Embry spared me a weary smile and I let my concern for him push Folk out of my immediate thoughts. “That’s not getting any better?”
“Nope. Don’t change the subject, though. Where were you? Any other brother, I’d think they’d gone out for a distraction, but you don’t do that. You don’t hang around bars and get wasted either, so...”
He waited for me to elaborate, but it wasn’t going to happen. I was in the best mood I could remember in weeks. I wasn’t about to ruin it by telling him I’d spent most of last night parked down the road from Lauren’s house, willing myself, despite everything I’d said to Mateo last week, not to kick her door down. That when I’d dragged myself away, I’d slept on the beach like a drunk soldier.
I wasn’t an erratic dude. It wasn’t the brother I’d sold them, and with everything else in my life a bloody shitshow, that mattered to me.
Embry was usually persistent, but perhaps he didn’t have the energy today. Either way, he let it go and finished whatever he’d been doing on his phone when we’d crashed the paint party.
I found a spot to park myself and watched Liliana create magic while Ivy made a royal mess. This life, and the one I’d come from, had left me with the habit of constantly surveying my surroundings.
The people.
The activity.
The atmosphere.
These days, the Rebel Kings compound was a chill place to be, especially on a sunny afternoon, but it was still a pit of testosterone and aggression. It came with the territory. I watched Rubi emerge from the chapel and storm across the yard to the newly expanded garage. A moment later, the metal music blaring from the front bay cut off and Bear appeared, scowling and waving his hands.
Rubi was a dude who fought hardest with his words. He didn’t need to throw a punch when he could cut a man down with his deadly mouth. Wasn’t sorry to see him shove Bear, though. Just alarmed enough to stand up.
“What is it?” Embry craned his neck, moving to heave himself from the ground.
I stayed him with a hand on his shoulder. “If it’s anything, I’ll let you know.”
It wasn’t. Rubi walked away before Bear could retaliate and reached the outdoor kitchen with a severed plug in his hand.
“Fucking idiot,” he growled before he noticed the girls painting the wall. “Shit—damn. Sorry. Why does he have to play the same songs over and over? Did God send him to torture me?”
Truth be told, I hadn’t noticed. Metal wasn’t my thing. It all sounded the same to me. Bear, though... still didn’t like him. Not that I said so. Wasn’t my place.
The kids hadn’t noticed the drama. Rubi squatted down to see what they were doing and instantly got his hands dirty, pulling Ivy into his lap.
I laughed. My kid had too many overprotective uncles to count, but Rubi was the most fun. He settled in to paint mushrooms and butterflies, and Embry left us.
“Sorry about the other night,” Rubi said when he was gone. “Riv reckons I was a pain in the arse. Actually, rephrase that, but you know what I mean.”
“You’ve seen me since then.”
“I know, but River didn’t get round to telling me off until yesterday, and I ain’t seen you since then, so...” Rubi squinted at the artwork he’d produced with a critical eye. “Them legs look even to you?”
“No.”
“Bollocks—I mean, bum. Hang on.” He painted over the butterfly legs, thickening them to the point where I knew with a hundred percent certainty that Liliana was going to make him block the whole thing out and start again. “Anyway, I meant well, and I stand by my genius, but I’m sorry I forced it down your throat when it was the last thing you wanted to talk about. I’m a three-pint menace.”
“Five pints.”
Rubi cringed. “How did Riv become the sensible one?”
I couldn’t answer that. I knew River O’Brian by reputation more than anything else. That he was hot-tempered and wild, and he’d struggled with addiction issues that, of all people,Folkhad helped him kick.
How? Why?But Rubi’s morose frown kept me in the moment. I nudged him. “Don’t be sorry that you care.”
He sighed. “I’m not, trust me. But I never want to upset you when you already have a nuclear option for that in your life.”
“You’re all right, mate.”
Rubi nodded, still glowering at the mess he’d made on the wall, until his expression turned speculative. “Picked you a blinder, though, eh? Folksie iscute.”
