Page 19 of Echoes of Obsession
“She’s perfectly fine,” Maddy reassures me. “I had to go help Ma get the sidings ready, but Zoe was teaching Allie how to spell her name in ASL when I left.”
“Allie is a pretty easy name to learn,” I smile. “Is it alright if I free my dog?”
“He’s not leashed,” someone reminds me. I can’t remember his name. Something to do with a snake, I think. Cobra?
“He’s not supposed to be,” someone else says before I can say anything.
“Oh, you’re the man from the club,” I say. “Hayes?”
“Yep,” he nods. “Nice to officially meet you, Snow.”
“You too,” I laugh. “But yeah. He’s supposed to be off-leash. However, he’s still harnessed. He won’t leave my side until I take the harness off.”
“Remove the harness so I can play with him,” Knox says giddily, causing his partner to laugh.
As an editor, I’ve read a lot of books. Including ones about the lifestyle of a Little and their Big. But I’ve never met someone in real life who lives that way. It’s really cute.
I remove the harness and Sky immediately starts walking around and sniffing everyone. Laughing, I put the harness out of the way and follow Maddy.
“Help yourself to whatever you want,” an older man says.
“Pops, this is Amara,” Maddy says.
“Nice to meet you, Snow,” he smiles.
“I guess Snow is my new name,” I laugh. “Not that I mind. It’s really pretty.”
“Pretty name for a pretty gal,” Pops winks.
“You old flirt,” an older woman, Ma, says. “The boys get it honestly.”
“The boys?”
“Ma and Pops belong to us all,” Knox says from the floor. “But Ghost, Venom, Viper, who you haven’t met, Blaze, and Steel are their actual children. The rest of us are just an added bonus.”
“I highly recommend you get some potato salad because there are never any extras,” Ma smiles. “Come on, ladies. Grab your food.”
I feel like I’m watching everything happen from somewhere other than my body. I love my parents, but as an only child and our only other family living far away, we never had moments like this.
It feels surreal.
“This is Sophie,” Maddy says when another beautiful woman approaches us.
“Nice to meet you,” she says. “Hope is asleep, and I let the girls have some alone time. Your daughter is brilliant.”
“Thank you,” I smile proudly.
“Come sit with us, and we’ll tell you everything about Ghost that he doesn’t want people to know.”
Laughing, I follow Maddy and Sophie to one of the many small round tables that are spread throughout the room. I’m not sure why they think I would want information about Ghost, but I don’t mind.
“How old are you?” Sophie asks as we settle into our seats.
“Thirty,” I answer.
“Ghost is forty-one,” Maddy smiles. “And single.”
“Madeline,” King sighs. “Stop trying to find Ghost a woman. He can manage on his own.”