Page 458 of Love Bites

CHAPTER24

SEVEN YEARS

Everyone gathered in the kitchen to devour Mom’s succulent homemade brisket. The small table only seated six, so Ben and Wheeler ate at the counter while the rest of us sat down. Austin’s wolf trotted out of the room.

Mom was still shaken up about Maizy having been left on the side of the road and every so often, I caught that look in her eyes a mother gets when they’ve come close to losing the most precious thing to them. I admired her courage and resilience for all she had been through in the last week, and I guess like me, she valued family even more because of it.

During dinner, I noticed Maizy hiding her meat beneath her mashed potatoes. Denver waltzed over to the microwave and heated up a hot dog. Her eyes brightened when he dropped it on her plate and she hunched over with a big smile on her face, looking like she had just gotten away with something. Maybe she had. He appeared satisfied with himself, although he tried to hide it from the guys. Maybe it wasn’t a “cool guy” thing to have a little girl think you were the best thing since peanut butter and jelly. Despite his idiotic methods, I trusted Denver with her more than I did the others. Reno was too rough around the edges and I still didn’t know what to make of the twins. Wheeler was the smarter of the two, though you’d never know it by all the tattoos, not to mention he seemed to be a moodier guy than his brother.

Jericho mentioned getting another tattoo and my mom told him he already had one too many.

“Boys, we’re going to be staying the night out,” Austin announced, walking into the room with a swagger I couldn’t help but admire. His dark jeans were loose (in a good way) and his tight black shirt was tucked in, showing off a nice leather belt with a silver buckle.

Jericho whistled mockingly.

“Who’swe?” I asked.

“Me and you. Let’s go.” He flicked an icy glare at Jericho, who had scooted his chair right beside me—so close our arms touched. Reno took the spot on my left and everyone else looked spread out. I guess I didn’t think about how it might look to be sandwiched between his brothers until Austin came in and made me aware of it.

The extra space at the table allowed them room to move down, but they chose to sit right beside me. I just thought they were being consolatory because of the recent attack.

“Why should I go?” I looked at Austin and he gave methe look. I didn’t really need an answer because I knew where he was going with this. The tingling had been coming and going with more frequency over the past few hours. Maybe I was just hormonal, but either way, I didn’t want to stick around and find out.

I got up from the table. “Going out, Mom. There’re a few movies in my bag if Maizy gets bored.”

We had spent the past hour talking about my dad. She didn’t think he’d come back for her and even if he did, I doubted he stood a chance against the Cole brothers. Anyhow, he had no idea Austin was back in town, nor would he think to show up here.

Damn, Austin was doing his lean on the frame of the kitchen doorway and I got the shivers again just looking at how snug his shirt was. I could almost see his abs through the thin fabric, and the bold ink patterns on his upper arms were so striking I wondered if it had hurt to get them.

Jericho snaked his arm around my upper leg and nestled against me. “Stay with us,” he said in sweet, syrupy words, nuzzling into my shirt. “I’ll play my guitar and sing a song for you.”

Austin crossed the room before I could reply. He gripped the back of Jericho’s chair and pulled it out, dumping him on the floor. “I think we all know what’s up, boys. You need to learn to put that in check, because our numbers will grow. And now that we have another female in the house, let me reiterate to you all that respect is something we live and die by when it comes to one of our own.”

He meant Ivy. She’d passed on dinner and gone to lie down in one of the twin’s rooms. I had a feeling she was having adjustment problems and needed time to herself. The house really closed in on you after a while with all these men.

“Come on, Lexi. Let’s go,” he said, holding out his hand.

Something restrained flickered in his eyes—something hot. When I took his hand, I gasped at the warmth and saw a muscle twitch in his cheek. He had already packed an overnight bag for me and loaded up the car.

When we drove off, I finally asked, “Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise.” Austin flipped on the radio and we listened to Bush singing about breathing in and breathing out. Which was exactly what I was doing. I rolled the window down, hoping if I was leaking any kind of sex perfume, the outside air would keep Austin from having to put up with it.

He pulled up to a stretch of property that reminded me of how Ivan’s house was set up, with a generous amount of cleared land in front and a thicket of woods around the back. It looked like a mansion, but not pretentious. The square windows were fogged over and needed replacing. They showed signs of wear, as shutters were broken and pulled away by time. A covered porch ran along the front and around the sides with a balcony off one of the rooms on the second floor. It looked like there was an attic, but I couldn’t tell from the front. I could imagine how beautiful impatiens and roses would look on the top balcony in the springtime. It must have been a grand place in its prime.

“Is this the house you were talking about buying?”

“I bought it,” he confirmed, switching off the radio. He brushed a strand of hair away from my face and melted me with his pale eyes. “Are you okay? You know what I mean. We haven’t really talked about what happened with Beckett.”

It wasn’t cold but I shivered. “I’m still trying to process it. I’m not sure I want to deal with it right now.”

“Well, stuff like that messes with your head. So whenever you’re ready to talk, I’m here. Doesn’t matter if we can heal or not; some scars are beneath the skin and mark us in ways we least expect.”

“Thanks.”

He shut off the engine while I gaped at the house. “This is our new home,” he said. “You were right; the other place wasn’t me.”

“Why were you at my apartment the night Beckett came over?”

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