Cole: The Wounded Sons, Leah Sharelle [the reading list .TXT] 📗

bee up his arse for some reason, and to avoid Oaklee feeling torn between her job and me, this is the best option.” At least that was what I was counting on.

“So you aren’t embarrassed, Cole?” Kodah asked again, this time there was no judgement in his tone.

Eyeing Kodah, I held his gaze with so much intensity, and I inwardly grinned when he squirmed on the esky.

“No, Ziggerman, I am not embarrassed to be seen with Oaklee or to let people know she is mine. She is twenty-two, nearly twenty-three, fucking gorgeous, and despite how ridiculous the idea is, she is mine. Make no mistakes about that, mate. You know how much my dad’s opinion of me means to me, so you understand I have not taken this decision lightly.”

Nodding, Kodah reached out with an outstretched hand in my direction.

“I accept that.” A thin smile forming but I could see it was forced.

Taking his hand, I gripped it tighter than needed and squeezed. Hard.

“Don’t talk shit about Oaklee, Kodah. I won’t stand back and let it slide again.”

“Understood, mate, and I’m sorry.”

Releasing our hands, I sat back down on the dune, accepting a new stubby from Gabe.

Fuck I hated sharing personal shit. Seriously, dodging bullets was much more fun.

CHAPTER TWELVE

OAKLEE

“I can’t believe you have been at the Club for a year and this is the first time I have talked to you,” Wren, Bastian’s wife, gushed as she reached for a handful of Pringles.

“Well, you have been busy with work and your little boy,” I offered, waving off her concerns.

“Yes, but a whole year!” Devon added, the tiny black-haired woman shaking her head. “And I don’t have a baby to use as an excuse.”

“Ladies, ladies, please don’t worry.” Looking at them, I gave them my best, friendliest smile, even though inside I was shaking like a leaf. Meeting the wives of Cole’s mates officially for the first time was more daunting than going into a sex shop with Thayer. And that was saying something because there was nothing good about accompanying my bestie while she prowled the vibrator aisle. Her collection was embarrassingly impressive, and she never stopped adding to it, unfortunately for me.

“Seriously,” I continued, mentally making plans for Thayer to meet my new friends, “the time I’m at the compound, I’m with Memphis in her rooms working. The other days I’m at the bookstore and running errands for her. She keeps me pretty busy, not much time to wander the main rooms of the Club.”

“Well, let’s make up for our oversight now,” Peyton, Rafe’s fiancée, suggested excitedly, rubbing her hand over her pregnant belly.

“Yes! Tell us all about yourself, Oaklee,” Addy cut in, “I love your name, by the way, very unusual for a girl.”

“I know, I don’t know many girls that are named after a brand of sunglasses,” I giggled. Taking a chip from the plate and snapping a piece off, popping it into my mouth and slowly sucked the salt off the potato crisp, then moved it to the side of my mouth, leaving it there to slowly dissolve on its own. My appetite for salty snacks existed, I loved lollies, chocolate, all those delicious yummies, but I had a method of how to eat them so that annoying part of my brain didn’t kick in and give me a hard time for eating them.

“Seriously? Your parents named you after eyewear?” Wren asked, shocked.

“Yeah, kind of. See, my parents were only young teenagers when the stick turned pink, and when I say young, I mean sixteen and seventeen young. My father wanted something cool to impress his mates, and Mum wanted to be creative, so they came up with the double ‘e’ at the end instead of the ‘y’. Parenting to them was all about the fun, the raising, not so much.”

“Welcome to the club hon, all of us have some experience with less than stellar parents,” Devon mumbled around a mouthful of chips.

Sensing the conversation could become too revealing, I switched modes and diverted the mood.

“So, where are your kids? Who has kids?” I asked all of them.

“Mine is at home with Bastian’s parents.” Wren sighed. “I hate leaving Decker for too long any time, but with being pregnant again, Bast and I decided we should start getting away alone more before the baby comes. Because after then, it is going to be hectic.”

Addy moaned in agreement. “Tell me about it; I jumped at the chance when Marshall suggested we get Booth and Stella to look after Millie for a couple of days. I have my husband for eight weeks, which in itself is unusual, so we plan to take more of these childless trips in that time.”

Glancing over at Devon, I waited for her to add her input, but she just shook her head sadly. “I’m still waiting for Gabe and me to get married, let alone have kids,” she wailed, dropping her forehead to the table surface with a hard thud.

“Devon stop being dramatic,” Wren chided, laughing at her friend as she lifted Devon’s head up. “If you and Gabe would just get on the same page with the wedding plans, you could have been married for months already.”

“Exactly,” Addy agreed. “If it were up to Gabe, he would have you in front of a celebrant tomorrow, but you keep changing your mind. One minute you want a big wedding and the next you think spending money is a bad idea. Make up your mind and marry the man already!”

“What’s the problem exactly?” I asked, intrigued. There was a story there, and I was interested to find out, plus it kept the focus off me. Cole warned me that the third degree from his teammate’s wives was inevitable, and putting it off for as long as possible appealed greatly.

Pursing her lips, Devon rolled her eyes. “It’s not a problem, well, not a bad one. You see, my relationship with my dad and brothers is … fragile. We have