Page 53 of Collect the Pieces

Ravage flicks his hand in the air like he’s batting away the suggestion of inappropriateness. “I’m not talking about in the bedroom, we’ll get to that later.” He steeples his hands under his chin like he’s having difficulty maintaining his composure. “Is Jigsaw a good boyfriend? Does he know how to open doors? Bring you flowers? That’s all we want to know.”

A few of the guys snicker or cough.

“Who is thisweyou’re referring to?” Teller asks.

“No way Jiggy’s doing any of that,” someone mutters.

Charlotte leans forward and turns toward me. “Thisis Ravage being respectful,” she whispers, loud enough for everyone to hear. “In case you’re curious.”

Still feeling like a bug under a microscope—even though half of the people at the table are paying more attention to their dinner than me—I smile to acknowledge Charlotte.

“It’s probably the most respectful he’s ever been.” Wrath crosses his arms over his chest and squints at Ravage. “You all right, bro?”

“I’m excellent.” Rav’s gaze remains trained on me. “Margot, please enlighten us?”

“Knock it off,” Jigsaw growls.

Rooster makes a squeezed and twisted fist gesture that seems mildly threatening, then points at Rav.

“No, it’s okay. I don’t mind answering this one.” I sit up straighter and rest my hands in my lap. Jigsaw said sticking up for myself would work best here. I just hope I don’t accidentally insult anyone in the process. “To answer your first question, I don’t like flowers, so that wouldn’t be an item on my ‘good boyfriend traits’ list. As to your second question, I learned how to open doors when I was four or five. I can show you how if you need help.”

The brothers howl with laughter, some even slapping their hands against the table.

Jigsaw grins and kisses my cheek.

Rav nods as if he’s pleased.

Another brother, Stash, I think, leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “I thought all chicks like flowers?”

“Well, I can’t speak for allchicks.” I roll my eyes again. This time, the women at the table laugh. “But I have to order a lot of flowers at work. Then I have to deal with moving them and transporting them to another location.” A sneeze tickles the back of my nose just thinking about it. “They’re delicate and expensive, so I always have to be careful with them. They’re also messy and leave residue everywhere.” I sigh. “Although, I’ve become an expert at removing pollen stains.”

My gaze skitters over the beautiful, full-color sleeve of roses Z’s wife has covering one arm. “I prefer paintings or pictures of flowers. Bonus—they last longer too.”

“She’s right,” Heidi says. “They die so fast. It feels like a waste of money.”

I blow out a breath, relieved no one seems insulted by anything I said.

“Hush, little hammer,” Ravage says to Heidi. “We all know Murphy isn’t romantic enough to buy you flowers.”

“No, he buys me cars and jewelry,” Heidi says, leaning in to pop a kiss on her husband’s cheek. “And deadly weapons.”

“We can all agree that’smuchmore romantic.” Lilly raises her water glass.

“Damn,” one of the guys says. “If I ever bring another ol’ lady around, you keep all that to yourselves. I don’t need you to set high expectations for my future woman.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be an issue for you, Butcher,” Z says. “Moving on.”

More laughter rolls around the table.

The conversation shifts to other topics. Jigsaw leans closer to me. “See, you’re doing fine. And now I know you don’t like flowers.”

I pat the knife in my pocket. “I think you already suspected since you picked out a perfect gift for me.”

Jigsaw was right. Ravage’s teasing had been aimed at him more than me. But as I reach for another piece of cornbread from Shelby, I catch Ravage watching us, mischief still glinting in his eyes.

He’s not done with me yet.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

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