Chapter 5
BEAU
“She know that?” Colt asked, one dark brow raised.
I had to give him credit for keeping his cool as he poured more coffee into his mug.
“She does.” The steaming plates in front of me and Trig were ignored.
Trig looked me over. “You’re still alive.”
I grinned again. “I am.”
“You only met her for the first time the other night,” Colt reminded.
“Took this fucker three seconds to know Ellie was his,” I said, tipping my chin toward Trig. “And if I heard correctly, you saw Molly at a rodeo and made her yours in a janitor’s closet.”
He grunted, then snagged a piece of bacon off his brother’s plate.
“You didn’t see her with those men the night before,” I continued. “She was something else. A little afraid, sure, but she was annoying the shit out of them. Gil said he was only gonna keep her for a little while then let her go, but I had a feeling he was two seconds away from tossing her back.”
Both men’s jaws were clenched.
“If it makes you feel better, she kicked him in the balls.”
Colt grunted. “I’ll be bringing him into the station later, but he’ll probably run into a wall or two on the way.”
“She was reckless–” I began.
“That’s Lainey,” Trig muttered over me.
“–and if she does it again I’m gonna spank her ass.”
They stared at me with growing anger. They had matching veins throb at their temples. I had to wonder if vein placement was genetic.
“You two need to chill the fuck out before you have aneurysms,” I told them.
I was just thankful their blood pressure was all that was affected and I wasn’t dead yet.
“You’re talking about spanking our sister,” Colt gritted out.
“Don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it before.”
“A million times,” Trig admitted. His meal was forgotten, but he still held his fork.
“You touched our sister?” Colt growled, leaning forward as if he didn’t want the other patrons to know I was close to being shot.
“Not a chance in hell am I telling you shit about what’s private between me and Lainey. She might be your sister but she’s a grown-ass woman.”
They sat there mulishly silent.
“I’m not gonna fuck around on her like her ex.
I’m not gonna bad mouth her or kiss and tell.
” I looked at Trig. “You know me. You know my character. The only person who I’m ever gonna seek permission for doing anything with Lainey is Lainey.
You can get your other brothers together and beat the shit out of me, but it’s not gonna change a thing. I’m her man.”
“You said she knows this?” Colt asked, one eyebrow arching. “‘Cause our sister doesn’t like to be told anything.”
I nodded. “I’ve told her, and I got that.”
The way she’d looked at me across her parents’ dinner table was what gave her away. I didn’t miss the interest in her gaze, the way she flushed the prettiest shade of pink. The way she tried to ignore me, but couldn’t. She’d felt the pull between us as strongly as I had.
There was something between us and I was gonna find out exactly what it was. I just had to make sure I did it the right way so I didn’t get a knee to my balls or a shallow burial on the Wilder ranch.
They were quiet for thirty seconds. A minute. They looked to each other, then nodded.
“Good luck with that,” Trig said, the corner of his mouth tipping up. That small motion was enough for me to know I was gonna probably have a hell of a time.
I sighed. I didn’t need their permission, but I was glad to have it anyway.
“You hurt her, we hurt you.”
Colt’s words were the closest thing to their approval as I was gonna get.