6. Reid
Reid
I could practically see Everly mentally warring with herself. She was having an inner battle, but I could feel her defenses lowering. Slowly, but surely.
As soon as I sensed her giving in to the inevitable, I latched on and promised myself I would never have to let her go again. Control no longer meant anything to me. There was no reason to even attempt to rein myself in. Not when it came to my woman.
Mixed into the white noise of the chatter around us, I heard Dad and Matt messing around. Without having to look at my father and uncle, I knew they were eating up the show Chance and I had undoubtedly performed for their amusement.
Introducing Everly to my mom was something I was ready to do then and there. My dad, however, was not someone I could just dump on the woman I intended to spend the rest of my life with. He was mischievous as fuck, and I didn’t trust him or his brother not to stir up shit.
Mom first, then Dad. Slow, gentle baby steps so I didn’t scare the fuck out of my future wife.
Which meant I needed to get her the hell out of Hannigans’ sooner rather than later. “You want an early night?”
“Evie isn’t ready to leave.”
“I didn’t ask about her. I’m asking you.”
“I’m not leaving my sister in a bar by herself. Especially not when she has some bloodhound literally sniffing her.” She shot Chance a look that would have withered him on the spot. If he’d been paying attention to her. But he didn’t seem capable of looking away from Evie.
Everly was right, though. He did keep sniffing Evie.
More like he was breathing her in as if he were taking hits of pure oxygen for the first time in his existence.
Evie kept leaning into him when he would dip his head to inhale her scent deeper.
It was impossible to miss the shuddered breaths she took in response or the way her cheeks glowed a pretty pink.
He murmured something to her that I couldn’t hear, and she responded with a soft, secret kind of smile.
Whatever switch Evie had flipped in my cousin, it had done a one-eighty on him. This was a side to him no one had seen before.
“Your sister doesn’t appear to be ready to leave, but she’s safer in this bar than anywhere else in the county right now. Lexa’s husband is the sheriff.”
That seemed the easiest angle to run with to convince her that her twin was protected with this group.
For sure, the least likely to alarm her until she got to know and trust everyone better.
Telling her that Sammy Reid was a Vitucci, a freaking mafia princess and deadlier than any other person in the room, wouldn’t go over well.
I doubted telling her that Monroe was married to Gian Fontana would make her feel at ease either.
I definitely didn’t want her to freak out over the knowledge that her sister’s new friend, Abi, was married to a dark-web king. I was still trying to figure out how to digest Vaughn becoming a Creswell Springs resident myself, but so far, we hadn’t had any trouble out of him.
“Really?” Everly glanced at Lexa, her nose crinkling ever so slightly in that damned adorable way of hers. “I wasn’t aware of that.”
“Hey, Lex,” I called to my cousin. “Ben on patrol tonight?”
She lifted her head from where she was chatting with Monroe and Demi, her mouth tipping up in a half smile. “Yeah, he’s on tonight. But he’s picking me up when his shift ends at ten.”
I nodded, turning back to Everly. “Lexa and the other girls will watch over your sister, sweetness. So will my MC brothers. Let me take you home.”
She bit her bottom lip, considering it. I could practically feel her wanting to give in. “I drove so Evie could drink and unwind.”
“Sammy is married to my brother. They live in our building. Elias isn’t here yet, but if she’s drinking, then I know he’s going to drive her home. They will make sure she gets there safe and sound. I promise, baby.”
“Reid…” She shook her head, still hesitating. “I don’t trust that bloodhound alone with my sister. He’s practically slobbering all over her.”
My gaze flicked to them and back to her. “Ev, babe, from where I’m standing, it seems like she wants him to slobber on her.”
“Exactly,” she hissed. “My sister is new to all this.”
“New to what, male attention?” There was no way that was possible. Everly and her twin were the kind of beautiful that caused men to go to war for a chance to bow at their feet.
“Any attention. All of this is new to her. Everything, Reid. Her life was confined to the bubble her dad kept her locked in,” she confided, her voice barely a whisper.
“Her dad,” I repeated, something unfamiliar rattling in my chest at the hint of pain I heard in her voice. “But not yours?”
“Biologically ours,” she dismissed with a shrug, her eyes fluttering down to lock me out.
I filed that away for later, not wanting to push her to unload all her baggage at once in case it sent her running. Whether she knew it or not, she’d just given me a helluva lot of information. Daddy issues. Most likely divorced parents. Overprotective, possibly abusive father.
Tracing my thumb along her jaw— fuck, she’s so soft —I tucked a few locks of her cool-blond hair behind her ear. “Sammy?” I turned to face my sister-in-law.
She was stretched out in her chair, looking calm and at ease in her environment.
Unless someone was meticulously watching her every move, breath, or shift of her eyes, they wouldn’t know she was aware of each person in the room.
She’d no doubt already categorized who the biggest threats in the bar were and how she would take them out.
“What’s up?” she asked, a sweet smile pulling at her lips, making her appear to be an innocent angel when fuck knew she was a bloodthirsty devil.
“I’m taking Everly home. Promise me you’ll ensure Evie gets back safe and sound.
” I waved my hand toward Chance, who was crouched at Evie’s feet again.
Damn, the man was so lost in her, needed to be so close, he hadn’t bothered to pull up one of the many chairs nearby. “Return her exactly as she is now.”
Sammy smirked and gave us a finger wave. “Sure, no problem.”
“I’m texting Elias to make sure he understands too,” I told her and she pouted, but I already had my phone out, shooting my brother a text.
“I was gonna be good. Why do you gotta be all mean and tell Daddy?”
Abi laughed, rolling her eyes at her sister-in-law.
“Go on. I’m the one who invited her tonight, and we will make sure Evie gets home safely.
Elias and Vaughn are on their way.” She waved at Everly.
“It was nice meeting you. Hopefully next time we can get to know each other. I promise your sister is safe with us.”
“I’d like that. Have fun.” Everly waved back, indecision still clouding her eyes.
“I really was gonna be good,” Sammy grumbled.
“I know you were,” Abi soothed. “Oh, the baby kicked again!” Grabbing Sammy’s hand, Abi placed it on her tiny bump. “Feel that?”
Awe flooded Sammy’s face, her walls dropping for a second as she absorbed the purity of the moment, feeling her niece or nephew kicking inside their mother’s belly. “It doesn’t hurt you?”
“No, it feels like bubbles bouncing around in there. Soft and playful.”
“Time to go,” I told Everly, moving her away from the table before she could second-guess leaving her sister with a few of the women I would have willingly laid down my life for. She was such a mother hen, which I got. I would do anything for my family too.
As we walked to the door, I glanced back and noticed that Max was at the bar ordering drinks, his eyes focused solely on Delaney as she talked animatedly to Nishia. Before we reached the exit, I caught my dad’s eye, and he gave me a grin and a thumbs-up.
Shaking my head at him, I followed Everly outside.
“I didn’t tell Evie I was leaving.” She turned to reenter the bar, and I caught her around the waist, shifting her back toward the parking lot.
“She didn’t even know you were there, sweetness. I doubt she’s aware of anyone other than Chance at this point.” I urged her in the direction of where her Jeep was parked, right beside my bike.
“Bloodhound,” she grumbled to herself. “Fleabag stray.”
Laughing, I maneuvered us through the lot, past the eclectic vehicles.
The many different motorcycles that belonged to my MC brothers.
The work trucks. The tank-like SUVs. The exotic imports driven by the spoiled college kids that would be useless when it snowed, just like the old clunkers they were parked side by side with.
We were halfway to her Jeep when another vehicle pulled into the lot. Recognizing Vaughn’s Audi, I tossed up my hand, giving him and my brother a wave without pausing. Just in case Everly got the notion to go back for her sister.
I felt Everly stiffen, and she sucked in a sharp breath. “No way…” she murmured, shaking her head and muttering something under her breath I didn’t catch.
“What was that, sweetness?” I asked, dipping my head to hear her better.
“Nothing,” she squeaked, turning her attention straight ahead when Elias climbed out of his brother-in-law’s ride, his hearty laugh reaching us. “Just…talking to myself.”
“About my flea-infested cousin?” I asked with a smirk.
Her beautiful eyes glittered. “How can your family let him run around without a leash? He needs to be better trained than that if he’s going to be allowed to roam unchecked. Does he even have his rabies vaccination?”
“Hmm, you know what, I think he’s due for his yearly inoculations. I’ll send his mom a text to remind her to get him an appointment with the vet ASAP.”
She huffed out a laugh that was so damn pretty, the sound did weird shit to my chest. I tapped her on the ass, distracting her. Damn, she had a perfect ass. She whined so sweetly when I gave one globe a hard squeeze, her body turning into me as we walked.
Shit, now I needed a distraction from my distraction before I fucked her against some random car. “Stop worrying about Chance and your sister. She’s a grown woman and can decide for herself if she wants to get involved with him.”
Not that the girl truly had a choice. After seeing how gone he already was over Evie, I knew there was no way he was going to let her go. Not without at least a few bodies having to be liquefied and dumped in the sewer. But Everly didn’t need to know that.
“Fuck!” She muffled a scream behind her teeth and stomped her feet. It was equal parts sexy as hell and adorable. “Ugh, damn it, you’re right.”
“I usually am. Along with being humble and honest.”
There went her nose, scrunching up again. And then, to my delight, she laughed and shoved playfully at my arm. “You’re an arrogant asshole, aren’t you?”
“Sometimes,” I admitted—because, again, honest. At least with her. I never wanted to lie to her, and I vowed I wouldn’t. This woman was my life, my future, my everything. She just didn’t know it yet.
When I lifted her hand to my lips, she rewarded me with a little mewling sound as my scruff rubbed over her soft palm. Her teeth sinking into her plush bottom lip sent a shot of white-hot need straight to my already-throbbing cock.
It was definitely time to get her home before I fucked her for the first time in Hannigans’ parking lot. I wouldn’t even care if my brother or Vaughn saw us.