“Almost too beautiful to look at. Keep looking this good and I’m gonna need to wear sunglasses.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“You love it,” he said, rolling off the other side of the bed.
That was the thing, wasn’t it? I did. I really did.
Raff rummaged around for a pair of drawstring pants for me before disappearing across the hall.
When he came back, I took my turn, using the extra toothbrush he’d set out for me and straightening my hair the best I could before joining him in the hallway.
The nervous jumping in my stomach surprised me. I mean, I knew all these people. There was no reason to feel so weird.
Sensing my unease, Raff’s arm went around my hips and he pressed a kiss to my temple before reaching to pull the freight door up when we reached the lower level.
The voices hit me first.
Slash, with his deep, gravel voice stood out. As did my cousin’s familiar timbre. But there were at least four others speaking too.
But Raff’s fingers gripped my hip, a silent reassurance as we walked into the common space.
Detroit spotted us first, his gaze sweeping over us, no doubt taking in the fact that I was wearing Raff’s clothes… and his arm was around me. Instead of judgment, though, he shot me a ghost of a smile.
When his gaze shifted to Raff, Raff exhaled. “Alright. Come on. I’m ready for the speech.”
“I don’t got one,” Detroit said as he whipped something in a massive bowl. “Watched you mooning over her for years. Figure that’s all I need to know about it.”
“Well, alright then.”
“Though I’m not happy you didn’t come to me when you were in trouble,” he said, looking at me again.
“I was embarrassed.”
“We’re family. There’s no such thing as being embarrassed.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“How you feeling?” he asked.
“I’m okay. A little sore,” I said, holding up my bandaged palms. “But it could have been so much worse.”
“She stabbed the fucker in the gut pretty good,” Hail said, nodding his approval at me. “With a screwdriver.”
“It’s what I had handy.”
“You own a screwdriver?” Raff asked, brows pinched. Because, yeah, I didn’t strike anyone as the handy kind of person.
“I found it in the back of a drawer at my old apartment.”
“Still can’t believe you somehow moved outta that apartment and into the motel and none of us noticed,” Slash said. “Or the Murphys.”
“Speaking of,” Raff said. “Are you going to tell them about this whole thing?”
“I guess I probably should. At least some of it. But not today. Today, I want whatever Detroit is making.”
Detroit was an incredible cook. But he saved most of his cooking for the club and his family now. I only got to have it once in a blue moon if he dropped a plate off to me.
“Then that’s exactly what you’ll have.”
