“He came in for a tattoo,” Riggs said. “He passed out, and I caught him before he hit the floor.”
I’d deliberately left that part out, and my cheeks burned at the memory. It hadn’t been that long ago I’d walked into Riggs’s shop, desperately confused with myself and my life. It wasn’t as easy as saying a single tattoo had set my mind straight, but the act of doing something without the intent of pleasing my brother had been a first for me.
“You didn’t tell us all that.”
“It didn’t seem relevant to the plot,” I grumbled.
“Seems relevant to him,” Finn said.
“First time I held him in my arms.” Riggs squeezed my hand, and I wanted to slide under the table.
“Oh, and a charmer.” Finn tutted his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “I don’t blame you.”
“I thought you were leaving.” I shoved my shoulder against Finn’s arm again, finally dislodging him from the booth.
Finn checked his watch and pretended to tug down and adjust his shirt sleeves. “You’re right. I was just finishing up here and heading over to Hunter’s.”
“Finn.”
“Do you have brothers, Riggs?” Finn asked sweetly.
“Just me,” he said.
“You’ll have to forgive me then.”
“He doesn’t have to do anything,” I snapped.
“Besides keep his mouth off of you tonight so you show up with a skin-colored neck tomorrow and not another bruise for Marshall to have an aneurysm over.”
I rubbed the side of my finger beneath my nose, hating the way my hands shook. Riggs offered me a sympathetic, if not amused, smile.
“Are you okay?” he mouthed at me.
“Embarrassed.”
“Oh, Smith.” Finn rolled his eyes at me. “Don’t be embarrassed over me. Your Riggs here knows it’s all in good fun, doesn’t he?”
Riggs cracked his neck and slid out of the booth. He was the same height as Finn but broader in the shoulders, and I couldn’t lie, the tattoos made him look almost menacing. Add the thick silver rings around two of his fingers and the leather jacket hanging off his shoulders, and I was a goner for the man. Finn remained unbothered, smiling at Riggs like he had all the time in the world.
“I like you,” my brother said.
“I don’t care,” Riggs said simply. “The only Covington I’m concerned about is the one who isn’t in my face right now.”
Finn chuckled, smoothing a hand down the buttons of his shirt. “If I was in your face you’d know.”
“Would you stop it?” I asked, reaching over and shoving Finn’s thigh. “Go to Hunter’s, tell him about the motorcycle, I don’t care. Just stop this.”
“You’re the best of all of us,” Finn said, throwing me a sideways glance. “And none of us will apologize for holding you to a higher standard than we hold ourselves.”
It was the most honest thing he’d ever said to me and also the most exhausting. Finn’s words were a reminder of why I’d acted out in the first place, but I hated the idea of him or the other twothinking I was only involved with Riggs as an act of rebellion. I didn’t want Riggs to think that either.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night, okay?”
Finn took a step back, looked once more at Riggs and another time at me.
“Alright,” he agreed. “Well, be safe, baby brother.”
And with that, he turned on his heel and walked toward the door.
