Quit Bein' Ugly Vale, Lynn (popular books of all time .txt) 📖

“It’s a very good thing to have, yes.” Croft took another bite of pizza, his eyes lost in thought.

Everyone was silent for a bit after that, and I finished my pizza before everyone else.

J, Ezra and Raleigh’s son, crawled up to the couch I was sitting on and stood up before climbing onto the cushion next to me. I handed him a pepperoni off a piece of pizza in the box and he ate it, then held his chubby little hand out for another.

So I gave him that, too.

We did this for about ten minutes while all the adults watched, and soon there wasn’t a single piece of pizza with pepperonis on it.

“You know,” Ezra said at last. “If I’d known that all I would ever be eating again was pepperoni pizza, I would’ve rethought marriage to you.”

I snorted that laugh out and snagged the last piece of pepperoni off of Croft’s pizza before handing it to J.

He took it with a happy gurgle and held out his hand for more.

“I’m sorry, buddy,” I said to him. “There aren’t any more.”

“There’s one still in Raleigh’s lap,” Croft muttered as he finished off his fourth piece.

All eyes moved to Raleigh as she picked up a pepperoni and tossed it at her brother. He caught it and handed it over to his nephew.

His nephew leaned over and sucked Croft’s entire two fingers into his mouth.

Which then caused everyone to laugh.

J, thinking this was fun now that he had everyone’s attention, crawled over to Croft’s lap and gave him a big, sloppy kiss on the cheek.

“Thanks, buddy.” Croft wiped his chin. “That’s gross.”

Raleigh snickered. “You used to call those kisses creepy when I gave them to you.”

“They are creepy when they come from a ten-year-old, weirdo,” Croft countered. “Coming from your baby, though? Not as creepy. Give it a few more years.”

Ezra wrapped his arm around his wife’s waist and pulled her deeper into the curve of his arms.

I pulled my feet up onto the cushion and leaned into the arm of the couch. I’d never sat on my couches before, so this was a first for me.

And I decided that they sucked.

They weren’t comfortable, and I was fairly sure that if this was going to continue, I would need some new ones.

“So what’s the plan for…” Ezra started when my front door opened and Flint and Camryn spilled inside.

“Oh, pizza!” Camryn said as she walked over to the half-empty pizza box.

“We just ate, Cam,” Flint tried.

“We had tacos. This is a completely different food group,” she patted her belly. “And I was only able to get one in, remember? I have room again now.”

She picked up a slice of pizza and eyed it. “Is this something new?”

I pointed at J, who was laid out sideways in Croft’s lap, sucking on the piece of crust that he’d given him.

Camryn motioned for me to move over, and I did, scooting closer and closer to Croft until I was practically touching him from hip to shoulder.

“More,” Flint grumbled.

I rolled my eyes and gestured toward the kid that was taking up half of a cushion.

“No can do, bro,” I said.

Flint looked at the kid, tilted his head, and then lifted him up in one smooth motion.

J looked at Flint.

“I can’t believe in a few short weeks, you’ll have one of those.” Raleigh sighed. “Camryn, I love you so much.”

“I know, right?” Camryn started to cry around a piece of pizza.

“You’re going to choke,” I pointed out.

Croft scooted over on the couch until he was next to the arm, and then carefully lifted his bad arm up to place it on top of it before lifting his good one up for me to climb closer.

“Come on,” he urged.

I went, tucking my head under his chin and curling into his body.

He wasn’t the only one that’d had a long day.

In fact, if I could curl up right here and go to sleep…

• • •

CROFT

She fell asleep against me like it was the most normal thing in the world to do.

“She’s such a loser,” Flint grumbled. “I swear, she’s been doing that since she was born. All it takes is one lousy cuddle, and she’s out.”

“She’s sweet,” my mother admitted. “I’m excited for you, honey.”

“Excited about what?” Camryn asked around another bite of pizza.

“My brother finally pulled his head out of his ass and is dating the CrossFit queen.” Raleigh clapped her hands.

“She hates when you call her that,” Flint chuckled. “Why do you call her that?”

“Because when we started CrossFit, she was the woman we wanted to be,” Camryn said around a bite of pizza. “Seriously. She showed us how to do handstand pushups one day, and like just kicked up onto the wall and started knocking them out like it was nothing. Then, when we all try, we can’t accomplish shit. And she’s so fuckin’ pretty, too.”

“Amen.” Raleigh sighed. “She can wear those short shorts and rock them while the rest of us can’t even walk out of the house in pants.”

“You can pull off shorts,” Flint said, patting his wife’s thigh.

“Yeah.” She paused. “But not like she can.”

Camryn had a smoking body. She always had.

But she was right.

She’d never, not once, been able to fill out a pair of booty shorts the way that Carmichael could.

The first time I’d ever walked into their gym, I’d zeroed in on her.

She’d been bent over doing a deadlift with her ass to the door. She’d been mid-workout, her face sweaty, her shirt caught up in her shorts, and her legs quivering as she lifted a heavy barbell. But her ass. My God, her ass.

I had dreams about that ass.

“I know that look,” Ezra drawled.

I curled up my lip at him and flipped him off with my good hand. “I don’t want to know about you having these looks when it comes to my sister.”

“You’re just jealous,” Raleigh teased.

“I’m most certainly not,” I disagreed. “I have what I want. And I seriously don’t want to think about y’all.