Free Edge (Gentry Boys #7) by Cora Brent Page A

high school.  He was a dedicated teacher, a loving husband and father and altogether pretty high on the list of my favorite people. Eventually his pretty wife, Stephanie, came by to say hello and scoop up the baby. 
    “Does he need to be changed?” she asked her husband. 
    “Nah, he’s fine.”  Chase said. 
    Stephanie lifted the boy and sniffed, making a face.  “Survey says otherwise.” 
    “Want me to take care of it?” 
    “I got him.  Can you see what the other rug rats are up to though?  It looks like they’ve dug up part of Cord’s irrigation system.” 
    Chase gave us a wry wave as he set out to distract his other offspring from vandalizing his brother’s property.  He also gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek before she carried the toddler away.  She smiled at him.  Somewhere deep inside my chest, in a place that I didn’t acknowledge very often, a dull pang surfaced and then faded.  I realized I envied them, all these happy couples. 
    “You okay, man?” Stone asked me.  I wondered what kind of expression had crossed my face because my brother was looking at me somewhat worriedly.  Even after all this time, after all the years we’d spent apart, after all the ways we’d changed from the boys we had been, he still knew me better than anyone. 
    “Absolutely,” I told him and then nodded at the approaching figure.  “By the way, here comes your bride.” 
    Evie bounced right into Stone’s arms and I squashed the brief surge of jealousy.   Every one of these men deserved their incredible women.  I was alone because I’d made sure of it.  Besides, it had been so long since I was in any kind of relationship I probably didn’t have it in me anymore. 
    None of this would ever be said out loud, not even to Stone. 
    Instead of brooding and reminiscing, I made an effort to be gracious and cheerful as I wandered through the crowd, pausing to chat with people I knew and then politely greeting those I didn’t.  Saylor and Cord had outdone themselves with the party preparations and the atmosphere was full of boisterous fun and celebration.  When Creed’s wife, Truly, stood on the picnic table to give a rousing, southern-accented tribute to the happy couple I raised my cup and drank to honor them along with everyone else. 
      The sun was beginning to set when Deck Gentry found me.  “You avoiding me, hero?”
    I bumped knuckles with him and chuckled.  “Not lately.” 
    He stared at me and then grinned. 
    We had something of a checkered past, Deck and me.  After everything had gone to shit in Emblem my own mother had tossed me out like spoiled meat.  I was seventeen and full of bitter fury yet Deck and Jenny had taken me into their home and tried to steer me toward a normal life.  I’d thanked them for their efforts by getting into a hundred different kinds of trouble and then storming out.  Even though Deck had long since forgiven me I still knew I had a lot of making up to do.   
    “What’s with the hero jab, though?” I asked. 
    Deck clucked his tongue, still grinning.  “My daughter seems to think you saved her precious baby from the jaws of death.” 
    “Ah, yes.  Well, from the jaws of a puppy at any rate.” 
    “That still makes you a hero in the eyes of a little girl.  And since the little girl has me wrapped around her pinky finger, I guess that makes you my hero too.”   He started whistling that old song, Wind Beneath My Wings so I knew he was messing with me. 
    I let him bust my chops for another few minutes but when he casually tried to switch topics to the people we knew in common I clammed up.  Deck had once been a force to be reckoned with and in a big way he still was but he’d long ago opted out of the wild life. 
    Still, I knew what he was doing.  He was trying to get a feel for how much trouble I was invested in these days.  That wasn’t his problem and anyway aside from street racing and numbers rackets I’d been laying