Into the Fading Twilight (Starlight Grove, #2) (33)

Dex gave an exaggerated shiver. “Who keeps passwords written down in a notebook?”

“Not Kol anymore,” Mav said with a laugh.

“I still haven’t forgiven you,” I clipped at Dex.

“Hey, you needed to learn a lesson,” he defended. “That shit isn’t safe.”

“Oh, I did learn a lesson. I keep them locked in my safe now,” I informed him.

Dex’s jaw dropped. “You got a safe to lock away your passwords instead of just using the software I bought you?”

I shrugged. “My system works.”

“Daddy!” Skylar called as she tromped up the stairs.

“In here, Little Princess,” I called.

She appeared in all her badass princess glory. She wore sparkly, bright-pink tights with mud on the knees, combat boots, a sweatshirt that read It Wasn’t Me, and a Nerf gun strapped to her front and fairy wings on her back. Skylar, through and through.

“Can Owen and I have an alpaca rodeo?” she asked nonchalantly as her bestie appeared at her back.

I arched a brow. “What does an alpaca rodeo entail?”

Sky shrugged slightly, making her fairy wings dance. “Like we could ride them and shoot at targets.”

“And do jousting like in medieval times,” Owen threw in.

“That sounds sick,” Mav called. “I’m in.”

I glared at him. “You are not in. No one is in. All of those activities sound like they’d put you at extreme risk. Plus, you can’t ride an alpaca.”

Skylar frowned. “But they like me. They almost never spit at me.”

“I like it when they spit,” Owen said with a grin.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, searching for something that might help me win this battle. My hand dropped. “It’s not good for the alpacas. Their backs aren’t made to hold a human’s weight.”

“It would hurt them?” Sky asked, instantly worried.

“It would.”

“We can’t do that,” she said quickly.

“Naw, bruh, we can’t,” Owen grumbled. But then his face lit up. “What about on horseback?”

We only had six horses on the ranch, nothing like the spread Aster’s family had next door. They not only had cattle but also a horse-breeding operation.

“O,” Dex said. “You don’t know how to ride.”

“I could learn,” Owen shot back.

Dex shook his head. “Not in a day. You want to learn? I’ll get Aster to give you lessons. She’s the best.”

Mischief lit in Maverick’s expression. “I can take him to lessons.”

“Mav,” Dex warned.

“What? The Ice Queen can’t object to me dropping off my soon-to-be nephew at lessons,” Maverick argued.

“No, but she can shoot you in the balls,” Wylder said.

I had no idea what had happened between Mav and Aster. They’d been thick as thieves for years. She’d been the one person who seemed to be able to reach him after everything happened. But something changed at the end of high school. They went from the best of friends to enemies in a flash.

Skylar frowned. “Why would Uncle Mav bring balls to horseback riding lessons?”

I glared at Wylder. “Thanks for that.”

“Hey, I didn’t curse,” Wylder shot back.

Skylar grinned, revealing another loose tooth. “My swear jar is so full, I’m gonna get the new supercharged Nerf gun in no time.”

“Such great influences on my daughter,” I grumbled.

“Hey,” Maverick said, affronted. “I’m a great influence.”

Dex just stared at our youngest brother. “You are the absolute worst influence in the history of influences.”

“Uncle Mav’s the best,” Sky cut in. “He taught me how to jump off the hayloft.”

The room went quiet.

“Maverick,” I snarled.

Uncle Waylon broke into the room, breathing heavily. “These little whippersnappers are fast.”

Skylar giggled. “Sorry, Grampa Way Way.”

“What do you say we go look for Bigfoot?” he suggested to Skylar and Owen.

“Sick,” Owen muttered. “Let’s do it.”

“Yeah!” Sky cheered.

“No firearms,” I ordered.

Uncle Waylon looked affronted. “I would never harm a Bigfoot.”

“Of course he wouldn’t,” Wylder muttered.

Dex struggled not to laugh. “Have fun, you crazy kids.”

As they filed out of the room, I turned back to my brothers. “Come on. All we have left is the finish work.” But that could be deceptive. It was important to get it right, so it could take forever. “I think we can get it done in another day or two tops.”

Dex stared at me for a long moment. “Yeah, if we work around the clock.”

Wylder’s gaze changed, taking on that studious quality. “What’s the rush, anyway?”

I shifted slightly, moving my weight from one foot to the other. I might as well let the cat out of the bag. “Nova’s going to move in here.”

Everything went dead quiet.

It was Mav who finally broke the silence. “Seriously?”