3. Chase

Sunday rolled around much too quickly. He'd spent Saturday shopping, trying to figure out what to get Ava for her birthday. After going to five different toy stores around Seattle, he found the perfect thing. He couldn't wait to see what the brat had to say when she saw it.

After parking along the curb in front of Colt and Ava's house, Chase got out of the car and smiled when he heard Ava squeal as she ran down the driveway toward him, her frilly dress flowing in the wind along with her hair.

"You came! I didn't think you would actually show up. I was going to tell Daddy to kick your ass if you didn't, though. Did you get me a unicorn?"

He raised one of his eyebrows at her, giving her a stern look. "Are you allowed to say curse words?"

Ava blushed as she threaded her fingers together nervously. "No, but you won't tell on me because you love me too much. And you're just trying to avoid the question. When is my unicorn arriving?"

It was obvious she was deeply submersed in Little Space, which was just fine with him. She was a fun Little, and though she mostly stayed professional at the office, he enjoyed the times he got to see her other side peek out. Although, she could also be quite sassy when she was regressed.

When she started bouncing up and down on her toes, he couldn't resist popping the hatch of his SUV to reveal the enormous stuffed unicorn he'd found for her. It wasn't just large. It was so big, he'd had to flatten and stuff it into his trunk and slam the door closed before it re-fluffed and popped out. The second Ava saw the pink fur, she let out a high-pitched squeal.

"What are you screaming about out here?" Colt asked as he walked down the driveway.

Chase smirked at his friend, waiting for him to see the stuffed toy. The second Colt caught a glimpse of it, his eyes darted to Chase with a glare.

"What the hell? Dude! Why would you buy her a toy the size of my house?" Colt demanded.

Chase knew that even though Colt was trying to sound mad, he wasn't. Colt would give Ava the moon if she asked for it.

Ava grabbed the unicorn out of the SUV and scurried up toward the house. The stuffie was so big, part of it was dragging on the ground as she struggled to carry it. It made him smile as he watched her. When Colt slapped him on the back, he turned his attention to his friend.

"You know I'm going to get you back for this one day, right?" Colt asked.

Yeah, he knew. But it didn't matter. It was just how Chase, Colt, and the rest of the family did things. They talked shit, pulled pranks, fought, and irritated each other at times but no matter what, there was always love between them.

"She got her unicorn, though."

Colt grinned and nodded. "Yeah. She did. Maybe now she'll stop asking me for one. Come on, let's go inside. Just a warning, the girls are all in Little Space, high on sugar, and it's loud and wild in there."

Chase chuckled and nodded as he followed Colt, the noise of squeals and laughter filling his ears before he even stepped in the door. Colt was right. It was loud.

The next few minutes were spent hugging the men he considered his brothers. Unlike Chase, they were all covered in tattoos and looked intimidating as hell to the outside world. What most people didn't know was that the men could be ruthless when needed but inside, they were all a bunch of marshmallows.

Beau was Leo's only biological son. Knox, Ash, Wolf, Colt, Hawk, Maddox, and Angel had all been adopted into the family at some point in their teenage years. All of the men Leo had brought in had been through some sort of hell, but because of the life Leo and his late wife Sophia had given them, they'd all turned out to be wonderful human beings. Even if they did skirt the law. Chase knew they did it for good reason, which was the only reason he never asked questions or got involved unless absolutely necessary. There had been a time or two that he'd helped his brothers out of jams and even though it had gone against the oath he'd taken when he'd passed the bar exam, he would do it again in a heartbeat for any of these men.

Chase approached Leo, who was standing at the counter, and gave him a back-slapping hug before turning to the man next to him and holding his hand out. "Dr. Gillespie, good to see you again."

Tate Gillespie had become friends with the family a few years before when his daughter had been kidnapped. The Javier men had found her and made the people who hurt her pay dearly.

"Nice to see you, Chase. I've been meaning to make an appointment with you. I need to get my will updated," Tate said with a grin.

He raised an eyebrow, and when Tate pointed, his gaze followed to a small woman sitting on her knees at the coffee table playing a board game with Ash's Little girl. A grin spread as he looked back at Tate and nodded. "Congratulations. Of course, just give me a call."

Tate nodded and chuckled when Ava came bounding toward them, skidding to a halt on her socked feet.

"Ava! No running!" Colt boomed.

She rolled her eyes and grinned mischievously. "Sorry, Daddy!"

There was no doubt in Chase's mind that she was absolutely not sorry, but he didn't call her out.

"Chase, I want you to come meet my friend. She could use your help and I told her she can trust you," Ava said as she grabbed his arm and started tugging.

His eyebrows furrowed as he let himself be pulled toward the back door. "What do you mean she needs my help?"

For the first time since he'd arrived, something besides excitement crossed Ava's face. Anger and sadness.

"She's been going through a divorce for a year. Her husband is a real twat-waffle and he's being really mean to her. Like really mean. Her previous attorney screwed her over and now she's not sure what to do."

He'd ignore the twat-waffle comment and come back to that later. He was too busy feeling his own blood get hot. Divorces weren't typically his specialty, but he hated men who treated women poorly. His father was one of those men. He thought women were disposable possessions to use and abuse as he saw fit. It was the reason Chase hadn't spoken to the man since he'd left for college on a full-ride scholarship. He hadn't wanted a dime of his father's money once he was an adult.

Ava led him out to the back patio where torches lit the space, along with a gas fireplace. Several Littles were playing hopscotch on a chalk-drawn course. When his eyes landed on the only Little he didn't recognize, his world stopped, and time stood completely still.