Bodie might have been pissed and he may have been thinking about planting his fist in Brett’s face, but I knew he’d keep his promise and not go after him.
And since he kept his other promise when we laid in our bed that night, the evening didn’t turn out to be so bad.
It was actually orgasmic.
ChapterThirty-Two
BODIE
I was on ‘sleepover’duty.
Every one of my friends had been where I was right then. It was like a rite of passage or something. If your woman was inside Alley’s home doing whatever girls do while having a sleepover, then at least one of their men was parked outside.
So, it was my turn. That’s how I found myself sitting in my rig with the heater blasting to keep the cold out as I watched the snowflakes float down onto my window.
It was the first sleepover at Alley’s since everything that went wrong for Ruby and scared the women at the last one. That, along with the shooting involving Gemma and knowing someone was targeting her, had everyone a little on edge. Not only were the guys worrying about their significant others, but the ladies were a bit nervous too. That didn’t stop them though and they made it clear that the show must go on and nobody would scare them from their time together.
When the women got together and they got something in their heads, there was no stopping them. I’d also seen Alley’s bats scattered around the house just lying in wait if someone dared to bust up one of their parties again. She had enough for everyone.
A small chuckle echoed through the car and I shook my head. I was damn thankful for Alley and her bat. The woman was hell on wheels but she was an amazing friend.
She was there for Gemma when the dickhead, Brett, and his friends decided to mess with her. My girl was a spitfire herself but that didn’t always mean things would go down the right way. I knew that as well as anyone from my military days.
I was glad Brett was getting what was coming to him even if I didn’t think it was enough and I’d like to have gotten a few minutes alone with the guy again. It pissed me off that my first confrontation hadn’t been enough and it made me feel like I’d failed my woman. My hands clenched into fists thinking about it.
If anything more happened to her I don’t know how I’d handle it.
It had been a couple of weeks since the incident and Gemma had done what she promised. Once she’d gone to the school and police, the asshole’s rich parents stepped in and took charge. Not wanting any embarrassment to themselves, they had him packed up, removed from school, and headed back across the country with them.
Gemma had breathed a sigh of relief knowing he was gone but she also fretted that even though he may not be around to bother her any longer, he’d find another girl to harass.
As shitty as it sounded, she was probably right, but I didn’t tell her that because I didn’t want her to worry.
My phone pinged with a text but when I went to reach for it, bright headlights blinded me in my rearview mirror distracting me. A car pulled up and parked behind me, putting me on alert. Not recognizing the vehicle and knowing that it wasn’t one of the guys since they were with their kids, as well as mine, my body tightened in anticipation of a threat.
When the driver's door opened and a male figure started to approach my passenger side window with a bag clenched in his palm, my hand went to my gun laying next to me in the console. Usually, my piece was at home locked up safe and sound, but with Gemma getting shot at, along with all the ladies’ safety being my responsibility, there was no way I was leaving home without it.
The stranger's hands went high into the air, the bag raised with them as if he’d sensed the growing intensity, and while I didn’t drop my guard completely, I relaxed a fraction.
Next thing I knew the mystery man's face was looking at me through the window.
Paxton.
It was a damn good thing I hadn’t hurt Gemma’s brother after she had just recently connected with him for the first time. If I had I don’t think my plans in a couple of weeks would have gone the way I hoped.
He tapped on the window and I grunted but unlocked the doors so he could slide in.
His gaze went to my hand wrapped around my gun and he raised a brow. “Didn’t Braxton tell you I was coming?”
Shit, my phone.
After grabbing my cell, I looked at it to see the text that had come in ten minutes earlier had been from Braxton. I clicked on it and read what he wrote.
“This would have been helpful before you were already pulling up,” I mumbled as I set my phone back down and also my gun. “I could have hurt you,” I said to the man next to me.
Paxton scoffed. “Like I’d let that happen. You’re not the only one with military training.”
A part of me wanted to be a smartass about his said training just to fuck with him, but aware of the job he’d had in the Air Force, I knew how grueling it most likely was. And from what we’d heard of those who knew him, the guy was a class act and well-trained lethal weapon.
