Tristan made his way to my mom and hugged her awkwardly. “Hey Jenae. Good to see you.”
“What are you doing here?” she asked. “Where’s Olivia?”
“She’s home with the babies. I needed to do some continuing education, and there’s a great course close by, so I figured I’d come and look in on Raquel.” He nodded toward Orion. “Orion was helping me patch up one of the men who took a nasty spill on his bike.”
I bit my lip to keep from squeaking. Lordy, I could kiss my brother right now.
“Mrs. Brooks, I’m just going to clean up so I can make a better first impression,” Orion said, and I let him go, making my way back to my mom.
My mother appeared to be a bit flabbergasted as she focused back on Tristan. “You left your wife alone with twins?”
“No,” he said, calmly. “She’s surrounded by our family, including Dad, so she’s covered.”
“I bet she’d rather have you there.”
“Oh, I know she would. But she also appreciates that I have a career and that career requires I keep up with my license requirements.” He raised an eyebrow. “I also wanted to make sure Raquel was okay, so I’m here.”
Mom huffed, then pulled me aside. “I want you in a hotel.”
“No, Mom, really,” I said. “We won’t be here for long.”
She tugged me further into the corner. “Where are you sleeping?”
“There’s a bunkroom here,” Tristan said, and I gave him a look of total besotted appreciation for my big brother. I could never lie to my parents, even by omission. He had no problem doing it, even though, this wasn’t technically a lie. Therewasa bunkroom here. He just didn’t mention I wasn’t sleeping in there.
“Does it have a lock on it?” Mom asked.
“Yes. Several,” I said. “Big ones. But even if there weren’t, there’s nothing to worry about. No one here would ever lay a hand on me. I know it’s hard to explain, but it’s kind of like having a bunch of big brothers around.”
“If you’re into incest,” Sierra retorted, albeit quietly.
I glared at her, hoping to god my mother didn’t hear that.
“Mom, why don’t we go to dinner? Somewhere nice,” I suggested, just as Orion made his way to us, his clothing changed, but he couldn’t hide his scraped-up knuckles, and I wished my mother wasn’t here so I could find out exactly what the fuck happened.
“Probably best to stay here,” Orion countered, and smiled his panty-dropping smile at my mother. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t here to greet you properly. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
My mom gave him a weary smile. “You too.”
“Please feel free to make yourself at home,” Orion said.
“I’d rather go somewhere…else. No offense.”
“Some taken,” Orion grumbled.
“Dinner sounds like a great plan,” Mom continued.
“We actually have a club dinner planned today,” Orion lied.
“Oh, well, that’s perfect. I’ll take Raquel and y’all can enjoy your club time.”
“Raquel needs to be here,” Orion insisted.
“I’m sure you can live without her for one dinner.”
I faced Orion. “Surely, the Bistro’s an option?”
He shook his head. “I’d rather we—”
