Page 90 of Liberate Us

“You don’t know that,” I threw at him.

“I’m going to go call Piper.” Jaron stood from his stool. “Seehow she and the kids are.” He grabbed his beer and pulled his phone out of hisleather cut. “Hey, baby, just wanted to check in,” he said, holding the phoneup to his ear and walking away.

“I should call Ainsley.” Cyrus went to stand when Sammy cuppedhis shoulder, stopping him. “You two need to talk about this on your own.”

“No.” I went back to cleaning the bar. “We are not talking aboutthis here.”

“Amber.”

I looked up, finding both of the brothers looking directly atme. “What? I need to clean. I need to work my shift, so then I can go home andgo to bed like a normal pregnant woman. I can’t constantly be worrying aboutwhat Will wants and doesn’t want. I can’t stress over it.” I threw the rag onthe counter. “I need to go get some napkins.” I spun on my heel before eitherof them could stop me and went down the hall to the storage room. As I walkedby the staff room, I heard muffled voices coming from inside it. Opening thedoor, I peeked my head in, finding a few of the girls getting ready.

“Hey, Red,” they greeted in unison.

“Hey, I just wanted to see if you girls needed some drinks.” Iwas also stalling because I loved Sammy, I really did, but his overprotectiveways were enough to drive me mad.

“Sure.”

“Yes please!”

“Oh, I’d love a shot of anything right about now.”

I laughed as the girls spoke at the same time. Taking theirorders, I noticed that Emma Morin was nowhere around. “Where’s Emma?” I asked,once I had their drinks committed to memory.

“I think she’s talking to Candace and Ronny,” Penelope Caissiesaid, pulling the elastic out of her long auburn hair. “Something about a groupof guys who have been here a few times over the past few weeks.”

“Group of guys?” I asked, stepping into the room and closing thedoor behind me.

“Penny,” Shawnee warned her. “Leave it alone.”

“What?” Penny looked my way. “They keep asking about you. Sheneeds to know,” she told Shawnee before she could get scolded again.

“Great.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Have they botheredyou girls at all?”

“Not me but they’ve given Emma a hard time,” Penny said.

“Penelope Caissie,” Shawnee snapped. “Seriously.”

“What happened?” I considered these girls family. If Will wascausing shit, I needed to know.

“It’s not a big deal.” Emma huffed from behind me, coming intothe room. “They just said some shit about me liking women and how they couldget me to convert. It’s nothing I’ve never heard before.” Her face softened. “Ipromise, baby.”

“Did they hurt you?” I didn’t like how weak my voice sounded butWill did this to me. He made me feel small and worthless, much like hisshithead of a brother. I couldn’t have my problems constantly following me.

“No.” Emma came up to me and pulled me into her arms. “Ipromise, Red. I’m fine. I’m a big girl.”

“Okay.” I returned her embrace, the scent of her light floralperfume tingling my nose.

“I do have to say though that you look really good pregnant.”She leaned back, cupping my stomach. “If you were carrying my baby…” Shewaggled her eyebrows when her words trailed off.

I giggled, shaking my head. “And here I thought it was only menwho became turned on by that.”

“No, not at fucking all. You look good. Really good.” Her eyesdropped to my stomach, her hand moving lower.

“Alright.” I grabbed her hand, stopping it from going places itshouldn’t be going. “You need to get out more.”

“Before you hump the poor girl’s leg, zip me up,” Pennydemanded, shaking her head.

“Why can’t any of you like women too?” Emma sighed, going backup to Penny and helping her zip up her dress.

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