shoving his shoulder. “Fucker, have you looked in a mirror lately? My sister has your balls in a jar in the deep freeze with the roasts. You’re the most whipped of us all.”
He shrugs, unconcerned. “Hey, if my woman wants to play with my balls and smack my ass a little, I’m game.”
“Enough,” Brody barks out.
We all like Luke. Hell, I’d fight alongside him any day. But he’s still fucking my sister, which makes our friendship a bit tenuous, no matter what. I’m not one to share sexual escapade stories, and I definitely don’t need the details of his sex life, especially if Shay is smacking his ass like a damn pony ride. Ugh.
Shay can sense the tension, and used to it, she intervenes easily, changing the subject to the reason they’re all here tonight. “I like her. She seems nice and didn’t shrink when we all swarmed, so she’s got that going for her.”
“You just met her,” Katelyn tells Shayanne, finally joining the conversation instead of making fuck-me eyes at Mark.
“Yeah, but I have a good feeling about her. Like I had with Sophie when I met her.” Shay grins and Sophie cringes.
“Oh, my God, girl. You nearly had me running for the hills. You were like, ‘hi, nice to meet you . . . now, we’re BFFs . . . wanna come over and see my goats?’”
Shay balks. “But you did! And look how it turned out!” She gestures around the table at our whole motley crew.
Sophie smiles back and offers an apologetic high-five to Shay, which she returns begrudgingly.
I want my family to like Willow. More importantly, I want Willow to like my family. These people are my everything. Well, them and music, and now, Willow.
After a while, everyone’s taken a turn on the dance floor, some have had a second drink, Katelyn and Allyson even go for another Girly Beer, and we play a team game of pool.
The whole time, I’m watching Willow work. She’s at ease behind the bar, handling the whole thing without pause, almost dancing her way from the beer taps to the liquor bottles. Every once in a while, her eyes will find mine and I’m rewarded with one of those soft smiles that I’m starting to feel possessive of.
Starting? Who am I kidding? I want to gather each one of them and keep them in my pocket so I can have one any time I want.
It’s been hours since I’ve touched her, and that kiss was only a friendly greeting, not what I really need from her. I’m getting itchy, ready to go visit her at the bar, when I see her heading my way. Maybe she’s feeling the same way, like she wants to be closer to me the way I need to be closer to her.
She stops by my chair, and I wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her in tight. Her arm goes to my shoulders and I welcome its light weight. I squeeze her side, finally settling now that she’s with me.
Home, that’s what she feels like.
And fuck, do I want to go right on in, get cozy and comfortable, and never leave. Just live buried inside her. At this rate, I might go crazy before I find out what she looks like under these tank tops and cut-off shorts and what she feels like coming on my cock. But I’m enjoying the journey to finding out, slowly but surely.
A week ago, she wouldn’t do more than have a friendly dinner with me across the bar. Now, she’s damn near claiming me, letting me claim her in her uncle’s bar and hanging with my family.
With a knowing smile, she asks the table, “How were the Girly Beers?”
Allyson and Katelyn hold up their second empty glasses in answer. The rest give her some version of ‘delicious’ or ‘good’. Brutal dryly says, “Better than I expected, that’s for sure.”
I kick his boot under the table. “Told you so.”
Katelyn smiles at Willow. “If I promise not to tell the bartenders at the resort the recipe, can you tell me how to make that? I think it’d be perfect for our next girl’s night in.” Katelyn runs events at the local resort, and the bar there is known for being our small-town version of swanky, but she’ll keep her promise and stay mum on Willow’s recipe.
Willow automatically and easily offers, “Sure. For a batch, it’s a six-pack of light beer—”
“Better yet, why don’t you come and you can make it!”