Chapter Nineteen #2
“We do. Love this woman like the sister I always wanted,” Tristan says with pride in his voice and a smile on his face as he gives me a side hug.
“You’ll be seein’ a lot of us while Wren’s here. Our big sister won’t be able to get away from us this time,” Zach says, giving me a meaningful look before I look down and stop the tears from spilling over at his words.
“Good. I’m glad to see you boys are gonna take care of her when you can. She needs good people in her corner,” Leah tells them before she leaves us alone once again.
“I’ll be in Briar Glen in a few days,” I tell the guys while we eat. “I have a doctor’s appointment for the baby and can’t get into one here for a while so I thought I’d keep that one. I plan on stopping by Mrs. Smythe’s while I’m in town. Maybe we could all have dinner or something that day.”
“Just let us know what day you’ll be there and we’ll talk to Fury so you’re not alone,” Zach says after swallowing his food. “Fury will let us leave for the day if he knows it’s to be with you. You’re not goin’ to that appointment on your own, Wren.”
“Okay.”
“I thought I told you I didn’t want you spendin’ time with them again?” I hear asked from the side of me and look up to find Judge standing at the end of the table with his arms folded over his chest, looking down at me.
“I don’t really care what you order me to do, Judge. You have no say in my life,” I tell him, turning my focus back on the pizza in front of me.
“What the fuck are the two of you doin’ out here?” he asks the guys as they continue eating their meal.
“Fury knows we’re here and said it was okay to leave. The rest of the Prospects are at the clubhouse and we’ll be back in a few hours,” Tristan says, his voice holding an icy edge to it I’ve never heard from him before.
“Nothin’ goes through me any longer?” Judge questions them as he grabs a chair from the table across from us and pulls it over to sit down at the end of the table.
“Nope. You weren’t there or out of your room when we left this mornin’. We weren’t about to wait for you,” Zach says, moving over in the booth so he’s farther away from Judge.
Zach can hold a grudge like no one I’ve ever seen before.
Tristan and I are the only two he can never stay mad at for very long.
Everyone else will be lucky if he thaws out the barrier between them in a matter of years.
Tristan isn’t as bad, but I can see him giving Judge the cold shoulder for a long time.
Both of them are protective of me and that’s an understatement.
“Don’t make it sound like I was fuckin’ someone else,” Judge growls out, his voice making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “I was with my family at the diner in town.”
“Doesn’t matter to us. Don’t know why you’re here, Judge,” Tristan says, pushing his empty plate away and wiping his hands on a napkin.
“I’m guessin’ I’m here for the same reason the two of you are,” he says as I push the empty plate away from me and pulling the one holding the food the guys gave me closer.
“No one asked you to show up, Judge,” I say before taking a bite of the baked potato from Zach.
“No one asked them to show up either, Little Bird,” he returns, leaning back in his chair as if he owns the place.
“That may be true, but I’d rather spend my time with them than you. You have no reason to be here, Judge. We’re not together and you want nothing to do with the baby. You can leave at any point in time,” I tell him, continuing to eat the food in front of me and trying to ignore him to no avail.
The familiar scent of Judge surrounds me.
His knee brushes up against my leg whenever he moves in the chair and I can see the muscles in his arms bunching and flexing as if he’s doing it on purpose.
My two favorite parts on a guy are his arms and the muscles in his back.
There’s just something about the way they move that I really like.
It’s been that way for as long as I can remember.
Judge seems to know this without me saying a word as I finish the food and stand from the seat.
“I’m gonna get back to work. Let me know when you leave, Tris and Zach,” I say, gathering up our plates and leaving the three of them alone. I don’t even ask Judge if he wants a drink or something to eat. He can go sit in Josie’s section if he wants something.
Tristan, Zach, and Judge don’t leave while I’m on shift.
They remain in the booth and I continue to refill the drinks of my foster brothers without hesitation.
I even take them dessert when Leah makes me eat again.
The three of us enjoy sundaes while Judge has nothing.
I’ve got a peanut butter sundae while Zach has caramel, and Tristan has hot fudge.
I load them with sauce and toppings because it’s them.
Leah laughs when she sees them and how I’m not taking Judge one.
She kind of knows the situation between us and told me to give him hell after he was in here the other day.
Just one more reason I love her and want to be her when I grow up.