Page 136 of Ruthless Ambition
“If you want to ruin my girls’ hopes and dreams, feel free.”
“You’re an evil bitch,” I told her as I smiled at the QB for Jer’s team as he passed with his son on his shoulders. “I hate you right now.”
“Just keep drinking that champagne, and you’ll forget you have them on,” Chrissy said as she bounced Bailey in her arms.
“I can’t believe I swapped my mom for you.”
“Aww, you say the sweetest things, boo.” She winked at me as she made her way over to her daughters, both of whom were beautiful and I had instantly fallen in love with.
“Wings?”
My eyes closed briefly before I turned to Onyx. “Hi.” I plucked at a feather. “Jer told his children that I’m an actual angel, so obviously, Chrissy bought me wings.”
“Obviously,” he murmured as he sipped his beer. He was in dark jeans and a black button-down, and had sunglasses concealing his eyes. “Well, I better go—”
“Uncle Onyx!” A scream that could not be perceived as anything but joyful pierced the air, and then one of Chrissy’s daughters, Sophia, was launching herself at her uncle.
He quickly offloaded his beer to me, and I caught it one-handed as he caught his niece mid-leap.
She unloaded a lot of information on him, but in her very excited state, I heardpony,now,andmust. Onyx heard it too, and soon he was passing me as he headed to the balloon unicorn.
“Hi.”
“Cooper,” I greeted with a smile. “I didn’t think you’d be here.”
“That one is his,” he said as he pointed at Onyx and Sophia, “but this little one is mine.”
“UncleCoooooooop!”
“Jesus,” I flinched at the screech.
“Lilybeth,” he said as he scooped her up and hugged her tightly. “Pony!” she demanded, and I winced again at the vocal range of children.
“I need earplugs,” I muttered. But I couldn’t deny they were cute and excited, and their two uncles were their obvious highlight of their day, and considering how much Chrissy had spent on this party, that had to sting.
Jer came over to me, holding his son, and looked at his two friends. “We told you,” he said with a grin.
“When can I take the wings off?”
“Don’t be such a spoilsport,” he reprimanded. “You look adorable.”
“I look like a twenty-eight-year-old woman wearing angel wings,” I corrected him. “I look like an idiot.”
“Aw, man, here they go.” Jer shook his head as a pony was suddenly being led into the yard, and his two daughters were racing toward it, and Chrissy was yelling that it better not be staying, while Cooper was asking the two girls what they were going to name their pony. Jer and I made small talk while the girls jumped and leaped as they marveled over their pony. I noticed he wisely stayed out of it as Chrissy interrogated Cooper, who merely laughed at her.
And then the screaming became insane as Onyx led in a pure white pony with a sparkly horn fixed to its head.
“Aw, fuck,” Jer cursed beside me. “They’re never going to forget this, poor Coop.”
“Your kids just got a pony each,” I told him. “Didn’t they?”
“Nah, Onyx gave Sophia aunicornfor her birthday. Coop’s fucked.”
I watched the girls jump up and down and scream, and Onyx pushed his glasses up onto his head as Cooper pushed him away playfully, and Onyx was laughing. Really laughing. Chrissy was still yelling, and it was all . . . a lot.
“I better go before they start Mayhem at my four-year-old’s party,” Jer told me worriedly.
“I need more beer,” I told no one.
