Page 131 of Wildest Forever

“Yeah, Ari, she's twenty-two.”

“Wow, so soon you'll have three kids.”

He chuckles, taking a sip of his beer, “Yeah, three.”

“Two girls and maybe a boy?” he smirks at my words.

“I have no idea but honestly, as long as they're healthy then I am happy.”

“His daughter is married to our best friend,” and Riggs' mouth drops open, and I sink my teeth into my bottom lip to try and not smirk.

“What!?” Riggs' thunderous tone echoes around the bar and Nate chuckles beside him, Tripp just sits and listens, his eyes on Austin at the bar.

I catch a look and see him talking to the croc man and I make a mental note to ask him who he is.

“Yeah,” Titus sighs and then scrubs his face.

“How... I mean... how old... what?” Riggs' brows furrow and he scrubs his own face.

“Just happened I suppose,” he shrugs and swigs another mouthful of beer.

“And that doesn't bother you?”

“It did,” he admits as he spins his bottle on the table.

“What changed?”

Titus' ice blue eyes meet Riggs'.

“I saw how happy and in love they were... he treats her well, he respects her and honestly, as much as it was a kick in the teeth and bitter pill swallow, I couldn't be happier that she found someone who loves her as much as Keaton does.”

“How did they feel when you left?”

“They were gutted,” Nate nods along to Titus.

“So was Connie, Kaleb, Killian and Reese but they understood that we wanted to move.”

I try and keep up, but just go along with the conversation, nodding and making noises when needed.

“This wasn't planned,” Nate slips in, his finger passing between him and Titus.

“So, you're friends too, like from way back when?” Tripp decides to join the conversation, still nursing his beer from earlier.

“Yeah, all went to school together, then started our business.”

“What happened with that?” Riggs asks and I know this sounds like twenty-one questions but we're just trying to get to know our new neighbours.

“Kaleb and Keaton are still running it, but it'll be scaled back... I wanted out for a while and when we decided to move here it just felt like the right time,” Nate admits and Titus nods.

“We've had such a hectic few years so walking away was needed,” Titus slips in his version.

“How did the move between you happen?”

Nate smiles then looks over at James.

“We were at Amora's art gallery one evening, me and James decided to announce that we were moving to Montana, then Titus jumped on the bandwagon and told us he was moving to Lovelock Bay. As soon as he said it, I felt my heart warm as I knew it was the next town along.” Nate finally looks back at us. “Even if they didn't come, I don't think I would have felt homesick, because as soon as my feet touched the soil, I knew this was home.”

We all smile, and I knew exactly what he meant.

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