I’d be ripping that dress off her body later.
“You look amazing,” I said.
She beamed with pride. “Thank you. I’ve got matching shoes, too. I love it when a patterned outfit has a matching set of patterned shoes. It’s always been my thing.”
I committed that little tidbit to memory. “I’ll meet you downstairs. I’m gonna go chug something with caffeine in it.”
“Oh, oh! There’s some leftover coffee from yesterday morning that I stuck in the fridge. It’s in a red tumbler on the top shelf.”
“Perfect. Meet you downstairs in five.”
After finding the coffee and choking down the day-old, cold-ass diesel fuel, I waited for Astrid by the front door. She came down the stairs with her purse slung over her shoulder and her hair pulled back into a half-ponytail and her ears glistening with small pearl earrings. She looked outstanding. Much too good to be at the side of someone with my kind of history.
But when she came up to me and kissed my lips, it reminded me that she had chosen me.
And who was I to deny her what she wanted?
“You’re perfect,” I whispered.
Her hands slid down my chest. “Let’s get going, big boy. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back.”
I grinned. “I like your style, gorgeous. Let’s go.”
We started for Brooks’ place and I reveled in the way Astrid clung to me as we rode on my bike. No sense in taking two vehicles when we weren’t trying to hide what was going on. And the truth of the matter was that Brooks needed to get used to seeing this anyway. He needed to get used to us being an item. Because if we didn’t want to tiptoe around in our own damn hometown, we needed to get past the fact that it might take him a while to get onboard.
So, when we parked my bike in front of Raven’s townhome, we held hands while walking up to the front door.
Before Astrid knocked on the door.
“Coming!” Raven called out.
However, when the door ripped open, it wasn’t Raven standing on the other side. It was Brooks.
And his eyes fell to our interlocked hands before his face turned burnt red.
“Brooks, take a breath. You look like your head’s about to pop off,” Astrid said.
Brooks glared at me. “It just might.”
Raven rushed up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down. This isn’t supposed to be hostile. And if it gets hostile, I’ll usher them out myself.”
Astrid sighed. “Hey there, Raven. It’s been a while.”
Raven smiled softly. “Astrid. Good to see you again. How have you been?”
Astrid held our interlocked hands up. “I’ve been great. What about you?”
She massaged Brooks shoulder. “I’m doing really well, despite my attack dog posturing. You guys come on in. I’ve got the table set for breakfast.”
We all made our way to the kitchen table and Brooks sat down right next to me. I peeked over at him as Raven took up the space on my other side, and it frustrated me that I couldn't even sit beside Astrid while at the table. I slid my feet against hers, though, underneath the table where they couldn’t see.
Then, Brooks drew in a deep breath. “It’s gonna take me some time to get used to things.”
Raven nodded. “As it should. I know this is a bit much sometimes for you.”
Brooks locked his eyes with me. “So, you moved into the house or something?”
I didn’t waver. “Or something.”
Raven cleared her throat. “Remember what we talked about, sweetheart.”
Brooks leaned back against his chair. “Yeah, yeah. I remember.”
Astrid finally spoke. “What did you two talk about? If you don’t mind me asking.”
Raven shrugged. “Just that if he doesn’t cut this shit out, he won’t only be losing his sister, he’ll be losing me.”
I whistled lowly as I glanced over at Brooks. “High stakes for this kind of shit.”
Brooks ran his hand through his hair. “You’re fucking telling me.”
Astrid giggled. “Good on you. It’s about time someone smacked some sense into my hard-headed brother.”
Raven giggled. “It takes a hard smack because of that thick skull of his, but I think I got through.”
“Uh, thanks,” Brooks said flatly.
I chuckled as I reached for food, but Brooks swatted my hand away. My eyes flew to his and I found him turned fully to face me, and I knew I needed to brace myself. Raven dished up food on our plates as my best friend held my stare, and I wondered what was tumbling through his mind.
Maybe he was plotting my demise.
Or his revenge.
But then, the words that came out of his mouth told me we’d be okay. Even if things didn’t feel okay in the moment.
“Porter, you got one chance to get this right. But if you fuck it up? If you hurt Astrid in any way, even if you didn’t mean to? And she comes to me for help about it? I will chase you out of this town. I will chase you out of this crew, out of this state, and out of this fucking country. And I won’t stop chasing you until you believe you’re safe. And then when you feel you’re safe? That’s when I’ll strike. Maybe you’ll be in a grocery store, and boom! Gun to the head. Maybe you’ll be sleeping, and boom! Knife to the dick. I’ll chase you, and hunt you down, and I won’t stop until your head is mounted on my fucking wall. You got that?”
I nodded. “I will always take care of your sister. I promise you to always do what’s best for her, no matter what it does to me. Always.”
He nodded. “Great. Now, let’s eat and talk about literally anything else because I’m starving and pissed off and I don’t need my blood vessels bursting one at a time.”
And as we all dug into our food, I found Astrid smiling at me from across the table as her foot nestled softly against my own.
Reminding me that, no matter what, we’d always be okay so long as we had one another.
Twenty-Three
Astrid
I wiped my mouth off with a napkin. “Thank you so much for having us over, you guys. And the food was fantastic, Raven.”
Raven smiled at me. “Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, so I frequently throw it down whenever I can. Thank you for giving me an excuse other than feeding this neanderthal over here.”
My brother chuckled. “I think you’ve taken enough punches at my expense, beautiful.”
Raven peered over at him. “You got that attitude of yours in check?”
And when my brother patted Porter’s shoulder, I knew things were buried. “Yeah, yeah. We’re back on track. Unless he hurts Astrid. Then, we might have an issue.”
Raven stared hard at Porter. “He’ll have a problem with both of us if he does.”
Porter scoffed. “And what if she hurts me, huh? Who’s kicking her ass if she breaks my heart?”
Raven looked back over at me. “He’s a good man, Astrid. And I’m whipping your tail whether or not Brooks wants me to if you hurt him. Got it?”
I smiled. “Only fair. I got it.”
Brooks snickered. “Better than nothing, I guess.”