“If you want that, yeah. If not, I want you hitting my place when you’re done.”
“Stay here. All of you. Make yourselves at home.”
“Go get ready,” I urged.
Her gaze went around the table then settled on me.
Then she leaned over and brushed her lips across mine.
Christ, that felt sweet.
Shiloh was out of the room when Phoenix cleared his throat.
“Haven’t had time to apologize. I was in a bad mood and took that out on you. It was a dick thing to do. My apologies.”
“No worries.”
“Not lost on any of us you’re moving in and doing it fast.”
I clenched my teeth and remained silent.
“That’s the right play,” Phoenix continued. “You gotta do this fast. Get in there and dig in before she sees you coming. We talked about it, and before today I wasn’t all that sure I was on board with my brothers. But after watching the two of you, I’m all-in.”
“All-in for what?”
“We got your back. Sunny pulls a cut-and-run we’re dragging her ass back to you.”
Jesus, that felt good.
“Appreciate that. But right now the way you can take my back, take your sister’s back, is by being honest about what’s going on with your dad and not cut Shiloh out of that. She’s feeling vulnerable. I’ve heard her call herself weak too many times and I’m putting an end to that shit. Show her how strong she is and lean on her. Lay everything you got about your dad on her and know when you’re done, I got her. She’s safe with me and I’ll get her through. You pull back and keep this between the three of you and cut her out you’re proving her right thinking she’s the weak one.”
Phoenix looked less than pleased.
I knew he would.
“Echo was right. You got some big fucking balls, brother.”
I shrugged and asked him the same thing I asked Echo, “Want me to find a ruler and you can measure my dick, too?”
“Leave it to Sunny to find the one fucking guy on the planet with a dick big enough to swing it in your face and slap you with it,” River retorted.
“Yeah, he pulls his dick out and measures that shit anywhere near me, and my sister will be looking for a new man.”
“Um…what?” Shiloh choked.
Neither of her brothers said a word. Neither did Dylan, Logan, or Matt. They were all too busy laughing their asses off.
“Nothing, baby.”
My eyes swept her body—black cargos, black tee with SWAT written in white across her chest, nine mil already holstered at her hip, black combat boots on her feet, and her shiny blonde hair pulled into a ponytail.
“Damn, you’re hot,” I blurted.
A playful smirk tugged at her lips.
“Play your cards right, honey, and when I get home I’ll show you what I can do with a pair of cuffs.”
“Fuck, Sunny, my ears are bleeding. Like, painfully bleeding in a way that I know I will never use a pair of cuffs again in my life,” River stated.
“Oh, shut up. We all know you prefer rope over cuffs. And besides, y’all were talking about my man’s dick when I came in so don’t act like a prude.”
And there was Sunny Kent. The teasing, bright, open, playful woman I’d first met. I wasn’t stupid, I knew her hurt lay just below the surface, but she still gave her brothers what they needed before she headed out the door.
“She’s not wrong, Riv, you do like rope.”
“One time. One damn time I was feeling like switching it up. Not my fault the two of you didn’t knock before you came in. Hell, as far I’m concerned you deserve what you saw.”
Right. As amusing as story time was, I didn’t want to hear about River tying his woman up. And further, I didn’t want Shiloh to have the visual in case in the future I felt like switching things up and tying her to my bed.
She also had to get out the door and I was absolutely going to kiss my woman before she left.
“I’ll walk you out,” I rejoined.
Shiloh winked at her brother and took my outstretched hand.
“Night, guys,” she called.
Both her brothers told her to be safe, she returned an “always” and I walked her to the garage.
Then I made out with my woman, with her sidearm pressing into my hip reminding me she was getting ready to put on a bulletproof vest and put herself in danger.
And suddenly I understood real fear.
The kind that ate you up inside because you had to let the person you loved be who they were and there was nothing you could do but hope to God they came home.
“Be safe out there and come home to me.”
Shiloh’s hand came up and her fingers grazed the side of my face, stopping at one of the scars on my temple.
“I promise I will always do my best to come home to you.”
I love you.
It was right there waiting to be said.
Soon.
18
“You’re in a hurry.”
I slammed my trunk and looked over my shoulder at Gordy.
“It’s six-thirty. I’d like to get home in time to say goodbye to Luke.”
I’d been so focused on Gordy’s wide smile I missed the way he was staring at me. If I hadn’t, I would’ve known it was assessing and calculating and I would’ve been prepared. But I was too busy thinking about how much I liked his smile. I’d pay for that.
“Are you happy?”
“Huh?”
“Happy, Sunny. Are you happy?”
That was an odd question. No one I worked with had ever asked if I was happy.
That’s because they know better.
“Um. I guess.”
“You guess?” Gordy's head jerked. “What do you mean, you guess? Are you happy or not?”
At that, it was my turn to lurch in retreat. I didn’t like where this conversation was headed.
“Just what I said. I’m happy when I’m with Luke. I’m happy when I’m with my brothers when they’re not pissing me off and I’m not plotting how to kill them and get away with it. I’m happy at work when we’re not called in on our day off. Though I’m not happy my dad’s reached out to Phoenix to spread his douchebag cheer and the news he’s dying. I’m not happy we just pulled a twelve-hour shift on our day off. I’m not happy two of my brothers were total assholes to Luke and the third was a mild asshole. I’m not happy I’m standing here having this conversation instead of headed home to Luke. So with all of that, yeah, I guess I’m happy.”
Gordy being Gordy was unperturbed.
He also ignored both comments about me wanting to get home.
“Lester’s dying?”
Shit. Why’d I tell him that?
“That’s what he told Phoenix in the letter he sent requesting all of us visit him. However, I wouldn’t put it past him to lie about being on his deathbed to get a rise out of Phoenix and face time with Echo. It’s not like he hasn’t tried to get us all to visit him before. Though I will admit, he’s never gone as far as telling us he was dying.”
“That motherfucker has tried to get you kids to come see him?”
Kids.
That was kind of amusing and I would’ve reminded Gordy that he was only ten years older than me, which meant it was asinine him calling Echo, River, Phoenix, and me kids.