AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Let’s hear it,” I said.
He wore a white tee, a pair of dark jeans, and a black leather coat. The kid had more swagger than all of us put together. He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled. “From now on, you can call me Beefcake.”
Kingston spewed the soda that he’d just swigged across the coffee table. Hayes had an unusually wide grin on his face for a guy who rarely smiled, and River looked between Cutler and his dad with a wicked smirk on his face.
“Yes. I think Beefcake works.” River held his hand up again and high-fived Little Dude again.
“You guys are not helping,” Nash said, as he took the last two sandwiches on the table and motioned for his son to take a seat on the stool that we kept in my office for him.
“Beefcake is cool, Little Dude. I like it.” Kingston smirked.
“What do you think, Uncle Ro? Beefcake sounds like a fighter’s name, right?”
I ran my hand over the top of his hair and tried not to chuckle because the kid had so much gel in his slicked-back hair that I was afraid it would break in half if I pressed too hard.
“I like it, buddy. Or should I say,Beefcake?It’s a cool name, and you’re definitely the best fighter I know.” I’d been training him a little bit. He wanted to know how to punch a bag, and he liked to get into the ring and dance around.
I’d never thought about having kids or a family of my own, but Cutler was the kind of kid you’d change your ways for. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him.
“See, Pops? The guys love it.”
I raised a brow at the new term of endearment he was calling Nash, and everyone tried to hide their smiles.
“Yeah. I’m ‘Pops’ now. Apparently, the name ‘Dad’ isn’t cool enough.” Nash rolled his eyes before taking a bite of his sandwich.
“Pops has an attitude. Am I right, Beefcake?” Kingston said, and Nash flipped him the bird when Cutler turned his attention to the door that had just swung open.
“Hey, Romeo. You’ve got a visitor, and I didn’t want to send her away because she brought you something,” Pinky said.
I sat forward and set my sandwich down, just as Demi Crawford stepped through the door with a bag in her hand. My shoulders stiffened because she was walking into a rough crowd, and I had no idea what she was doing here. Yes, I’d filled theguys in on what had happened that night I’d found her with her door shattered after her brother had broken in. We didn’t have secrets and they hadn’t pressed when I’d told them I had to offer her a place to stay.
They’d all have done the same thing, aside from River who said she had enough money to go to a hotel.
“Hey,” she said, not hiding her discomfort when she realized I wasn’t alone. I glanced over at River, wondering if he’d be a dick and I’d have to step in. But he just sat there, staring at her like the rest of them did. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just, um, I wanted to run something by you.”
“Wow. You’re really pretty. What’s your name?” Cutler pushed to his feet and walked over to her.
This fucking kid.
Like I said, the little dude had more swagger than all of us put together.
She smiled down at him. “My name is Demi. What’s your name?”
“You can call me Beefcake.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Nash said under his breath, but I heard him.
She didn’t even flinch. “Nice to meet you, Beefcake.”
“You want to share my sandwich with me?” Cutler asked as he gaped at her.
I pushed to my feet because I could feel her discomfort, and everyone was just staring at her and wondering what the fuck she was doing there.
“That’s so sweet of you, but I’m okay. I need to get back to the coffee shop.”
“Oh, Pops worked on the coffee shop with Uncle King. That was for you?” Cutler asked. The kid didn’t miss a beat.
“Yeah. That was for me.” Her green gaze searched mine, and I could tell she was anxious to get out of there. She held her hand up and waved uncomfortably as they all continued to stare.
