Page 38 of Their Property
“So, we’ve made a decent living in the past couple of years escorting precious cargo, such as this, into backward-ass territories like these.” T-Bone tilted his head to the side, looking at Kyrie with a familiar smile. He made that face when he wanted to cuddle and kiss. His fist clenched on his knee, the only sign of tension in his relaxed body language. It was like he had to physically restrain himself from drawing her into his lap so they could melt into each other.
If he had any sense, he’d get up from that couch and move away to the armchair next to her. But all three of us seemed to have lost our common sense with her, and fuck, I really didn’t mind. Hanging out with her like this felt natural and good. It feltright.
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Kyrie asked, looking at all three of us. “Is the Sons of Odin still just you three?”
“It is dangerous, but that’s our life,” T-Bone said. “That’s just MC life.”
“We’ve expanded a little,” I said to answer her second question. “We have a married couple as our VP and treasurer. But the core of the club is still us three. We almost never do anything separately.”
Kyrie was now halfway done with her habanero beer, looking flushed, cozy, and too fucking adorable. Grudge had started to lean against me, his hand on my thigh, and I ran my fingers through his hair while we talked. The whiskey buzz was trying to convince me to bring her to our couch. She could curl up all cozy and warm between the two of us, instead of being hogged by T-Bone over there.
“You guys are so…” She curled up even smaller and sighed wistfully, a dreamy smile coming to her face.
“We’re dickheads, you can just say it.” T-Bone’s grin never faded, his eyes relaxed but drinking in every detail of her face.
“No!” She whacked him on his chest, which made Grudge snort with laughter. “I was going to say you guys are like a fairytale.”
Now I nearly choked on my drink. “What? Where did you get that notion?”
“It’s just how the three of you are together.” She wrapped her arms around her knees, making herself smaller, with a tinge of embarrassment on her face. “You’re always together. You’ve been through so much. It’s just admirable, that’s all. Nothing has driven you apart, and you remain deeply in love. That seems so rare, like a fairytale kind of love.”
Silence fell around our table, the ambiance of the bar filtering through our little bubble. T-Bone glanced at Grudge and I for the first time since we sat down. His expression was full of emotion, full ofwant, but he still looked conflicted.
“I’m sorry if I—“
“No, Kyrie.” T-Bone stopped her gently. His hand wrapped around hers at some point, fingers rubbing her palm. “We’re just speechless, because you’re right. You get it. We’re just…devoted to each other. And it just so happens that we’re all men, and there’s three of us. People see guys like us together and make all kinds of assumptions. But the way you summed it up just now, you get it better than anyone else does.”
Their gazes locked together, and I felt Grudge’s squeeze on my knee, his body stiffening. We stared at them and wondered the same thing—are they about to kiss right now?Throughout their whole time sitting there, Kyrie and T-Bone had gradually moved closer together. Now they were inches away from touching, faces leaning in.
Some small alarm rang in my head, but it was far away. It warned me to say something, to stop T-Bone before he did something he couldn’t undo. But a bigger part of me asked,Why? Who the fuck cares?
We were just four people having a good time. None of us were drunk, we were all in control of ourselves. So what if Kyrie and T-Bone wanted to kiss? They liked each other. We all did. Why did social status or anything else have to matter?
Ring ring ring ring!
“I got two bison burgers and two chicken and waffles here!” yelled the bartender after ringing an obnoxiously loud bell.
“Shit, that’s us.” T-Bone practically jumped away from Kyrie up to the bar. I slid out from under Grudge so I could follow him.
“What’s happening?” I said in T-Bone’s ear when we reached the bar.
“Nothin’.”
“Nothin’? You’re telling me what almost just happened was nothin’?”
“Nothing. Happened,” he repeated staunchly.
“T.” I grabbed his chin and made him look at me to show how serious I was. “We’re getting in too deep, man.”
“No, we’re not. It’s fine. Grab those.” He took a plate of food in each hand, and I went for the other two. “I lost my head for a second,” he admitted as we turned to head back to our seats. “But I got it under control. Nothing’s gonna happen.”
“Are you sure?” I pressed. “Because I’d bet that whole whiskey bottle she wouldn’t stop you. What if she makes a move and you’re the one who has to slam on the brakes?”
“I said it’s under fuckin’ control,” he barked under his breath before approaching Kyrie with a flirtatious grin. “Check this out, little lady.”
“This is chicken and waffles?” She leaned curiously over the plate.
“Well, it’s not shrimp and grits.”
