“You better watch your back, bitch,” Johnny said, stressing bitch when she opened the door and stepped outside.
As soon as her brothers spotted her, they backed away from Connor who did an amazingly wonderful job of keeping her brothers off her back. Then again, judging by the murderous glares that her brothers were sending Connor, they’d probably forgotten all about her and gotten carried away with another one of their threat sessions that were more annoying than anything.
“Are those donuts for us?” Brian asked, shifting anxiously as his greedy eyes locked on the bag in her hands.
“Nope,” she said, smiling when her brothers turned murderous glares on her. “I’d hurry up if I were you. They only have two bags left,” she lied, knowing that it was the only way to get rid of them.
Her brothers stood there a moment longer, obviously struggling with the need to keep a close eye on the two of them as the scent of warm donuts surrounded them. In the end, the donuts won and the shoving match began. They didn’t stick around to see who won.
“Are you okay?” Rory asked as she handed Connor a warm donut a few minutes later, noting that he looked sad again. That expression was becoming more common these days and it was breaking her heart.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Connor said, forcing a smile as he accepted the donut.
“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Rory said, hoping that she’d kept the disappointment out of her tone as she said it. She wanted to go. She loved her family and missed them, but she loved Connor more and didn’t want to see him like this.
Connor shook his head. “No, it’s fine, Rory.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip.
“Yes.”
She almost asked if this was about Andrew but decided that she didn’t want to spend their first real day off together fighting. With the way that Andrew was acting, she knew that it was only a matter of time before they came to blows over what to do. Until then, she just wanted to enjoy her time with Connor.
He really was a scrawny bastard, Connor decided as he climbed out of his truck, and for the second time in his life, found himself surrounded by Bradfords. They were everywhere. Most of them were eating, but a lot of them were setting up the neighboring sites that they’d reserved for the reunion with grills, dozens of them, coolers, tables, a volleyball net, more food, and…
Was that a butcher setting up near the grills?
Judging by his collection of knives, his apron, and the fact that the short, pudgy man was definitely not a Bradford, he would have to say yes. It was definitely going to be a long day, Connor thought as he walked around the truck to help Rory out. He had the door opened and was reaching for her when he suddenly found himself picked up and moved aside like he weighed nothing. It was a bit unnerving, but not as unnerving as the wall of muscle that suddenly came between him and Rory.
He heard an excited squeal the same time that he saw Rory’s arms wrap around the bastard’s neck. The man pulled her out, returning her hug as he turned around and placed her on her feet next to Connor.
“How’s it going, Jason?” Connor asked, pleased when Rory released her hold on her cousin and wrapped her arm around his.
Jason grinned, looking a hell of a lot happier than he had the last time he’d seen him a few weeks ago. The man had missed his wife and it had taken its toll on him. By the time the week was over, Jason had been exhausted and his appetite had been pretty much nonexistent, making everyone worried. It turned out that the lovesick bastard missed his wife and couldn’t sleep without her. Connor was glad to see Jason back to being Jason. Sure, the man embarrassed the living hell out of him and would annoy the shit out of anyone just for the hell out of it, but he genuinely liked the asshole.
“It’s good to see you, Connor,” Jason said, reaching over and shook his hand. “Didn’t think we’d be seeing you here today. Thought my cousins would make sure that you…that you…” Jason broke off, frowning as he scented the air. “Is that cinnamon, sugar, and fruit filling that I’m smelling?” Jason asked, turning his back on them and focusing his attention on searching through Connor’s truck.
Connor was already stepping back and taking Rory with him when several large men around them suddenly stopped, sniffed the air and growled out, “Cinnamon donuts.”
“Let’s go see if my dad is here yet,” Rory said, sounding upbeat and happy while he resigned himself to a day of hell and his truck being ransacked by Bradfords.
“Are you hiding from me or my sons?” the man that he wanted to deck asked as he stepped up beside him.
“Both,” Connor admitted, taking a sip of his lukewarm beer as he looked across the large lake at absolutely nothing.
“Afraid my sons are going to hurt you?” Mr. James asked, sounding curious.
“No,” Connor said, his grip tightening around his bottle as he forced himself to stand there and not take a swing at the bastard that had it coming.
For the past five hours, he’d been forced to put up with this bastard ignoring Rory, talking down to her and acting like he couldn’t fucking care less. Several times, he had to stop himself from doing something that he’d regret, not that he’d live long if he punched her father with dozens of Bradfords and James boys around. He honestly didn’t care if they beat the shit out of him. Knowing that it would upset Rory was the only thing that stopped him. Rory deserved so much better than this asshole. She deserved a father that loved her and appreciated her and knew that she was-
“Did you know that Rory was my favorite?” Mr. James said, catching him off-guard.
Connor took a sip of his beer, not sure if calling his future father-in-law a lying sack of shit was the way to go on this one. It was painfully obvious, at least to him, that the man never wanted a daughter. He’d never treated her like she was anything special. All he did was push her away. It was clear that the man didn’t have a clue about how to deal with Rory, but he should have tried. Connor had no clue what to do with a little girl, but if he and Rory were blessed with a daughter, he would damn well do what he had to for her even if that meant dressing up like princesses and playing with Barbies.
“Parents aren’t supposed to have favorites, but the moment that I held Rory in my arms, she became my world,” Mr. James said, sounding pleased and that was pretty much what made Connor snap.
“Bullshit,” Connor ground out, moving to take a sip of his piss-warm beer when it was suddenly snatched from his hand and just as quickly was replaced with a cold beer.
