Page 31 of Billionaire Daddies Next Door

“Because, Joanie, when your best friend drags you away from the scene of a crime and your pants get pulled down in the process, the concrete makes minced meat out of your skin! So, yeah, I’ve got a scraped-up ass.” Bear held his head and groaned. “I should sue. Or I should shoot that woman with a dart of my own.”

I pressed a hand to my mouth and turned away. I was not going to laugh. It didn’t seem like Bear needed any extra aggravation, but the fact his pants had been pulled down while Chase dragged him, made me want to cackle.

“Are you laughing at me right now?”

I shook my head but didn’t look back at him. Tears welled in my eyes from holding my laugh in and just when I thought I could look back at Bear, I snorted like a freaking pig. After that, it was over. I laughed so hard my sides hurt and I cried. Still, I held up my hand to Bear and tried to apologize. “Sorry! Not laughing…at you!”

Smith broke, too, laughing just as loud as me. From outside the room, Mabelle could be heard laughing, too. The only two not amused were the ass skinner and the ass skinned.

Mabelle came in with her arms loaded with plates. Everything was jostling as she laughed and she hurriedly passed out plates with the pie on them. She handed me my piece last and led me to the seat next to Bear. “Sit. The girls passed out early tonight so you four can have all the privacy you need.”

I grunted when she pushed me down on the couch. The fork rattled on my plate and I barely caught it before it fell into the floor. “We don’t need privacy.”

Bear growled. “We definitely don’t need privacy.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re acting like I’m the one who shot you. I wasn’t even in the same room.”

Mabelle put her hands on her hips. “Be nice to Joanie. She brought you pie.”

Chase waited until she left the room to speak up. “She thinks you’re a sweet young lady. We know better.”

I scooped a big bite of pie into my mouth and pointed at Chase with my fork. “I came to apologize. I baked this pie. You could at least pretend to not be a jerk for a few minutes.”

“I have asphalt burn on my ass, Joanie.” Bear picked up the pie with his hand and shoved half of it into his mouth. His face softened immediately and he relaxed into the couch. “Okay. I forgive you.”

“That’s good because I didn’t do anything to you.”

Smith moaned. “Shit, this pie is good.”

“It’s a new recipe. I haven’t sold it at the diner yet.” I looked up at Chase, waiting to see what he thought.

He chewed slowly and then his lips turned down. My stomach sank. I didn’t care what he wanted for the diner, but I cared that he liked my pie. I couldn’t keep looking so I turned away and saw Bear staring at me.

“Chase, tell her that you like the fucking pie already.” Bear reached over and grabbed my pie. “It’s good, Princess.”

“Don’t call me Princess.” I glanced back at Chase. “I don’t care. You don’t have to like it.”

He put his plate down and moved to stand right in front of me. Gripping my chin, he lifted my face to his. “You do care. And I do like it. It’s delicious. I can only think of one thing I’ve had in my mouth lately that’s been better.”

His husky voice left no room to mistake what he meant. I could feel my face turning red and tried to lower my face to hide it, but he was right there, refusing to let me hide.

“When he’s right, he’s right.” Smith sighed and the sound was full of longing. “Why don’t I walk you home, Joanie?”

Chase ran his thumb over my lips. “Don’t think so. I think I’ll walk Joanie home.”

I finally pushed his hand away and rubbed my cheeks to hide the blush. “I can walk myself home.”

Bear made an unhappy sound. “I can’t walk you home right now because my legs are still like jello, but I’d be willing to let you walk me up to my room.”

“Following the conversation, does that mean you’re asking me for a blow job?” I grinned as I watched him think it through.

“I think so. I wasn’t trying to, but if you’re feeling generous…” Bear shrugged. “Who am I to stand in the way of your generosity?”

I stood up and shook my head. “You couldn’t get me away from you fast enough last time, Bear. That doesn’t exactly beg for a redo. Anyway, I only came to drop off the pie. I’m going home alone. This is weird, though. Someone should care that I’ve been with all three of you. Talking about it so openly makes me feel like we’re leaning into cult territory.”

“I didn’t—”

I cut Bear off. “You did. It was like you were horrified by me as soon as you came. Not that I’m holding onto that or anything, but on that note, I’m leaving.”

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