“What didn’t?”
“Your deflection technique.” Ranger pressed his lips to my temple, curling a leg around me, anchoring us together. “You can’t wank me out of tricky conversations.”
In the dark, I laughed. “We will see.”
34
RIVER
THREE MONTHS LATER...
Rubi’s prophecy about the newest generation of Halliwell twins turned out to be the truest thing he’d ever said.
Finan had the O’Brian aesthetic for days but Nash’s tranquil heart. Donovan was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed she-devil.
She screeched at everyone, even Folk, evenLogan. The only non-parent she vaguely tolerated was Ranger, which was fucking hilarious, as he made it his business to stay as far away from her as Viktor’s close friendship with Locke allowed.
Some days he even pulled it off.
Most days he didn’t.
“Nooo.” Ranger backed away from my sister, clutching Finan as a consolation prize he didn’t want either. “I like this one. Why do I have to hold that little shit?”
Orla advanced on him, hair tossed on top of her head, no make-up on her beautiful face. “Are you calling my daughter a little shit?”
“Yes. Banish me. Send me to the fucking moon.”
“Sweetheart, you’re no good to me on the moon. I need an extra pair of hands and you’re right here.”
“I can take her.” Honestly, I should’ve offered already, but this shit was way too funny.
“You’llwake her up.” Orla waved me off. “You’re vibrating with whatever bullshit you’ve been up to since crack o’clock, and you’re covered in oil. I needhim, at least until Nash and Cam get back.”
By now, Ranger was halfway across the yard with a stolen baby. He seemed to realise it and retraced his steps. “Fine. But I’m not keeping her if she goes ultrasonic again.”
An empty threat. Donovan rarely cried when Ranger held her, and this time proved no different. They completed the swap. The baby didn’t make a sound and Orla pinched Ranger’s cheek. “See? I need you.”
His glare turned murderous.
Orla quit while she was ahead and darted inside.
Ranger turned to me. “Stop fucking laughing.”
“I’m not laughing. I tried to get you out of it.”
“Why am I stuck with the sleepless demon then?”
“She likes you.”
Ranger grunted, but as hard as he tried to be a salty arsehole, no one had made him hang around the club all morning while Nash and Locke were otherwise occupied.
I made him coffee that he refused to drink while holding the baby he didn’t like. Took Donavan for the six seconds he allowed himself to consume it before he snatched her back mid-screech.
“Don’t start, you mithering baggage. Where are your fucking dads, eh?”
He asked Donovan, but he’d have got less of an answer from me. I didn’t pay much attention to other people’s schedules—I had enough trouble with my own. I relied on Rubi to tell me what I was supposed to be doing and almost always did something else entirely.
Today, though, I had to keep an eye on the time. Orla had been right—I was vibrating, on the inside at least, and I couldn’t seem to stop.