Page 15 of Clap Back (Carter Brothers)

Though I loved being a SWAT team member, I fuckin’ hated being a subordinate to Scott. In fact, he annoyed me so badly that I would rather go work under my older brother, Quaid, as a patrol officer than deal with Scott’s shit.

“Seven in the morning.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Why?”

“I was wondering if you could get me on the way to work,” I explained.

He crossed his arms over his chest and asked, “Why?”

I smirked. “Because I’m going to go out to dinner with Maven. And I’m going to ride with her.”

“Your truck is at the station,” he said. “Just like hers.”

I flashed him a smile. “I know.”

He rolled his eyes. “I guess that means that I have to take Pepper home.”

He didn’t look near as upset about it as he sounded, though.

“Yep.”

The moment we got into the truck, Maven took the back seat with me, leaving Pepper to reluctantly take the front with Atlas.

The moment we got to moving, Maven’s head started to droop, and she was doing that bobbing thing where she’d jerk herself awake each time it did.

I reached for her and pulled her toward me, saying, “Lay your head down.”

She didn’t put up even the slightest fight.

One second, she was upright, and the next she was sprawled in my lap, her face on my thigh.

Atlas’s eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, and he smirked, letting me know he was amused by what had just happened.

Relieved that I didn’t see anger there, I started to lean back myself, deciding that I’d enjoy the hell out of the rest of the forty-minute drive back into Dallas.

Pepper stayed quiet, as did Atlas, allowing me to soak up the feeling of contentment to be exactly where I was.

We rode like that until Atlas pulled up at the station.

With the utmost reluctance, I woke Maven up.

“Maven,” I said quietly, running my fingers along the wild whisps of hair that’d escaped her bun. “We’re here.”

Pepper came off of her lean against the window, her face sleepy and red, also.

She’d gotten sun.

So had the woman who had my attention in a stranglehold.

Maven sat up, her face marked by the seams of my jeans where she’d laid her head for the last hour, and looked around blankly.

“Ready to go to dinner?” I asked.

Her eyes widened slightly, and the sleep started to clear from her eyes. “Yeah.”

Before I could help her out, though, she bailed, leaving me to say goodbye to Pepper. “Thanks for coming with us, doll.”

Pepper smiled, unbuckled her seatbelt, and started to reach for the door when Atlas hit the locks, refusing to allow her out. Pepper whipped her head around and glared at Atlas.

“Thanks for a great day,” Maven replied sleepily to Atlas as she waited for me to grab my snacks.

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