by her first name, something he almost never does. It’s “wife” or “beautiful” since they were married. He’s in pain, and I feel sorry for the guy.
“He looks miserable,” I tell Sterling.
“He does,” he agrees.
“Palmer.” Brooks drops her name like a warning.
“Are you sure?” she asks him. The glee is no longer shining on her face as she bites on her bottom lip.
“Do it.”
“Here goes nothing.” She taps at the screen, and Brooks cries out.
“Fuck!” He rolls to his side and curls into a ball, then lies back on his back and then back to his side. He rolls off the lounger onto the soft grass. The guys are laughing, all of them except for Orrin and Declan. There’s fear in their eyes as if their wives are going to make them Palmer’s next victim.
“Son of a motherfucker!” Brooks screams.
“I’m not even sure he knows what he’s saying at this point.” Merrick laughs.
“Fuck off, Mer.” Brooks manages to glare at his brother.
“That’s enough.” Palmer taps the screen, and Brooks falls to his back in the grass. He’s breathing heavily as he rips at the leads on his abs. “That thing is the devil.” He tosses the leads away from him.
“That’s not even the full effect of labor,” Palmer reminds him.
“I love you for doing this for our baby girl,” he tells his wife.