Page 12 of Breaking the Alpha
“If you still want to work at Serpent’s Tongue,” Jocelyn stated.
“If you still want to work at Serpent’s Tongue,” Birch echoed, sitting back in his seat and stretching his arm behind Jocelyn.“I can get by without you if I need to.”
He shook his head.“No way am I leaving you high and dry.”
Nodding slowly, Birch exhaled.“For the record, I’m not keen on the idea of you being back here for anything more than a quick visit.I don’t want you, any of you, involved in the shit going down right now.”
Grey snorted.“We aren’t kids anymore, Birch.”
“You sure the fuck are,” the older Baker stated, his voice holding a ring of finality.“I’m putting it out there that if things get too hot or too much, River, I’m sending you back to LA and you’re taking Grey with you until the fall semester starts.”
*
River sat onthe stoop, staring into the darkness behind the water tower looming over their neighborhood.
“Coming in soon?”
He shrugged as Birch closed the door and sat down beside him.“I like Jocelyn.I like who you are with her, too.”
His brother snorted.“You mean not an authoritarian asshole?”
“I mean not on edge all the time,” he replied, elbowing Birch in the ribs.“She chills you out, which is good because you were probably two years away from a heart attack at the rate you were going.”
“Yeah, she’s…well, she’s it for me.”He chuckled.“You were too young to remember her, but Jocelyn wasthedream girl when I was in school.Hell, even Winter knew who she was when she met him.”
He looked over.“You took her to see Winter?”
“Yup.Turns out she shot him down at some party.Apparently, it’s pretty hard to forget the face of a woman who shoots you down with perfect timing and finesse.”
He caught the satisfied glint in his brother’s eyes and laughed.“When’s the wedding?”
Birch’s expression turned serious, his eyes moving to the tower.“When all this drug mess is done.I won’t tie her to it beforehand, but yeah.I’d marry her tomorrow if I could.”He cleared his throat and draped his arms over his knees.“Speaking of marriage, though—”
“Smooth transition.”
“I thought so.Why didn’t you tell me you and Windy Leigh were getting a divorce?”
Chuckling humorlessly, he shook his head and looked at the night sky.“I guess I don’t have to ask if you’ve been keeping up with my life out there.”He scratched absently at his chest, scrunching his shirt fabric.“It’s fine.I’m fine.It’s just…messy.How much did you see online?”
“First, Bakers are the kings of messy,” Birch stated with resolve.“Second, I saw her post with red underwear and a ripped-up valentine or some shit and all the comments under it were about you.Why didn’t you tell me what was going on?”
Shrugging, he leaned back on his hands and lied smoothly to his older brother.“Not much to say.Windy Leigh wanted a guy she could dress up and pose like a doll and I didn’t want to play along anymore.She started looking for someone who would, and found one willing to play her game.She and her team needed to demonize someone other than her so now here I am, sitting on a porch in Epson and regretting taking thirds of dinner.”
Birch drummed his fingers on his knees, a sure sign he was uncomfortable as hell with the discussion.“That sucks.”
“Not really.Wait here.”
He tugged his keys from his back pocket, unlocked his car, and opened the glove box.He pulled out a thick envelope before locking up and sitting back down.“Take this back.”
Birch opened the envelope and frowned.“What the hell is all this?”
“The money you’ve been sending me every month.I figured since each time I told you I didn’t need any and you sent it anyway, it was easier to withdraw the cash and save it for when I came back.”Glancing at the stack he shrugged.“Might be short a hundred or two since I hit the drive-throughs a lot on the way out here.”
His brother ran his hand through his hair.“There’s over seven grand here.”
“Use it to buy a few more throw cushions.”
“Don’t you need this for your divorce lawyer or something?”Birch demanded, shoving the bills back in.“River, this money is yours.We’re fine here.There’s no mortgage on this place, Serpent’s Tongue is doing well in spite of Ryder’s bullshit, and I’ve still got more than enough set aside for Grey’s tuition.”
