“Hold still,” she says softly when I shift, more habit than instruction.
I let her finish, standing there while she works the towel over me, the small bathroom warm and quiet after the rush of water and steam. When she’s satisfied I’m dry enough, she hands me my clothes from the counter and turns to grab her own towel, rubbing it through her hair and along her arms. I pull my shirt on slowly, watching her in the mirror as she dries herself off. When she’s done, she takes my hand and leads me back to bed.
I stretch out beside her and settle into her arms, my head resting against her chest as she threads her fingers through my hair in slow, steady passes. The contact eases the last of the tension I didn’t realize I was still carrying. I wrap an arm around her middle and pull her closer, fitting us together until there’s no space left to think.
I close my eyes and listen to the steady rhythm of her heartbeat beneath my ear, letting it anchor me in the quiet, in the warmth of her body, in the simple fact that I’m here and she’s here and the night is finally over.
TWENTY
BROOKE
“So,”Bri says, drawing the word out as she shifts against her pillows. “Tell us.”
I quirk a brow at my baby sister. “Tell you what?”
“How’s it going with you and Rev?” she asks, eyes bright. “Or should I call him Javier?” She laughs like she’s already pleased with herself.
I give her the full mom look I perfected while raising her. “You, dear sister, will call him Rev and nothing else.”
Bella squeals and kicks her feet from her spot on the opposite end of the couch. “I love that you two are finally together.”
“Finally?” I echo. “What do you mean finally?”
She shrugs, lips twitching like she’s holding onto something. “Oh, nothing,” she says, way too innocently.
I point at her. “Uh-uh. You don’t get to say nothing with that face. What are you being secretive about?”
She glances between me and Bri, her smile widening into something almost giddy. “Okay, this is going to sound super sappy, and I’m totally blaming pregnancy hormones,” she says, bracing herself. “But when Switch and I first started dating and we all went to Perdition together, hanging out with the guys, I kind of thought it would be really cool if you all ended up together.”
My eyes narrow slightly. “You did not.”
“I absolutely did,” she insists. “I could tell Rev was attracted to you, Brooke. And Blade practically tracked Bri around the bar all night. It was so obvious.”
Bri groans. “I was not being tracked.”
Bella points at her. “You absolutely were. By a very tall, very grumpy shadow.”
I laugh. “So you were already writing our love lives in your head.”
“Maybe,” she admits, unapologetically. “It just made me hope we’d all end up with big, bad, scary biker men and become this weird little biker family.”
Bri shakes her head, laughing despite herself. “You’re crazy.”
Bella beams and throws a pillow at Bri. “Oh stop, you know you love me. You both do.”
Bri tips her head toward me, eyes curious. “Okay, so… how are things actually going with you and Rev?”
“Things with Javier are going really freaking good,” I admit, smiling so hard my cheeks start to ache. “I know we’re completeopposites, but somehow it just works… in all the right ways.” I smirk and wiggle my brows.
Bri makes a loud gagging noise. “Absolutely not. I did not need that visual.”
“You literally asked,” Bella says, laughing.
“I asked about feelings,” Bri argues. “Not… whatever that was.”
I laugh, sinking back into the couch. “Relax. I’m not giving you details.”
“Good,” Bri says quickly. “Because I’m pregnant and emotionally fragile.”
