“Better yet, you can just crash here,” Axel said, waving a hand over his shoulder to the RV behind him. He’d been living out at the junkyard since he was a teen. “I can go home with Dalton. You’re sober, aren’t you, Sheriff?”
“Sure am,” Dalton said easily, still nursing the first and only beer he’d accepted for the night. “I’ve got plans for later.”
It was strange hanging out with a sheriff. Stranger still to see him lean over and kiss Axel in a very un-sheriff-like manner. Not that I knew how a sheriff should kiss. It’s just that my mind had never conjured such a sight. It seemed wrong on so many levels, and yet, it looked pretty right.
“It’s hard to look away, isn’t it?” Shiloh’s warm voice said from my right. “They’re just so magnetic together.”
Holden shifted on his other side. “You jealous of that?”
Shiloh laid his right hand on the arm of his chair, palm up, inviting but not demanding. Holden laced their fingers. Then lifted Shiloh’s hand to kiss his knuckles.
“Why would I be jealous?” Shiloh asked. “I’ve got everything I need.”
“Yes, you fucking do.” Holden leaned in and kissed Shiloh. Only their fingers and lips touched, but the kiss was every bit as passionate. Holden was an intense guy, a meticulous guy. I was sure when he put his mind to something, it got all his focus.
Axel whistled sharply. “You get it, Sugar Daddy!”
Holden pulled back with a chuckle. “Fuck off.”
He’d gotten the nickname because some assholes harassing Shiloh last spring had tried to claim he was just a sugar daddy, not someone Shy really loved. Of course, it was easy to tell that was a bunch of crap.
Shiloh had come to stay with Holden, and slowly over the weeks, Holden had worked on his touch aversion until they could hold hands. I still wasn’t sure how much touching they could do. Enough to kiss and maybe more. But above all, they had an emotional connection that anyone could see was real as fuck. How could it not be when they had to work so hard to be together?
Loki whined and nosed at the empty pizza box at our feet, vainly trying to wish more sausage-and-cheese remnants into being.
I lowered a hand to pat his head in consolation. “Sorry, boy, the free meal’s over.”
Axel chuckled. “Such a beggar.”
His rottweiler, Sugar, lay beside his chair, serene but watchful. She was the real guard dog around here. Oreo was off chasing the cats at the other end of the junkyard. He tended to be the most hyper. Banshee was back at the house, cuddled up in comfort, and the Chihuahua, Taz, was asleep in my lap, one more reason I was reluctant to leave. The little devil looked so darned cute, ears twitching in a sweet doggy dream.
What the hell? Bailey had told me he was on deadline for a project tonight. There was a good chance he wouldn’t call, and I had nothing else to do but go home to an empty house and wish he were there.
He was driving down tomorrow, and I couldn’t wait. But I was also nervous as hell. We planned to tell the brothers about our relationship at his birthday dinner—Bailey was banking on his big 2-0 softening them up—and I had no idea how they’d take it.
A little extra bonding over beers tonight couldn’t hurt, right?
I cracked open the can of Bud and tipped back another mouthful. “Appreciate you all feedin’-and-waterin’ me tonight.”
“Hell, you say that like you didn’t earn it,” Axel said. “You work your ass off for us.”
“Well, you pay me for that.”
“Not enough,” Holden said, surprising me. “Once you finish this Redemption trial period, we’re going to get you a raise and make it right.”
I straightened, inadvertently shifting Taz, who growled quietly. I ran my index finger over his velvety head, soothing him back to sleep.
“You, uh, want to keep me on, then?” I asked.
Holden and Axel exchanged a surprised look. “Well, yeah, Flynn. You’ve stepped up in a big way since Bailey left.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m not as good as him.”
“No one can replace him,” Holden said bluntly. “But we never expected you to.”
“You’re your own man,” Axel said. “And you’ve earned your place here. Hell, you’re an honorary brother at this point.”
I blinked hard, raw emotion rising swiftly. “That means a lot to me.”
