Page 70 of Butcher

“Yet,” Toxic warned. “It’s like a virus. One guy“ he gave Hush a glare, “gets himself an old lady and suddenly they’re all doing it. Then come the kids.”

“Toxic prefers the virus on the end of his dick,” I said. That had everyone laughing.

“What’s wrong with the kids?” Priest asked with an arched brow once the laughter died down.

“With yours? Whew, let me count the ways,” Hell told him.

“Yeah, and who has been coaching them on being little thieves and fighters?” he snapped, glaring at me, Isla, and Toxic.

“If they’re there we may as well teach them shit,” I replied with a shrug. Priest’s scowl deepened at my answer.

“Dinner’s ready,” Isla said, waving toward paper plates.

Everyone started lining up, and I watched with a mix of raging jealousy and confusing pleasure as each man gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek as they passed. It was their way of thanking her for feeding them. Her shocked gaze found mine and I grinned when I saw the flush coloring her cheeks. She wasn’t the best at accepting gratitude,or being feminine, but she stood there and allowed herself to be kissed over and over because she’d never want to hurt their feelings. When it was my turn, I pulled her close and gave her a long, slow kiss.

“Move over fucker,” Toxic said, nudging me away from Isla as he handed over one of the plates he held. “Chef eats first,” he said with a shrug as she took the plate he’d made up for her.

“Thank you.”

She sounded confused and out of sorts, so I stuck close until no one else was in line and it was my turn to make up my own plate. Still I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she went over and sat in an empty seat near Hush. They exchanged smiles and then she sat and watched with a look of wonder on her face as everyone started digging in.

My chest squeezed painfully at the look on her face. She, more than anyone, needed this family of mine. I wanted her to stick around once this was all over, but I wasn’t sure if I could claim her or not. It wasn’t really fair to her to be stuck with me for the rest of her life. I walked over and sat next to her, trying to figure out what I should do. Everything in me was demanding that I just keep her, to hell with what was best for her. But all I could see in my mind was Daryl’s face when he was talking about his late wife. Isla deserved a man who would love her that much. Who would put her first, always. And one who would mourn her passing every day if she happened to go first. I wasn’t that kind of man.

CHAPTER 24

Isla

“They’ll cook breakfast,” Lockout said, pointing with a thumb over his shoulder to the bikers standing behind him. “You have a job to do.”

I tried to bite back laughter at the look on Smokehouse’s face because Lockout’s thumb landed on him. Horror washed over his features at the prospect of cooking for so many people. Or maybe it was just cooking in general. His question answered that.

“You want me to cook?”

Toxic shook his head. “I’ll help you. Come on.” The two men headed toward the kitchen, still talking. “It’s not that hard, whatever you would cook for yourself, cook that much again and it will feed everyone else.

“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re lucky Dani cooks for you,” Toxic told the younger man. “If you eat all that take out shit all the time, then by the time you hit my age we’ll have to roll you off your bike.”

“Roll me-” Smoke paused. “What thehellare you talking about?”

“You’ll lose that six pack, Son,” Toxic teased, smacking the back of his hand against Smoke’s stomach. He then rubbed his hand, clearly hurting himself more than Smokehouse.

“What?” Smoke asked, horrified again.

“That’s the difference between being twenty and being forty.”

“I’m thirty-one, dickhead.”

“And I’m forty-two, same fucking difference.”

Smokehouse rubbed his hand over what I assumed were his washboard abs, most of these guys seemed to have them, then followed after Toxic. “You still have a six pack, though,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, ‘cause I don’t eat that shit. I’ll give you some pointers.”

I caught Butcher’s eye and grinned. “Does he really have a six pack?”

“You’re never going to find out, Woman,” Butcher muttered, giving me a dark look.

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