Page 115 of Viper

“Hi, Laine. Thank you for having us.” Paige walked up to give her a hug.

“Anytime. I mean, we weren’t sure if you’d rather go home and sleep or have a proper meal. But Roarke insisted we at least invite you.”

Rogue “Roarke” Logan approached, understanding written on his face. “Don’t worry. We don’t expect you to stay long. Grab a plate.”

“I’m so hungry,” Molly said, rubbing her slim belly. She passed Paige a plate. “You first. I’m going to snack on veggies so I can eat with Atlas.”

Paige accepted the dish and took a hot dog, potato salad, corn on the cob, and some cut-up fruit and veggies. Troy took two burgers and two hot dogs, then doubled up on all his servings of sides.

Rogue eyed his plate and chortled. “Good thing I cooked enough for your gluttonous ass. You know you could probably eat half that and not lose any muscle, right?”

Troy screwed up his face and patted his stomach. “And ruin my girlish figure?”

Paige and Molly laughed and Rogue rolled his eyes.

Emmy curled her lip. “You’re not girlish at all, Troy.”

He tweaked her nose. “Don’t you know it, small fry. Want me to make you a plate?”

She hopped up and down. “Yes, please. Just don’t make it as big as yours. That’s kind of gross.”

Rogue snorted.

“Good thing I’ve learned not to be offended by what this kid says,” Troy muttered to Paige. “Can you take my plate to the table please?”

“Sure.” She ferried their meals to the covered part of the patio and placed his dish next to her seat.

She watched as Troy picked out the foods Emmy pointed to. Her chest warmed at the sight of the two of them together—Troy so huge and masculine, Emmy so tiny and cute next to him but not the least bit afraid to say whatever came to mind.

He’ll be an amazing father someday.

As if he’d heard her thoughts, he glanced over his shoulder with a mischievous grin. Butterflies tickled her stomach.

God, she loved this man.

He took the seat next to her and they sat and ate, chatting with Laine, Rogue, Emmy, and Molly. Forty-five minutes later, the rest of the guys showed up, and the place became much livelier. Paige ended up in a game of lawn darts with Emmy.

“So close!” the girl said. “I think you could actually win if you hit the target.” Emmy wiped a stray strand of hair from her face with a silly grin.

Paige propped her hand on her hip and surveyed her lousy round. “You don’t say,” she said, ruffling the cutie’s hair.

“You done getting creamed by a five-year-old?” Troy said as he approached, squinting in the sunlight.

“It’s your turn now,” Emmy said, handing him a dart.

He laughed. “I need to save face, kiddo. I’ll come by next weekend and we’ll have a round then.”

“Okay.” She skipped off. “Roarke! It’s your turn to get creamed at lawn darts.”

Troy belted out a laugh. “She’s trouble.”

“Mm-hmm. You ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’m wiped. The food was so good, though.”

They made their way back to the patio and said goodbye to everyone. Once again, Paige was grateful no one had brought up what had happened in front of her. She suspected the guys had talked among themselves, probably to inform Rogue.

Wraith stood. “I’ll give you guys a ride home.”