Holy wow.
River was being cool. That meant Echo had talked to him. And the only reason Echo would tell River to stand down was if Echo respected Luke. There was no other explanation.
“It’s all good,” Luke answered magnanimously.
I felt Luke’s arm squeeze around my middle and my eyes went to his.
“You need to go home, baby, you say the word.”
That was sweet.
“No. I’m good.”
Luke’s hand came up to cup my cheek, something he did when he wanted my attention but also when he was getting ready to lay it out. He’d do it gently but he wouldn’t hold back.
“Straight up, Shiloh, you can’t bury shit like this. I don’t care what the man’s done, he’s still your dad. You need to leave, we’ll leave. You want your brothers with you we’ll all go back to your place. But you cannot lock this away and carry the burden.”
You need to go home.
We’ll leave.
We’ll all go back to your place.
Luke had gone behind my back to get me to this picnic. I couldn’t say I was happy about that but I understood why he’d done it. He knew I’d try to get out of it. He knew I’d be nervous about being around his friends. He’d also made it clear when he wanted something he didn’t “try” he simply “did” and I would never admit this to him but I was almost glad he’d maneuvered all of this. So knowing all that he’d done, Luke offering to take me home if I needed to go said something. And what it said was he was putting me first.
I liked that.
“This is the honest truth and River can confirm. I laid my feelings about my dad to rest a long time ago. I did this with my brothers after he was sentenced to life in prison. I didn’t have a lot of love for the man before he killed Officer Smith but any I had died when he took that man’s life. I will not be visiting my dad. That is not because I hate him, it’s simply because he doesn’t exist for me. Lester reached out to Phoenix and not me, Echo, or River because he knew it would fuck with Phoenix. Which in turn means he fucks with all of us. Lester is a sonofabitch but that doesn’t mean he’s stupid. Phoenix is tweaked, we’ll circle around him, but it will be Echo who will do what he always does.
“So, Dad will win, because he just earned himself face time with his eldest son. My dad won’t care Echo’s there to ream his ass. He’ll just be happy knowing he’s hurt Phoenix and pissed off Echo.”
I tilted my chin toward the tables full of food. “Now, we’re here, my brothers are here and you promised me lunch. I suggest you feed me, and while you’re at it you should eat, too. You owe me huge and I reckon you’re gonna need lots of energy for payback.”
Luke silently stared at me a moment before he smiled. After that, he dropped a kiss on my forehead.
My brother made a hurling sound that made me look at him and grin.
“Don’t start, River. Not with all the face I’ve seen you suck over the years.”
“I don’t suck face,” my brother returned.
“Well, when I was ten and I caught you with Amy in your room on your bed it sure looked like you were sucking her face to me.”
“Give me a break, I was like thirteen.” River smiled wide and looked at Luke. “Amy was sixteen, took a liking to me, came over to teach me a few—”
“Stop. I’m sorry I brought it up.”
“You done talking about your man needing energy for payback?”
Everything stopped. Well, for me it did. My breath caught and my muscles tensed but Luke didn’t have the same problem. His body was shaking. He was laughing again.
My brother had called him my man and Luke didn’t care.
He was laughing at my brother like he was my man.
“Come on, let me introduce you around.”
Luke slid his arm from around me but grabbed my hand. River said nothing.
Drama over, time to eat.
And mingle.
As awkward as that sounded, I had a feeling it would be easy with Luke by my side.
Three hours later I was sitting on a blanket spread out on the grass. Next to me either on their own blankets or towels were Lauren Saunders, Liberty McCoy, Addy, Hadley, and Quinn Walker.
Addy, Hadley, and Quinn were sisters. Their other sister Delaney was a few feet away standing next to her husband Carter Lenox, but their daughter Emma was sitting on her Aunt Addy’s lap sucking on a popsicle that was melting faster than she could slurp up the sugary goodness.
The women were talking about weddings and babies and I was sitting quietly. I was all talked out. I would bet I’d said more words in the last four hours than I’d said in the last two weeks. These women could gab. They were family, they were close, they knew everything about each other, so they’d asked me a million questions—and before them the guys had.
Something to note, not a single man Luke worked with was surprised to see me there with Luke. They also didn’t bat an eye that my brothers were there. Of course, most of the guys knew my brothers and the ones who didn’t were totally cool with them being there.
My gaze went from Delaney and Carter to my brothers and Luke. Jason and Ethan, along with three new guys I’d met, and Logan and Matt, were all standing in a huddle. Beers in hand and smiling. I focused on Phoenix and my heart clenched. He was faking it. Whatever Echo had said to Phoenix had settled him enough to join the party, but I knew my brother—he was hurting bad. And that meant I was hurting.
Lester Kent was a motherfucking asshole.
“Your brother’s hot,” Lauren said, pulling me from my thoughts.
This was not new. I’d heard my whole life how good-looking my brothers were and in a detached, they’re-not-my-brothers kind of way, I could see how women fell all over them.
“Which one?” I asked.
“Well, all of them. But River’s super-hot.”
Before I could tell her River was the dawg out of the bunch and to steer clear unless she wanted a little fun and nothing more, Hadley piped up, “You better not let Logan hear you say that.”
Lauren rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Trust me, Logan wouldn’t care.”
“Trust me, he would,” Hadley returned.
“Okay, then trust me, I no longer care.”
“Bullsh…rubbish.” Hadley caught the curse at the last second. “The two of you have been circling each other for months.”
Interesting. Lauren seemed the shy and quiet type. A little skittish. I wouldn’t have guessed she’d have the hots for Logan.
“Well, I’m done with that. He made it clear he’s not interested. I want a husband and kids one day and he straight out told me that he doesn’t believe love is real.”
Lauren shrugged like it didn’t matter to her when clearly it did.
Liberty sighed and sadness washed over her face. “Logan is…” she trailed off then started again. “Logan needs time and there’s a reason he does. I’m not saying you should wait around for him, though in my opinion, he’d be worth the wait, but that wait might be long.”
Two pagers went off simultaneously and my heart immediately jumped in disappointment until I caught the tones. Not mine. Thank the Lord.
Quinn stood and the commotion started. Her fiancé, Brice, was coming our way and my eyes caught Echo doing the same.