X raised a brow. “Didn’t know you were a religious man, Riv.”
“Not that one,” he scoffed. “The miracle of our very own Anson Sutter finally getting laid!”
Anson choked on his coffee.
“Jesus Christ,” Boone muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“River!” Nessie turned around on her stool to smack his arm. “There’s a child present.”
“What’s laid?” Oliver asked, popping up from under the table.
“Okay, so when two people—” River began, but Jonah cut him off with a well-aimed dish towel to the face.
“It’s a very boring adult thing,” Nessie told her son, shooting River a death glare.
He just shrugged it off. “Kid’ll find out about it sooner or later.”
“Later,” Jax and Nessie said at the same time.
“Prudes.” He snorted and turned back to the stove with a grin.
River may pretend to be all chaos, but behind that grin was a calculating man. He’d known exactly what he was doing by bringing up sex in a way that would intrigue Oliver—shifting the topic, brightening the mood.
Anson watched the tension drain from Maggie’s shoulders, saw Jax’s jaw unclench. River caught his eye across the kitchen and winked, spatula still raised.
Smart bastard.
“Pancakes will be ready soon,” he announced.
“Unfortunately,” Bear grumbled.
“Hey, you don’t like them, you don’t have to take any.” River slapped a stack of misshapen pancakes onto a serving plate and brought them to the table with a flourish. “Bon appétit, losers.”
“They look... creative,” Maggie offered diplomatically.
“That’s one word for it,” Jonah muttered.
The food made its way around. The misshapen pancakes that somehow managed to be both burned and undercooked, bacon that had survived King’s attempts at theft, eggs that at least looked normal.
Throughout breakfast, his brothers checked on Maggie without making it obvious. Jonah refilled her water glass before she’d even emptied it. River aimed his most ridiculous jokes her way, coaxing genuine laughter past the pain in her throat. X shifted his guitar playing to something softer when Kavik’s howling made her wince slightly. Even Bear, usually so stoic, caught Anson’s eye over Maggie’s head with a look that spoke volumes:She’s pack now. We’ve got her.
Naomi reached across Ghost to squeeze Maggie’s hand, a brief touch that said more than words could.
“So,” River said conversationally with his mouth full of pancake, “how was everyone’s Christmas? Mine was eventful.Taught Goose a new trick, fixed Walker’s truck, and helped take down a psycho ex-boyfriend. You know, festive stuff.”
“River,” Boone warned.
But Maggie just shook her head. “It’s okay. Honestly, I’d rather joke about it than tiptoe around it.”
“That’s the spirit,” River said, raising his coffee mug. “To Bramble and his heroic jaws of justice.”
“To Bramble,” the table echoed, and the wolfhound raised his head at the sound of his name, mildly confused by the sudden attention.
“I didn’t know dogs could bite that hard,” Oliver said, having crawled back under the table to hang out with the dogs. “Mom says Bramble’s a good boy even though he bit someone.”
“Bramble is a very good boy who protected Miss Maggie,” Nessie agreed.
“Is she your girlfriend now?” Oliver asked, popping up beside Anson and fixing him with the direct, guileless stare only children can manage. “X says she is.”
