Page 4 of Pirate

Longest twenty minute ride of Pirate’s life. He was going to turn Sophia over his fucking knee if this turned out to be nothing and she’d gotten Jumper worked up over something trivial. Did the woman not understand how easy it was for his brother to be triggered, especially when it came to Jazz and her safety?

The Charger’s tires squealed as Pirate took the corner too fast into the parking lot. He claimed the first empty parking spot they came to, not bothering to care if he was perfectly in the lines.

The brothers jumped out into the brisk February air, Aerial on their heels. They were both wearing their winter jackets that had their club colors sewn into the heavy material, so they didn’t have to worry about putting on their cuts as they raced into the dress shop.

A sea of white lace and frills assaulted Pirate’s eyes upon entering. Soft music played overhead. Mannequins in god-awful dresses adorned the large display windows. How the fuck did womenwalkin those monstrosities?

The large glass double doors opened to rows upon rows of gowns in plastic bags hanging on racks. He had no idea why there were large numbers above different sections, starting at zero and going up to twenty-two the further they got into the room. He did understand the word ‘Maternity’ though. The racks split down the middle to form an aisle lined with a white rug, compared to the pinkish carpeting elsewhere.

Pirate followed Jumper down the aisle until they reached a wide open area with far too many mirrors. Why the hell were there so many mirrors? On the left were cubicles with open curtains that he assumed to be changing rooms. In the middle was a stage of sorts that kind of reminded Pirate of a tiered wedding cake.

Couches and chairs circled the stage. A counter towards the right had champagne bottles and glasses, a tray of cubed cheeses, crackers, and grapes, and a weird paper tree that took Pirate a moment to realize was made out of napkins.

“Stop her!”

The sound of Jasmine’s shout brought Pirate’s attention to the group of women standing to the back of the wide room. Jasmine, dressed in a very elegant and flowy wedding gown, had tears streaking down her cheeks. Jumper made a beeline for his fiancée, the other women parting to allow him through.

A flurry of red came streaking towards Pirate. He automatically put out his arms to stop Sophia—and not just because Jasmine had ordered him to. He’d been around the minx long enough to know that expression on her face meant that she was about to do something that would require supervision if she didn’t want to end up in handcuffs.

Sophia stood tall at five-eight. She had a lean body type that required no exercise or dieting to maintain. Pirate knew this because he’d heard Jasmine mention it more than once. Jasmine was around the same height as Sophia, but she had curves and a rounder body shape than her best friend. Jumper absolutely adored Jasmine and hated when she talked down about her body size. When she’d mentioned going on a wedding diet, Jumper flat-out told her not to. Pirate had overheard Sophia echo Jumper’s words more than once to Jazz as well.

Pirate had learned early on how protective Sophia was of Jasmine. The two had been best friends since grade school and were closer than most sisters. Sophia didn’t allow anyone to talk shit about her bestie—including her bestie.

In comparison to Jasmine’s blonde hair and pale skin, Sophia had black hair and a natural tan. Jasmine was shy and soft spoken while Sophia was loud and had never bitten her tongue in her life. The two were so glued at the hip that Sophiawas around the apartment Jumper and Jasmine shared with Pirate so much that she practically lived there too.

More than once, Pirate had gotten up for work in the morning to find Sophia cooking breakfast in their kitchen. He’d even taken her key back from her multiple times but she always got a new one. He wouldn’t put it past her to have made a number of copies anyway.

Sophia was feisty and a bit crazy. Okay, a lot crazy. She did what she wanted, said what she wanted, and went where she wanted. The fact that she came from old money meant that she didn’t need to hold down a nine-to-five job like the rest of the world. Though she had eccentric tendencies, Sophia wasn’t flamboyant about her money as so many were. It was probably her one redeeming quality in Pirate’s mind.

Well that, and her unwavering loyalty to Jasmine.

“Let me go, you filthy pirate!” Sophia tried to wrench herself out of Pirate’s tight hold, but he had a lot of practice restraining her. He also knew she was not above kicking him in the balls to get free, as his nuts had unfortunately found out the hard way once before. Pirate, though, was a former Marine, having gotten out three years ago on a medical discharge after losing the lower half of his right leg. Sophia had never stepped foot inside a gym in her life. Despite how hard she tried to break his hold, she couldn’t.

Pirate shook his head at her name-calling. Frankly, it was tame in comparison to some of the others she’d used. “What’s going on?”

He didnotlike seeing the tears on Jasmine’s face.

Two employees hung back towards the changing rooms, conversing softly to themselves. Mrs. Groveton, Zoe, and Amanda were all hovering around where Jumper was holding Jasmine, with Aerial at their feet.

It was Mrs. Groveton who spoke up. “We were on a video call with Jasmine’s mother,” she answered softly. Her eyes were filled with unshed tears too. “Mrs. Sharpe said some…unkind things about Jasmine’s choice of dress. It upset Jasmine.”

For how furious Sophia was in his arms, Pirate knew that the older woman had severely undersold the story.

Pirate looked down at Sophia. He shook her slightly to get her attention. “What the fuck did she say?”

Sophia might be loyal to the point of crazy, but she wasn’t a liar, nor did she mince words. Jaw tight, Sophia turned her furious hazel eyes on him. “Something about how she didn’t know elephants could wear lace. She told Jasmine that she hasn’t lost enough weight for that dress. Said that at least she has two more months tokeep trying.”

Pirate’s head snapped up. He couldn’t see all of Jasmine with the way Jumper was holding her, but what he could see was very flattering. So what if Jasmine had some extra fluff to her? The dress she was wearing made her look like aDisneyprincess in Pirate’s opinion.

He looked back down at Sophia. Both he and his brother stood almost a head taller than the best friends at six feet. He was grateful Sophia wasn’t wearing heels or she might have tried to use them against him. “What else did she say?”

As awful as that was, he doubted that was all of it.

Sophia’s jaw tightened. “She told Jasmine that unless Jasmine could look like a proper bride, as in askinny bride,she would not be attending.”

Pirate didn’t need to look at Sophia’s mother for confirmation. “Good. Jasmine shouldn’t want the bitch there anyway.”

Sophia stopped her struggles, looking almost shocked at Pirate’s words. “She’s her mother. As strained as their relationship is, Jazz still wants her there.”

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