Page 77 of A Brother At My Back

“Like I said, batting a thousand.”

“It’s okay,” I said after clearing my throat. I doctored my coffee after Nik told me to go ahead and go first.

“I’m not really good at being social,” I confessed.

“It’s okay, we don’t have to talk about any of it,” Ashton said gently.

“Seriously,” Hayden agreed.

I licked my lips and stared into my coffee for a minute, not really sure what to say or even what to talk about. I was so used to not letting people into my life, so used to hiding behind my walls. It wasn’t necessarily because I thought that everyone I met was going to hurt me, though, if I were being honest with myself, that was definitely part of it. I think it was more that after so long, I pretty much felt like I was a waste of everyone’s time and pretty unworthy of being loved… until Nik.

I looked over at him, pleading with my eyes for him to start the discussion and save me from this situation, too, and he smiled at me.

“Ashton works the front desk at Trigger’s tattoo place and Hayden is an interior decorator,” he said, and I figured line of work, as long as it wasn’t my own we were talking about, was safe enough.

“Stripper sounds way more fun,” Hayden said dryly and I shook my head.

“Dealing with a bunch of crabby grabby entitled assholes is not my idea of fun times,” I said. “The money is pretty good, though, and it keeps me in pretty good shape. That’s how I got into it in the first place. As a means of exercise.”

“You pretty much described every single one of my interior decorating clients. Even the grabby part, just usually not me.”

“Get some real gems through the shop, too,” Ashton agreed.

“People suck,” Hayden observed dryly and Ashton laughed.

“People do suck,” I sighed heavily.

“There are still some good ones, I reckon,” Nik said and we three looked at him. “Sitting with three of the best, right now.”

“Oh, please!” Hayden laughed. Ashton blushed and I felt myself smile, I couldn’t help it.

“Flirting game is strong with this one,” I observed.

“It’s strong with all of these guys,” Hayden said. Ashton kept watching me, and I tried not to get uncomfortable under the scrutiny.

“The rest of the club should be getting up soon,” she said softly.

“Yeah,” Hayden nodded then observed, “You guys are up awfully early for living the vampire life.”

“Sleep is all screwed up,” I said bitterly.

“We called it an early night.”

“I bet,” Ashton said. “Emotional exhaustion is just as exhausting as any other kind.”

I nodded. I couldn’t disagree with her there.

“Want to come in the kitchen?” Ashton asked. “We can still talk while I cook.”

“Yep, Ashton is head kitchen witch around here and she will conscript you. None of us mind, though. We have a blast in that kitchen.” Hayden stood up with her coffee in her hand and I nodded. Food was sounding better by the minute and there was absolutely nothing appetizing to me about McDonald’s.

I looked at Nik and nodded and he smiled encouragingly and gave a nod back. Still, I wasn’t ready for the training wheels of his presence to come off, so when I got up to follow the women, I reached down and clutched two of his fingers with my hand, dragging him along with me. He, of course, followed. He was so damn patient and good with me like that.

In the kitchen, a big modern stainless steel monstrosity, Ashton pulled an apron off the hook and lifted it over her head, trapping her hair as she tied it around her slender waist. Hayden tossed me another one, a red one with black polka dots on it with ruffled edges.

I put it on, even though it was just a little bit ridiculous. I couldn’t argue that it was still kind of retro-cool in that rockabilly sort of way that was popular with a lot of the biker club women.

Ashton asked me, “You know how to make biscuits from scratch?” I shook my head and she smiled. “Well then, come over here, and I’ll teach you.”

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