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“Oh, my god…” came the softly whispered words that had Sloane looking over her shoulder to find five very large men standing in the kitchen, looking like they were about to cry as they took in all the food she’d made for them.
The larger of the men sniffled as he walked over and pulled her into his arms. “Bless you,” he said with another sniffle, making her lips twitch as he gave her a hug.
“You’re welcome?” Sloane said as he let her go so that he could help himself to the food.
“I don’t know who you are and frankly, I don’t care,” the one with short caramel hair and incredible green eyes said as he dropped to one knee in front of her. “Will you marry me?”
Before she could answer, Chase was pulling her onto his lap and kissing her cheek. “Ignore Ben, he fell on his head in the academy.”
Ben’s eyes narrowed on him. “Because you dropped me, you asshole!” making Chase chuckle.
“He screamed like a girl,” one of the guys said with a pitying look and a chuckle as he helped himself to the food.
“I was embarrassed for him,” one of the guys said, chuckling as he reached over and pinched Ben’s cheek, earning a murderous glare.
“I hate you all,” Ben grumbled, getting to his feet and moving toward the food only to gesture to her, “Except you, of course.”
“Of course,” Sloane murmured in agreement, earning a wink.
“Are you going to be joining us, the incredibly wonderful woman that Chase still hasn’t introduced us to yet?” one of the men asked, making her lips twitch.
“Her name is Sloane,” Chase said as she climbed off his lap so that she could check on the barbeque chicken in the oven.
“I’m afraid that I already have plans,” Sloane said just as her brother, Tristan, walked into the kitchen andī
“I’m in,” her brother said with a firm nod as he took in the decks of playing cards and poker chips set up on the kitchen table, the guys hanging out, and all the food while Sloane stood there, narrowing her eyes on her favorite brother because she should have known this would happen.
“Umm, what about our plans?” she asked her brother, not really surprised when he said, “Chase needs me,” with a sad shake of his head.
“What about me? I need you,” Sloane said because she’d actually been looking forward to this all week.
“But I like him more,” Tristan explained with a sad shake of his head as she stood there, mumbling, “I see…”
For a moment, she stared at the large bastard that she fully planned on telling on before she grabbed the potholders, shoved them in her brother’s hands, and said, “Take the chicken out when the timer goes off.” With one last glare at her brother, she dropped a quick kiss on Chase’s cheek and headed to her room where she paused to throw over her shoulder, “He clears his throat when he bluffs,” before heading to her room, trying to figure out what she was going to do now since the big jerk ditched her.
Chapter 30
“I love her,” Adam said with a heartfelt sigh as they watched Sloane head to her room.
“Aw, that’s so cute that you don’t think I’ll break every bone in your body for looking at my sister’s ass,” Tristan said as he tossed the potholders on the counter.
Adam glanced back at Tristan, worried his bottom lip as he thought it over before glancing back at Sloane only to nod with a murmured, “Totally worth it.”
“You’re on oven detail,” Tyler said, grabbing the discarded potholders and shoved them in Adam’s hands, most likely saving his life.
“But…” Adam mumbled sadly as he watched Sloane disappear inside her room.
“Go,” Tyler said, giving Adam a nudge that had him reluctantly giving up his dreams of marrying Sloane and had him heading to the oven.
“This is Tristan. He’s Sloane’s brother,” Chase said before going around the room, introducing the guys. “This is Tyler, Ben, Adam, Matt, and the big guy devouring the sandwich is Scott.”
“And I think Thomas is coming,” Adam said, shrugging it off as everything in Chase went still.
There was a heavy pause and then…
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tyler asked, sending Adam a pointed look.
Frowning, Tristan asked, “Who’s Thomas?”
“The asshole who stole my fiancée when I was in a coma,” Chase drawled as he grabbed a deck of cards off the table.
“Oh, that’s fucked up,” Tristan said, dropping down on the chair next to him.
“He always comes to poker night. Besides, I thought Chase should see the bullet he dodged,” Adam said, turning the timer off as the rest of the guys winced.
“I hate to say this,” Ben said as he dropped down on the chair on the other side of him with a plate overflowing with food, “but he has a point.”
“What are you talking about?” Chase asked, ripping open a pack of cards.
The guys shared a look before Tyler said, “Amy’s a fucking nightmare.”
“She’s making his life a living hell,” Matt added.
“He can’t do anything without her permission. She texts him all day and if he doesn’t respond back immediately, she’s calling him. It’s gotten to the point that he has to shut his phone off before his shift. She won’t let him have poker night at the house, which works out well for us because we like it here better,” Scott said with a satisfied sigh as he sat down with his food and dug in.
“I thought she was bad when you were dating,” Adam said, sighing as he joined them.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Chase asked as he shuffled the cards, which earned matching blank stares from the guys.
“Are you serious?” Matt asked, chuckling.
“Clearly, you hit your head in that fall because the girl was a nightmare. She called all the time, texted non-fucking-stop, got upset if you didn’t fall all over yourself to make her happy,” Tyler said, shooting him a sympathetic wince.
“That girl is high maintenance,” Adam said, joining them with a plate of barbeque wings that the guys immediately helped themselves to.
“She never would have done something like this for us,” Scott said, groaning in pleasure as he bit into his pulled pork sandwich while Chase watched Sloane walk out onto the patio, wearing a black bikini and headed for one of the lounge chairs.
No, she wouldn’t have, Chase thought as he sat back in his wheelchair and watched Sloane. Amy hated poker night and had been trying to make him promise that he’d give it up after they were married and the sad part was, he probably would have done it, too. He’d spoiled her, but it had never been enough for her.
At the time, he’d told himself that it was his job to take care of her, but now…
He realized just how one-sided their relationship had been. Whenever he did anything special for Sloane, she would smile hugely, kiss him, and tell him how wonderful he was and Sloane…god, she fucking spoiled him. It wasn’t just the big things that she did for him like surprising him with poker night, but all the little things that she did for him that made him feel like a fucking king.