along with beating back an inappropriate orgasm with the repeat goin’ on in the back of my brain of your boy here sharing what is absolutely his business and how he did that. And last, tamping down my jubilation that his semi-twin has shown up and he’s not wearing a ring.”
“He’s taken,” Jagger informed her.
“Pity,” she muttered.
“Hey, I’m Dutch, Jag’s brother,” Dutch introduced himself to Joany with a huge smile he knew melted panties.
Jagger sighed.
“I’m single, just, you know, in case shit goes south at home,” she replied.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Dutch promised, still smiling.
Joany’s eyes darted between the brothers before she said, “For crap’s sake, you two have the exact same voice. This will not help me fight my twin fantasies. You could blindfold me, and I wouldn’t know who was doing what.”
“Dear Lord,” Archie mumbled.
“Do not tell me you haven’t thought about it,” Joany accused.
Archie had no comment to that.
Jesus Christ.
Now Dutch was grinning so big, it had to hurt his face.
“You wanna help me put an end to this?” Jag asked his brother.
“I don’t mind being a pretty girl’s fantasy,” Dutch continued flirting, punctuating this with a wink at Joany.
For fuck’s sake.
“If you don’t tone it down, bruh, I’m sharing with Georgie,” Jagger warned.
“Dude, Georgie flirts in front of my face. She knows she owns my dick. We both know I don’t want anyone else to claim it. So it’s all good.”
“Do real people talk like this, or am I in a movie?” Joany asked Archie.
“You’re not in a movie,” Archie replied. “Though I will point out you just shared you nearly had an orgasm.”
Archie was also smiling, and it was again semi-smug.
Probably because she knew she owned Jagger’s dick.
“Huh, I did do that,” Joany replied.
“Right, as cute as we’re all being, two things,” Jag began. “One, Dutch and me checked shit out at the school today, watching the kids come out, and they barely got a block off school grounds before the Harrises went after Mal. Or Aaron did. He pushed him to the ground and kicked him. We rolled in and put a stop to it, but the time is now to discuss talking to his mother.”
Archie and Joany stared at him and no one was smiling.
“Two, we need to have a convo about your brother, because what we walked in on is not okay,” he finished.
“Is Mal hurt?” Archie asked.
“He said he was all right, but I think he still needs to be checked out,” Jag answered.
She digested that, then said, “Jag, honey, if we go to his mom, we’re gonna lose him.”
They probably were.
“As much as I want to, I can’t shadow him everywhere he goes and hope the Harrises will see he has a bodyguard and find someone else to fuck with,” Jagger told her. “And Mal’s not dealing with this. He rolled out of school in a hurry, but he can’t escape this. They’re not gonna let him ignore it. We have no clue what’s happening in school. We’re not his peers, we’re adults and we have to have his best interests in mind, baby. If he was my son, and anyone knew this was happening to him and didn’t tell me, I’d be pissed as shit.”
She didn’t even need to process that, she nodded.
“You say there are cliques. But Dex, Martin and Colby are cool with him here. They play videogames together. They don’t seem to dislike him,” Jag remarked. “But they were there, and they didn’t step up for him. Four against two is decent odds, especially when it seems only Aaron is the asshole. I’m saying this because we also need to find a way to get those boys to look after their friend. It’s not on, them letting him swing in the breeze like that.”
Through a grin, she replied, “Says the MC brother.”
“It’s you teaching them what a tribe is all about, Arch,” he retorted. “They are not looking after their tribe. They need to look out for their tribe, and that includes Gina, Tracee and Mia.”
She didn’t take time to process that either.
Her eyes warmed and she again nodded.
“Now, Elijah,” he prompted.
“I’m hearin’ good things about this soda fountain,” Dutch cut in. “Can you do vanilla Cokes?” he asked Joany.
“There is so much I can do, baby, it’s not funny,” Joany drawled. “But we’ll start with a vanilla Coke.” She held out a hand to Dutch. “Come to momma. We’ll get you sorted out.”
No hesitation, Dutch took her hand, tucked it into the crook of