Jameson then. The Kings didn’t drink much whiskey, but when they did, it was always Irish.
Like Orla.
LikeNash.
My next glance around the room was for him, but Orla cut it short. “He left.”
Expected it. Nash was a busy man, especially on a day like this. What I didn’t expect was the sheer weight of his absence to swamp me.
Damn it, I still felt the imprint of his kiss on my lips.
Histerrifiedkiss. And I wanted to make that better.
How? By kissing him more?
Maybe.
Or maybe not. At this point, I had no fuckin’ clue. All I knew for certain was that feeling him freeze up in my arms, then hate himself for it was worse than the look on his face when he’d seen my fucked-up back.
Parents, man. His made my pisshead pops seem like Mary Poppins.
Orla uncrossed her legs and joined me on the couch, dislodging the cat. I belatedly noticed Saint was in the room, but if he thought it was weird that Orla had plonked herself in my lap, it didn’t show on his face.
He was eating.
Couldn’t say why that struck me as strange, but it did. At least until Cam stomped into the room.
One less thing for him to worry about.
These brothers were good at that—taking care of the little stressors they saw in each other, so the people they loved most could save energy for the big shit.
Like hit attempts on their queen.
Attempts that could’ve hurt my kid.
Sleep faded from my brain. I reached for my phone.
Orla raked her nails down my forearm. “Willow’s fine. She just sent me aGossip Girlsmeme.”
“A what?”
“Nothing you need to worry about. Just know she’s safe at home.”
“How did she get your number?”
“I gave it to her.”
“You might regret that.”
“Doubt it.” Orla settled against me. “Your kid is awesome.”
Couldn’t argue with that. But I was still fuckin’ disturbed by what had gone down today. All of it. Even the good parts, but I forced myself not to think about Nash’s dick in my hand. Couldn’t do that until he’d got used to my mouth on his. Sex wasn’t sex without the kissing.
Cam cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, brother. About how it went down today. You should be able to buy your kid a car without club bullshit bearing down on you, and I’m sorry it didn’t happen.”
“I was only buying her a car at allbecauseof you.”
Cam eased down next to Saint, their shoulders touching, their thighs, and yet they still weren’t as close as me and Orla. “We’ve talked about the money. I don’t want to talk about it anymore. Just know that family is everything to us, and if your kids are ever on the road with you, they’ll be protected.”
