I reached for her, but she moved away before I could touch her. “I’m sorry, okay. You just shocked me when you changed into that.” I pointed at her dress. “But since you’re only gonna be here, it’s fine.”
Zoe whirled around and almost knocked into me, the incredulous pull of her expression making me instantly regret my words. Well, almost. I spoke the truth, and she couldn’t fault me for being honest.
“If you think for one second just because we’re officially together that I will tolerate you trying to assert any sort of control over me, including what I choose to wear, you’re out of your mind. I understand the whole safety thing going on right now, and I’ll listen to you where that is concerned because all the other women have been told the same thing. But that does not extend to my wardrobe.” Her cheeks flushed and her nostrils flared as she attempted to compose herself. “Understood?”
Fuck, she was sexy when she was upset, although I should probably keep that thought to myself right now.
“I got it,” I finally responded when she looked like she was gonna pound on my chest.
“Good.” Her face softened, as did her tone. “I’ll call you when we’re done.” In a surprise move, especially considering she was pissed at me two seconds ago, she stepped into me and flung her arms around my waist, leaning up on her tiptoes. “Be nice to your cousin.” She pecked my lips and stepped back before I could properly claim her mouth.
“I will.” I swatted her ass before she could enter the house, Braylen appearing in the doorway, smiling when she saw Zoe squeal and jolt forward.
“Hey, Bray.”
“Hi, Brick. You stayin’ out of trouble?” Her eyes flitted from me to her stepdaughter and back again.
I was sure my grin was mischievous. “I don’t know what you mean,” I shouted behind me as I jogged back toward my truck. I heard them both laugh before closing the door and securing themselves inside.
Once I tucked myself behind the wheel again, Morgan started right in on me. “What was all that about? What did you say to piss her off?” The truck had been running and the air-conditioning was on full blast, not to mention the windows were rolled up, so how she heard any of our conversation was beyond me?
“How did you know she was mad at me?”
“Her hands were going a mile a minute. Plus, the look on her face said it all. So, what happened?”
“None of your business, Bean.”
“Whatever. Just take me to your club. And there better be some eye candy or else I’m going to be terribly upset with you,” she teased, scooting across the seat to kiss my cheek. “I missed you.”
For as much as she loved to rile me, and irritated the hell out of me sometimes, I loved her. “I missed you too.”
27
“How is everything going at Brick’s? You two getting on?” Braylen dipped her spoon into her tea, swirling the lemon and sugar longer than necessary. I believed what she wanted to ask was if we were getting it on. And the answer would be a resounding yes, as much as we could manage.
“We are.” A knowing grin tugged at the corners of my mouth. I’d talked to her in depth about me and Brick and while she was happy for me, she often reminded me to be careful because of what my dad would do or say. But now that he’d essentially given Brick his blessing, for now at least, some of that pressure receded.
Brick told me about the conversation as soon as it happened, calling me before he even left the clubhouse.
“Is it getting serious?”
“I think so.”
“Does he?”
A simple nod was all I was willing to offer. Brick cared about me, but did he feel as deeply for me as I did for him?
I’d disclosed my sexuality, we engaged in a threesome not long afterward, although one wasn’t automatically the result of the other, it simply happened to work out that way, and he revealed a secret from his past. Were my worries ill-placed?
Realizing my brain would keep going and going if I didn’t hit onto another topic, I took a generous sip of my drink, focusing on Braylen and all things her, more specifically the baby.
“How are you feeling? Still have the morning sickness?”
“On and off, although it’s throughout the day, not just in the morning. But thankfully, it’s waning some. This is the part I don’t care