So I smile back.
CHAPTER 11
Toren
When the four of us Cromwell men bend our heads together, nothing good comes out of it. I can see that Luna is thinking the same thing even as she smiles back at me.
And what do you know, when I see her smile, my heart, chest, stomach, dicksickle, and nutasauruses all do some major swelling all at once. Her cheeks turn a lovely shade of pink as she looks at me, and my heart does another stutter even though I know it’s physically not possible. Or maybe it is. Hmm.
“Hey, Tor. Pay attention,” Taylen snaps at me. He also literally snaps because he takes his fingers, waves them under my nose, and clicks them together.
“Asshole,” I grumble. “I’m paying attention. Waiting for one of you butt buffoons to come up with something good.”
“Butt buffoons?” Ash grins.
“Butt baboons?” Taylen raises a sandy brow.
“Butt buffoons?” Kirian echoes, looking like he wants to high-five me.
My cousins and brother all stare at me like I’ve grown a horn and then magically sprouted into a unicorn in front of their eyes. “What? Am I not allowed to say witty bordering on stupid things like the rest of you instead of offering wise and sage advice and ignoring you guys when you’re all being ridiculous?”
“Yes.” Ash nods. “Certainly.”
Taylen looks at me like I’ve now sprouted into a double magic unicorn. What? Okay, so I’m not normally fun, relaxed, or easygoing. And I don’t use small words. I’m not the one who instigates the mischief or comes up with things that make people laugh. I’m always the anchor of the group—dragging, dragging, dragging. I know that’s what my brother would say. That I’m fun enough not to get left behind, but not fun like Kirian and Ash. There have been so many times where I talked the three of them out of blowing themselves up accidentally, lighting themselves on fire, burning shit down, breaking shit, and more boys will be boys stuff. I’ve kept them alive so far. I wonder if any of them appreciate it.
“Okay. Game plan.” Kirian gets serious. “I’ll be the lookout. I’ll keep watch for Granny and the ladies—Ellis, Leandra, and Luna—although I’m sure they’re not going to stop us.”
“I could distract Ellis.” Ash waggles his eyebrows.
“Gross.” Kirian pretends to gag.
“Nasty,” Taylen chimes in.
“Gag me with a rusty spoon and some nails,” I mutter since it seems to be expected. Except, when I say it, everyone looks at me funny again.
“You’ll keep watch,” Taylen agrees, getting us back on track. “The cake is in the cupboard above the stove. It’s on a cardboard sheet, covered up with foil. I have a wicked plan, and this one is going to be our greatest achievement.”
“Your magnum opus.”
This time, no one blinks at me. I don’t know if anyone knows what that is, but they’re not going to comment because I didn’t say butt blaze of glory or something silly like they would. But I want to. For the first time in my life, I want to. I think Milo is good for me. He’s really helped me relax. Being with him not only puts things into perspective but it’s helped a lot with my stress level, mostly because I’ve learned how to better deal with work. I’ve discovered that I don’t have to throw myself into it, mind, body, and soul, to succeed. At least, at this point, I don’t. I’ve also discovered that being wildly and irrevocably attached to someone can make a person feel tremendous joy.
“Anyway, this one is going down in the records, boys. This is what we’re going to do. Knives.”
“I don’t like the sound of this. Plus, we’re initiating my son into the family with secret cake tasting. Knives shouldn’t come into play.”
“Relax.” Taylen rolls his eyes as if we’ve never done anything dangerous or stupid before, but let me tell you, we’ve done plenty of those. “The knives are just to lift the cake off the cardboard sheet. We’ll get it in the air, and we’ll all balance it on our hands—all four of us. That way, it will be even. Then, we’ll get Milo to slip underneath, and he can lick it from front to back and side to side.”
“Holy cake gods,” Kirian whispers.
“I love it.”
“Even I have to agree that it’s a master plan.” At this, I get more strange looks. I suppose I don’t usually give in easily, especially to horrible plans like this.
“Okay. As soon as the ladies are busy talking, which I predict is in ten minutes when Granny gets real wound up, we’ll all slip away without them noticing. It should only take a few minutes. We’ll grab Milo and make sure he comes with us. Can he keep a secret?” Ash asks.
I nod. “He can.” Duh. He’s my son.