Page 77 of Here In Your Arms

Roman sighs but stands up so Charli can scoot to his seat, settling next to me again. “The grumpy one is Roman, and the strangely quiet one is Jax. They’re my guys.”

Jax moves and settles between Morgan and Olivia. “Hi Liv. Hey new girl.”

“Uh, hi, I’m Rory. You guys usually just show up to save girls being harassed?”

Jax grins. “Wouldn’t it be badass if that was the case?”

“They were already on the way here for their own hang out. They’re needy and wanted to spy on the ‘new girl’,” Charli explains.

Morgan leans over and hands me my phone. “I texted your guys. I assume that’s why you handed me your phone.”

“Yeah, thanks. Did they reply?”

“They did, but it was right when I saw Roman and Jax coming, so I told them you were safe and you’d let them know.”

I look at my phone and sure enough, the guys have kept up the messages, asking if I’m okay. I tell them I am and that I’ll be home soon. There are a few additional messages of concern, but I reassure them it’s fine, that Charli’s guys showed up and chased Nathan off. I don’t want to interrupt anyone’s night more than I already have. Looking over at Morgan, I feel a surge of appreciation for her. My arm goes around her shoulders in an awkward side hug.

“Thank you. Thank you for having my back.”

She squeezes me back. “Of course, you’re one of my girls now.”

“What about me? I want to be one!” Olivia exclaims.

Courtney piles on too, and I start giggling uncontrollably at the antics.

“I’ll be all of yours, I promise.”

My heart is pretty damn full right now.

Chapter 27

Kyle

I step into the house after a long day at the office, my exhaustion wearing at me from dealing with people who can’t understand how to talk to anyone. Sometimes I wonder if the headache is worth it, but I look around at the house that we were able to purchase because of it and I’m grateful. Nothing is guaranteed, so I can put up with some idiots in order to enjoy a nice house with the man I love. Hopefully Rory will be part of things soon. Smiling to myself, I set my keys down before heading to the bedroom. I need out of these slacks. Wes comes into the house shortly after I sit down and gives me a kiss on the head as he passes through.

“Almost ready?” I ask him, smirking.

“Fuck off! I just got home. I’ll be ready in five.”

I chuckle to myself and scroll through my phone, checking on local news and online friend updates. There’s never anything thrilling happening, but I like to be in touch nonetheless. I hear Wes leave the bedroom after a few minutes and head into the living room with me.

“Ready?” I ask.

“Let’s go see our girl.”

We pile into my car and head for Jerry’s. Rory’s on for tonight and we’re planning to meet her for her dinner break. The bar food there isn’t horrible, but Wes and I decide to pick up some diner food in homage of the first time Claire called me “Pool God” and embarrassed the shit out of Rory. We order her favorites and ours, complete with pie, before heading over. I find us a table while Wes goes to the bar to let Rory know dinner’s here. I see her give him a smile and a nod before calling over to her coworkers.

They give her a nod in return, and she escapes from behind the bar, and I notice Nathan’s here again. Part of me wishes I didn’t know his name so I could still call him Baldie. I suppose I still could, but his name defaults into my head now. It would be more effort than he’s worth. Wes sits down opposite me and a few minutes later Rory plops down between us, an empty seat across from her.

“Hey you,” she greets me and leans over to give each of us a kiss.

“How’s work today?” I ask.

She shrugs and digs into her food, and now I’m suspicious she’s avoiding the question. My eyebrow raises at Wes as we give each other a loaded look. He noticed too. Hopefully it’s just been crazy and Nathan’s not giving her shit. We let her get a few bites in before we try to dig into her day again.

“Sounds like it’s been pretty busy, then?” Wes asks.

“Yeah, pretty steady.”

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