“
I don’t know how to handle
this situation,” he said. “I didn’t really want to get to know you.
Farah’s mine and I thought you wanted her. Like you were a threat.
Or at least an asshole with wandering eyes. Now, I know you’re not
that guy. Now, you’re the man who wants my little sister. Bailey
has been tossed around from one loser to another for years. I’ve
kicked so many asses of guys who did her wrong, but she never seems
to catch a break when it comes to dating.”
Cooper sized me and shrugged. “She likes you
though. A lot and it’s not one of her new things that she’s into.
Apparently, she’s liked you for a while. You like her too, so
you’re my problem. You can’t be a stranger now.”
“
What do you want from me?
Are you looking to hear my life story?”
“
Come hang with us tonight.
I know you’re not fighting and most of the crew is hanging at the
bowling alley.”
“
Crew?”
“
My brother, his woman,
Farah, Tawny, and the others. These are Bailey’s people and that’s
nonnegotiable. You can stay away from the family business, but you
can’t walk away from the family.”
“
If Bailey wants to go,
we’ll go. I’m not choosing for her.”
“
You can’t let her boss you
around, man. She’ll own your balls.”
“
She already owns them. At
this point, we’re just negotiating visitation rights.”
Cooper grinned. “Bailey’s a needy chick. You
get that, right? A lot of people are fucked up from their shitty
childhoods. Bailey’s had an easy life, but acts like people might
take her shit away. She’s always clingy and that’s not something
she’ll grow out of. Therapy won’t fix what’s broken. Hell, I don’t
even know why she was in therapy except she was copying Tawny.”
Wrapping a towel around my neck, I sighed.
“If Bailey wasn’t insecure, what would she need with a guy like
me?”
After glancing around, Cooper whispered,
“There are no guys in my crew that want her. They want an old lady
who knows her place. Bailey wouldn’t know it if we drew her a
fucking map.”
“
She’s a Johansson. I
thought that meant her place was at the front of the
line.”
Cooper laughed. “You’re not bad. Bailey
could do worse,” he said, glancing at the door then back at me.
“And she has. So join us tonight and be part of the crew. It’s
important for Bailey to see you around Farah without drooling over
my woman. It’ll help her confidence.”
“
How is Farah?” I asked and
Cooper’s eyes narrowed.
“
Fuck off.”
Laughing, I loved how a guy like Cooper
could get insecure about a woman already pledged as his. I figured
deluded insecurity ran in the Johansson family.
Like any other big brother,
Cooper was a pain in the ass. I guess I shouldn’t have been
surprised to learn he hounded Nick.
Especially not after I whined to him.
Technically, I whined to Farah, but they were a package
deal.
I wanted to be a package deal with Nick, but
he wasn’t playing along as quickly as I hoped. Whenever I worried
too much, I remembered how weird Tawny got because of her crappy
childhood. Nick’s past wasn’t clear cut, but I figured he had
reasons to be wary of commitment.
However, Nick didn’t call me to make plans
for bowling. Cooper did and he made it sound like an order. While I
didn’t appreciate my brother threatening my boyfriend, I did like
the idea of showing off my sexy stud.
Before bowling, I decided to hang out with
Raven and Vaughn. When I arrived, they struggled to look relaxed
and not at all like they’d just doinked in a random room.
“
I’m here to brain storm
paint colors,” I announced, walking to the kitchen while Raven
struggled into a bra hanging from the staircase.
Vaughn combed his messy hair with his
fingers. “I want beige.”
“
Beige?” I said, rolling my
eyes. “It’s like you’re not even trying. Why paint at
all?”
Grinning, Vaughn flopped onto the leather
couch they bought the week before.
“
I like what I
like.”
“
You have no taste. Even
bad taste would be a step up.”
Vaughn squinted at me. “How’s it going with
Bacon Boy?”
“
Fantastic. Our love is
epic. Someone should write a book about it, so other people can be
jealous.”
Raven walked past me and joined Vaughn on
the couch. “I remember when our love felt that way.”
“
Are you saying we’ve lost
our spark?” he asked, playing with her ponytail.
“
You did just bang me on
the coffee table.”
“
Yeah and that took the
kind of skill a man doesn’t have in the beginning of a
relationship. Balance like that only comes from a fully committed
man who likes beige.”
Raven grinned. “I want to paint three walls
a nice green with a darker green as an accent wall.”
“
We can call it the booger
room.”
“
We already named the other
rooms. Why not this one?”
Vaughn and Raven proceeded to share one of
those annoying couple moments where they stared at each other and
spoke with their hearts. I was both violently nauseous and
glaringly jealous. They only noticed the latter.
“
Don’t worry,” Vaughn said
softly as if I’d believe his next words were genuinely supportive.
“I’m sure Bacon Boy will stare at you one day and agree to a
snot-colored room.”
“
Nick doesn’t need to wait
until a far off day to do what I want. He worships me
now.”
“
Pansy, huh?”
Raven grinned, but at least she didn’t laugh
at me. Unlike her man.
“
He’s all man,” I grunted,
“and I worship him.”
“
Sounds great,” Raven said,
gesturing for me to sit down. “He’s bowling with us
tonight?”
Still feeling defensive, I only nodded.
“
I talked to Nick a few
times when I was fighting at the Thunderdome. He seems really
nice.”
Defensiveness gone, I smiled. “He is. In
class, he’s always sharing his notes with other people. Even idiots
who missed class because they were hung over. Nick doesn’t make
them beg like I would. He’s a generous person and wants everyone to
do well. He also fought off some pig that was roughing me up at a
party. He wasn’t even as bulked up as he is now, but he didn’t
care. He defended me.”
“
Nice, smart, tough, and
smells like bacon,” Vaughn said while sniffing his woman’s neck.
“He’s a catch, Bailey. Don’t let him get away.”
“
I don’t plan to. He’s mine
and I’m keeping him.”
Raven and Vaughn looked at me for a moment
then burst into laughter.
“
Shut up or I’m leaving,” I
muttered.
Raven left her giggling man and joined me on
the chair. “Don’t be upset. It’s sweet seeing you get so sweet on a
guy, you know?”
“
Nick is special, but Coop
beat on him and I worry he won’t feel comfortable with my family or
friends. You guys need to be nice to him.”
“
We will,” Raven soothed,
caressing my head.
Vaughn grinned. “My woman is practicing for
motherhood.”
“
But it’s not like we’re
rushing into having a lot of kids or anything,” Raven said then
started laughing.
Vaughn laughed too and I figured it was an
inside joke.
“
Vaughn, you’ll be nice
too, right?”
“
Sure. The guy isn’t in the
club. He’s just a normal guy who gets pounded on for cash. Someone
average like him can be easily intimidated.”
I glared at him, but he only smiled. “If you
scare him off, I’m kicking your ass.”
“
Sweetheart, I would love
nothing more than to get you a man. You know how I feel about
pitying others and you’re breaking my heart with your lonely girl
routine.”
Even rolling my eyes, I was relieved to have
them cool with Nick. I knew my brothers planned to be overly
protective assholes. Farah’s big lips would be there too, but I
reminded myself how Nick didn’t want my pregnant sister-in-law.
Everything I feared about his feelings for her weren’t true. He
really could be mine. I just needed to figure out a way past his
walls.
Raven had returned to the couch where she
and Vaughn whispered about green walls and missing panties.
“
Do you guys think I’m easy
to talk to?”
Vaughn started laughing first while Raven
tried to make him stop. Finally, his laughter proved infection and
she started giggling too. I flipped them off and walked outside.
They laughed for a while longer then I think maybe they doinked
because Raven didn’t appear until an hour later with a flushed
face.
“
Bailey, don’t be mad,”
Raven said, sitting next to me on the porch.
“
I’ve been sitting out here
a long time. A good friend would have left her stupid man to
console me.”
“
It’s true that I sometimes
forget a world outside of Vaughn exists.
“
I want that,” I sighed,
leaning my head against her shoulder. “To be oblivious to others
because I’m so in love. You know, instead of because I just don’t
care.”
Raven grinned. “I hear a Harley. Could that
be him?”
“
Maybe or could be a
hundred other guys.”
“
Don’t be grumpy,” she
whispered. “He’s putting up with your brothers tonight. He wouldn’t
do that if he didn’t care about you. Especially after Cooper fucked
with him.”
I nodded. “I just never wanted a guy like I
want Nick. I’ve had crushes. Like sometimes guys from other clubs
would visit and I’d think they were hot. I thought Vaughn was hot
when he first showed up. With Nick, it’s more than his looks. I
feel if I lost him that I’d be losing everything.” Pausing, I
sighed again. “This is where you tell me I’m being overdramatic and
need to get a grip.”
“
The heart isn’t rational.
I knew Vaughn was trouble and he knew I was trouble. We made no
sense, yet are perfect together. That’s how love works. Maybe what
you feel for Nick isn’t love yet, but need is need. No way to get a
grip.”
Smiling at Raven, I appreciated the support.
Nick made me feel amazing and awful at the same time. I wondered if
he knew how much power he had over me.
“
How’s Winona doing?”
Vaughn asked, stepping onto the porch and wearing one of his goofy
bowling shirts.
“
She does good most days.
She did call in sick on Monday because of her agoraphobia, but I
knew that was a problem when I hired her.”
“
What do you need with an
employee anyway?”
“
She takes notes in class
for me. You know, so I can stare at Nick and think about him
naked.”
“
Makes sense,” Raven said,
giving me a bright grin. “I think it’s nice that you gave her a
job.”
Vaughn frowned at a barking dog. “Harlow
says Winona ain’t been right since they were taken. Like it brought
back a lot of problems she had conquered. She was helping the Todds
with their business then she just shut down,” he muttered then
glanced at me and smiled. “You’re doing a good thing giving her
something new to focus on. Something separate from the Todds.”
I struggled to hide how much I loved getting
compliments.
“
On fall break, Mom is
having me trained to take over the financial stuff at her bar. It’s
my first business to run. Winnie will have more to do then. She’s
good at organizing stuff and we’ll both learn to be in charge.
Might make her a manager one day when she’s better at talking to
people.”
“
Look at you,” Raven said,
hugging me, “being a mentor to that poor girl. You’re strong and
she’s weak. Soon, you’ll both be strong.”
The next few minutes consisted of me feeling
super awesome about myself. Raven and Vaughn hung out on their
porch and talked about HGTV.
“
Ever since you broke your
leg, your TV choices have gone downhill,” Vaughn said while
wrapping his arms around her. “Get pickier.”
“
Accent walls are
hot.”
While they took turns sucking on each
other’s necks, I ignored them and waited for Nick. Harleys came and
went. With each one, I became more worried he wouldn’t show. I was
checking my phone to see if he had bailed when Nick arrived.
Nearly running to him, I forced myself to
slow down. I hoped I looked sexy enough in my jean shorts and
stripped tank top. Nick was sex incarnate in a tight black tee and
jeans I suspect fitted him better before he bulked up.
“
Hi,” I said like a
dipshit.
Nick grinned as if knowing I was too hot for
him to even form sentences.
“
You look…” he said then
shivered. “Like perfection. I’m sorry I was late. There was a fight
in the courtyard of my apartment building.”
“
Are you okay?” I asked,
caressing his face to check for injuries I knew he didn’t
have.
Nick grinned again. “Yeah, I just helped
them settle down. It was stupid shit. Nothing serious.”
“
I like how you help
people,” I murmured, sounding too horny to pretend otherwise. “It’s
sexy.”
Nick’s grin faded. “Bailey, I have to bowl
with your brothers and friends tonight. Please don’t make it
difficult for me to walk in these tight jeans.”
We both smiled. “They are tight. Maybe after
bowling, we can hang out,” I hinted then added when he didn’t
understand, “Hint, hint.”