Page 148 of Wild Card
Gray pushed forward, shaking the rest of the hands offered as Holden dropped into a seat and crossed his arms. Bailey reached forward, grasping any hands that Gray missed.
Axel hadn’t told me everything about his brothers, but he did say that Holden had trouble with touch, a result of childhood abuse. I couldn’t even imagine how difficult that must be in a setting like this. I’d seen him shake hands at community meetings, so he obviously could push through it sometimes, or maybe only to a certain extent? Watching now, I could see how his brothers tried to step in and create a protective bubble around him. I envied their closeness, and I was really glad they’d welcomed me into the fold.
As everyone got settled and exchanged introductions, my chest warmed to see them all come together. My biological family had stood by me and loved me through some of my worst days. But I had a feeling that Axel’s brothers would be my new Riverton family. Hopefully the one that would be there for some of my best days ahead with Axel.
I clasped Axel’s hand on the table, gaze dropping to the tattoo on the inner side of his wrist, an infinity symbol with the words Bro and Code in each loop.
I brushed my thumb over it, thinking how lucky I was to have found a place among these guys.
Gail returned with the pitchers of beer and soda, and Dad took charge of pouring out drinks for the kids.
“Sheriff Harvey!” a deep voice called. I turned to see Chuck Pacer approaching. “Heard you’re the big dog now!”
“Looks that way.”
He pumped my hand. “Good, good. I’ve been trying to tell Hale for years about the noise nuisance that my neighbor is…”
So started the parade of townspeople who wanted to congratulate/complain. Axel put in an order for me, or I might have never gotten any dinner.
When the food arrived, he stood and cleared his throat. “The sheriff appreciates your congrats, but you all need to let him eat in peace now. You know his office hours. You can find him at the station.”
More than one eyebrow raised at his tone.
I smiled, planting a kiss on his cheek. “You all know my boyfriend, Axel Wilder, don’t you?”
“Unfortunately,” one person grumbled.
“He’s rude, isn’t he?” another whispered as they turned away.
“I can’t believe our sheriff’s gay!”
Axel grimaced when the last of them had drifted off. “Did I overstep? I don’t want to make things difficult for you.”
“Nope,” Camille answered for me. “Dalton is too nice. It’s good to set boundaries.”
I nodded. “She’s right. It’s tough for me to tell them to leave me alone, but you’re welcome to tell them to shove off anytime.” I dropped into my seat. “Damn, I’m starved.”
We tucked into an assortment of burgers, chicken strips, rings, and fries. It wasn’t nearly as good as the food at Jerkers, but we compromised for the sake of beer.
Bailey and Bodie hit it off, talking about TikTok and other shit I didn’t follow. Holden was charming the heck out of my father by the intent expression on his face. Gray and Emory were whispering together, caught up in their own world, while my mother looked on with a sappy smile.
We finished up the food, and gradually, my family said their goodbyes so they could make the drive back to Granville.
“Make sure you bring Axel to dinner next weekend,” Mom said as she leaned in to kiss my cheek. When she repeated the move on Axel, his eyes shot wide. “I want to know everything about how you got together!”
“Uh…” Over my dead body would my mother ever hear that story.
“Stop harassing them,” Dad said. “There’s plenty of time to get to know Axel. Did you see how they looked at each other? This is the real deal.”
Camille chuckled as she passed by. “This should be fun to watch.”
After they’d gone, Axel’s brothers lingered with us over beers.
I nudged Axel. “Did you tell your brothers?”
“Tell us what?” Bailey asked.
“Axel got a grant to start a foster pet program,” I said.
