Page 25 of Fall Back
“No pact, just girl time,” Sunshine points out.
“I’ll go for moral support, but that’s it,” Morgan insists.
“Hey, moral support matters,” Delaney points out.
Walker leans toward Morgan and whispers something in her ear which has her turning bright pink. “I don’t even want to know,” I mutter under my breath.
Carson looks up at me and smiles before winking. I tuck her further into my side, loving the way her body fits against mine.
When I glance around, I’m glad I don’t see Brandy anywhere. Not only would Eden take her out, pregnant or not, but I just don’t want to deal with Brandy trying to start trouble when there is no need for it. I’m not sure if Carson was back in town the night I was here chatting with Brandy, but nothing came of it anyway.
It’s better left in the past and not discussed at all.
When Walker stands up, he eyes me and then the Burns brothers. The sparkle in his eyes tells me I’m not going to like whatever he’s about to say. “You know,” he starts, “I have to say you guys are really taking this whole Jared with your sister thing really well.”
All three of them narrow their eyes, but they’re not looking at Wallker. No, they’re looking at me.
Carson sighs and leans into me while shaking her head in admonishment at Walker. The man is trying to get me sucker punched.
“He certainly did not like it when I got with Morgan,” he points out, his voice on the edge of being sickly sweet. “He was a real dick about it.”
Huxley snorts out a laugh and flashes Walker a grin, knowing full well what the man is doing, before glaring at me again. Fuck, looks like I’m not getting out of this one.
“We really have been understanding,” Fletcher pushes the words past his clenched jaw. “Too understanding.” He looks at Noel and scowls. “I told you we should have taken him out to the barn and had a conversation.”
“And, what? We get arrested for assaulting an officer?” Noel shakes his head with a look of disappointment. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s disappointed because he had to talk Fletcher out of his plan to take me to the barn. “You have to be there for Eden when she goes into labor, she’s going to need you.”
Fletcher looks toward Eden, and his entire face and demeanor softens. “True,” he grumbles and glances my way, “but I swear when he’s off duty, the badge wouldn’t factor into a conversation in the barn. Two totally separate issues. A man should still be able to have a,” he pauses slightly as if weighing his words, “talk with the man dating his sister. It’s all I wanted to do.”
“Uh huh,” I grunt and feel Carson shaking from where she’s leaning against me. When I look down at her, her shoulders are shaking in silent laughter as she bites down on her lip.
All the women are practically doubled over with laughter while trying to stay quiet. It’s adorable.
And infuriating.
“I’m pretty sure those in the know would have looked the other way if he was off duty at the time,” Walker throws out there casually, like he’s just sitting down to enjoy a nice cup of tea and talking about the weather and not me getting my ass kicked.
“Told you,” Fletcher grunts.
Noel’s face smooths out into an expression of thoughtfulness like he’s considering the idea with a fresh set of eyes afterWalker’s off shift revelation. “Well,” he admits, “it does change things.”
“It changes nothing,” I hiss. “You’ve been getting over the whole I’m with your sister thing for a little while now. Weeks. You can’t just go back on it.”
Even though I try to sound indignant, I can hear the whine in some of my words. I cringe internally and give Carsons hip a squeeze.
“He’s not wrong,” Carson backs me up.
When I glance at her, her brown eyes are sparkling with happiness. It’s a damn good moment. Here we are surrounded by friends and family, and my woman is happy. It’s a memory I never want to forget.
Hell, I’m happy too and that hasn’t been an emotion which has been easy to come by, especially in the last few years. After my time in the service, my whole impression of happiness became skewed.
It seems I just needed this woman to come back into my life.
The brothers start giving her shit for backing me up, their jeers all in fun and none of them sounding serious. Carson’s laughter is bright and draws the attention of a few people around us. Every man who looks her way gets a glare from me.
Not going to fucking happen.
Carson lifts up on her tip toes and kisses my cheek. “I’m going to grab another drink. Do you need anything?”
