“Yeah. I hope so. Speaking of Shelby, I talked to Cameron.” Brandt’s mouth twisted as he mentioned the lawyer. “She’s working on those court papers. If your sister’s not going to communicate with either of us, I probably have no choice but to file, but damn, I wish there was another way.”
“Me too.” Shane huffed out a long sigh and buried his face against the baby. The heaviness of the conversation was getting to all of them—baby squirming, Brandt looking like he’d gone a few rounds with a monster truck, and Shane feeling like no one was going to come out a winner in this thing. Time to change the subject. Forcing a smile, he brightened his tone. “Let’s see this sewing project of yours. Gonna model it for me?”
“I think you like me showing off a little too much.” Brandt waggled his eyebrows at Shane.
“After the other night? Hell yes.” All damn day he’d been haunted by the memory of Brandt’s face as he’d climaxed, the way his big body had bowed and the sounds he’d made. He’d needed Jewel to sleep, and soon, so he could indulge in another mental replay. “But let’s stick to a G-rated show right now.”
“You got it.” Standing, Brandt pulled the new sling over his shoulder before scooping the baby off Shane’s lap and settling her in the pouch. “I think she likes it.”
After tightening the sling, Brandt gave a spin, which had Jewel grinning.
“Having been strapped to you, I can testify to it being a little fun.” Shane gave him a pointed look, one that had color rising up Brandt’s neck. Knowing he remembered the parachute jump that fondly made Shane’s insides warm and melty.
“Yeah, it was.” Brandt held his gaze until Shane was the one blushing and looking away as Brandt added, “And hey, it’s been almost a year, right? Do you have a birthday coming up?”
“Soon. No big deal.” Shane had never been the type for a party, even when younger, leaving the yearning for a big crowd to Shelby. “Jewel will be three months then too. Make a fuss over that, not me.”
“We’ll see. Maybe I should get you your own toy.” Brandt’s eyes sparkled as he laughed.
“I think you’ve got plenty of options for both of us.” And damn, now Shane really wanted the baby to sleep so he could watch Brandt with a different one maybe. Or replace the toy with his own fingers or better yet, his cock. His list of things he wanted to do with Brandt kept growing, not shrinking.
“Damn right I do. And I’m dying to—”
Jewel let out a fussy noise, like she’d had enough of both the sling and their flirting.
“Someone says our chances of getting lucky tonight just went down.” Shane headed to the kitchen to make the bottle.
“Good thing she’s cute.” Following him, Brandt added some bouncing to his steps which seemed to work to distract Jewel. “And so are you.”
“Me?”
“Oh yeah.” Somehow Brandt managed an appreciative once-over even while trying to calm the baby. “What’s your favorite flavor of cake?”
“Choc—wait.” Shane wagged a finger at Brandt, trying to channel some of Brandt’s playfulness into his ambivalence over birthdays. “No way. I said I don’t want anything.”
“Fine. Have it your way.” Brandt shrugged as he accepted the bottle, but Shane had a feeling the subject wasn’t truly dropped. “Are there more cookies left?”
“Yeah, I’ll get you one if you want to do the feeding.” After grabbing the cookies from the pantry, he followed Brandt to the couch and waited until the baby was happily cuddled up with her bottle in the crook of Brandt’s arm before holding the cookie so Brandt could take a bite.
“Thanks.” Grinning up at him, Brandt kissed Shane’s hand before sneaking another bite of cookie. “We make a good team.”
“We do.” And therein lay Shane’s biggest problem. They had a good thing going, but good things never lasted.
* * *
“Damn fine day for a jump.” Bronco bounced on his feet like a hyper puppy and was about as good at listening. “And some actual work.”
“Word.” Brandt might not be jumping around, but he was psyched to get to head deep in the forest to deal with clearing out dead timber that had been flagged as a potential summer hazard after some damage in a lightning strike. The clear blue sky awaited their jump, and he was ready for the chainsaw workout.
“Hey, training is work,” Hartman reminded them both as he checked the straps on one of their gear packs.
“Sure it is, but you know what I mean. This one actually counts for something more than training reps with the rookies.” Bronco conveniently forgot that he’d been one of those rookies not long ago. He also had far too much excitement for this early in the morning. Hell, neither Shane nor the baby had been up when Brandt had crept from the house. His head pounded like he was going to need another hit of coffee to keep up with Bronco’s energy.
“I get it.” Yawning, Brandt stretched out his back before strapping into his pack. There wasn’t any time for that coffee now as the plane would be ready any moment.
“Cross-check Bronco,” Hartman ordered him as they finished gearing up. Double-checking each other was a big part of their pre-jump routine, but Bronco still groaned as Brandt examined each of his connection points and the condition of his pack.
“Tighten this connector,” he recommended, pointing at a spot near Bronco’s groin. Dude was touchy enough about being checked that Brandt wasn’t going to do it for him, but he sure as hell was going to wait until Bronco did it himself to Brandt’s satisfaction.
“It’s fine, but whatever.” Bronco’s tone was somewhere between impatient and whiny. It was going to be a damn long morning if he kept this shit up. “Being a dad is making you all overprotective.”
“If it keeps you alive, you’ll be damn grateful.” Hartman shot Bronco a harsh look.
“Sure thing.” Bronco still rolled his eyes as soon as Hartman turned away. He was a handful, and Brandt wasn’t looking forward to babysitting him most of the season.
“Here comes our ride.” Hartman gestured at the tarmac. “Let’s take care of business and be home for dinner.”
“Amen.” Brandt was already looking forward to that. Last night, after Shane had come in from band practice, they’d had a nice chat, but the baby had taken forever to settle again. Eventually, exhaustion had won out, and they hadn’t ended up fooling around despite all their flirting. Which was fine. Brandt was an adult. He could live until they finally managed another hookup, but he’d be lying if he didn’t admit he was craving the taste of Shane’s mouth something awful.