Page 145 of Jay Bird

“Nope,” Aussie replied proudly. “This is a very rare moment. We’ve all taken shit from each other, and I’m not about to let Jay Bird get away without taking it too.”

Jay Bird slid his phone onto the table. “I could help you swallow that beer bottle.”

“Now, there’s the Jay Bird we know and love,” Aussie teased, holding his beer up.

The guys laughed, and Jay Bird flipped Aussie off before reaching for his beer.

The funny thing was, Aussie wasn’t wrong. Jay Bird was happy.

It still surprised the hell out of him how things had changed. And how fast it occurred.

Jay Bird picked up his phone again and looked at Willow’s name on the screen. He loved her.

The realization didn’t come with panic or some dramatic revelation. It simply settled into place as though it had been there for a while and he had finally stopped being too stubborn to acknowledge it.

He loved Willow, and, Jesus, he loved that little girl too.

“Fuck,” he muttered.

Bear glanced at him. “Problem?”

Jay Bird shook his head, unable to stop the smile pulling at his mouth. “No.”

For once, there really wasn’t.

His phone rang. Jay Bird glanced at the screen, expecting Willow. Instead, Mia’s name appeared.

Something about that immediately felt wrong.

Mia rarely called him. She might text him about something involving Willow or Lily, but she had Stitch for everything else.

Jay Bird answered.

“Hey, Mia.”

The sound on the phone made him sit upright. She was crying.

“Jay Bird—”

His chair scraped against the deck as he stood. Every man at the table went silent.

“Mia, slow down. What’s wrong?”

“It’s Willow.”

His stomach dropped.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. We heard screaming outside in the back parking lot, and by the time we got out there—”

Jay Bird’s hand tightened around the phone.

“Mia, where the fuck is Willow?”

Mia started crying harder. “They took her. And Lily.”

The world around Jay Bird disappeared. He could still see the guys staring at him, but everything sounded distant.