drinkin’ with you two bitches?”
A sharp peal of laughter burst out of Tessa first, waking up a fussy, distressed Vivian, while Noelle just stared at me agape.
“Aw, shit!” Tessa fanned her face. “I needed that laugh.”
“Someone’s feisty on that tequila.” Noelle chuckled. “I get it, sis. Sometimes cluckin’ around like hens is the best therapy for when our men are out there doing stupid shit.”
“Or women,” Tessa corrected as she shushed Vivian.
“Or women, yes.”
“It’s different now.” I rolled my glass between my palms, talking more to myself than either of them. “Back in Blakeworth…he wasn’t mine, then. Not officially.”
“Please tell me you’ve fucked him.” Noelle, of course.
“Aside from the first time?” I shook my head. “No.”
“What the shit!” Noelle flailed her arms and legs out dramatically, sliding from the armchair to the floor. “You had your whole romantic evening with him and didn’t get some scarred, giant dick? Why the fuck not?”
His dick isn’t scarred. I bit my tongue and chose against the snarky answer, despite what my tequila-driven urges wanted me to say. “I just wanted to have that moment with him, watching the sunset together.”
“Bo-ring,” Noelle groaned. “Who says you can’t watch a pretty sunset and get pounded at the same time?”
“No one,” I laughed. “I dunno, it just didn’t seem right at the time. I’d rather do it when we can relax and not have this dangerous mission hanging over our heads, you know?”
“Nah, I’m with Noelle on this one,” Tessa chimed in. “There’s no better sex than might-never-see-you-alive-again sex.”
“Thank you!” My sister-in-law flipped her hair smugly.
“But,” Tessa added, “the holy-shit-you’re-alive-and-back-in-one-piece sex is pretty epic too. That’s how this little lady was made.” She patted Vivian’s back.
That last statement seemed to do it. Tessa’s face screwed up in a grimace, her lower lip wobbling as she willed herself not to cry. Noelle and I slid over to her at the same time, sandwiching her between us to wrap mother and baby in a cocoon of love and support.
“It’s okay, mama.” Noelle rested her cheek on the back of Tessa’s head as she rocked her gently from side to side. “It sucks. It’s not fair. Let it out.”
“Why does it have to be both of them?” Tessa sniffed, accepting my tissue. “Goddamn it.”
“We’re still here,” I said. “I know it’s not the same, but we’re here for you, honey. You’re not alone.”
“I know.” She sniffed again, dabbing at her eyes. “Thanks, guys.”
“And it’s not forever,” Noelle reminded her. “They’ll be back. Both of them.”
The three of us remained linked around each other until Andrea returned, her own eyes puffy and nose running. We opened our arms and brought her into our cuddle pile like she had never left. There we remained until one of Finn’s lieutenants informed us that it was almost go-time, and that Andrea was needed in the conference room.
My heart beat a hard rhythm in my chest as the four of us stood up, hands linked as we followed him to the secured conference room. Noelle glanced at me, blinking back her own tears, but her mouth was hard and determined. I tried to funnel some of her strength to myself. We’d stay with our people until the last possible moment.
The room was already bustling with activity when we entered. Shadow, Jandro, Grudge, and Finn spoke quietly at one end of the table, leaning over a map in front of them. Big G, Reaper, Gunner, and another member of Finn’s army spoke on another side of the room.
A few faces looked up as we stepped into the room. Some were friendly, others tense. It was no secret that most of Finn’s people disagreed with how this mission would be carried out. But they’d never seen how an MC operated before.
“Ah, the woman of the hour,” Finn greeted Andrea with a warm smile. “If you’re ready, we’ll just go over a few things one final time.”
She nodded and broke away from us with a last squeeze of our hands. As Finn led her to look over the map, Shadow made his way over to me.
He was dressed from head to toe in black, for once not wearing his Steel Demons cut, but a plain one with no insignia. Under his cut and long-sleeved shirt, a stab-proof vest created a slightly bulky rectangle over his torso. It did nothing to diminish his intimidating stature, as evident by people getting out of his way as he crossed the room. Nor did it decrease the heat lighting me up