Page 73 of Never Trust the Living (Battle Crows MC 7)

“You’re pretty hot yourself,” I blurted.

Bram was hot and he knew it. Everyone always commented that he was the ‘hottest’ Crow brother.

I thought it was due to his brooding personality and his refusal to talk to anybody. The ‘broken’ aura he had about him was always enticing.

His eyes heated more, and he dropped a kiss onto my nose before saying, “I think you’re biased. I’m pretty normal, babe. Beards instantly make any man more attractive.”

He had a point, but before he’d had a beard, I’d been attracted to his angular jaw.

His beard wasn’t long by any means. He had to have his beard short and well-groomed due to the respirator he had to wear while he was underwater welding, but when it was the weekend, and he would be off for several days, he usually allowed it to get a little more unruly.

It was just enough that I could tug it if I curled my fingers just…

“Ow!” He laughed as he pulled his face away from where I’d been tugging it teasingly. “That hurt!”

“Chocolate,” I said. “From the small bite that you were able to steal.”

He snorted and brushed his beard as if searching for any stray crumbs. “You ready?”

I nodded, and instead of grabbing my hand like he usually did, he jerked his chin toward the door.

I proceeded to walk in front of him and felt his heat at my back.

When he got to the door, though, he moved in front of me and exited first, his eyes already scanning the surroundings.

I caught the door with my butt and already started scanning too, not able to see much but from the sides.

There were people everywhere.

As in, they were milling about on the railings, along the planters. On the dock by the bay. On boats.

There was literally nowhere that people weren’t around.

This place was hopping, and I was honestly surprised we’d gotten in as fast as we had. But Wake had suggested the place and also told us to drop his name. Which we had.

And we’d gotten right in, surprisingly.

Wake obviously knew the owners.

“Come on, darlin’,” he urged, bumping me with his hip when I’d stayed behind. “We gotta move.”

I jumped into step behind him, not quite ducking my head, but not making eye contact out of habit.

I passed so many people.

As in, four or five times the amount that’d been there when we’d arrived.

“Geez,” I said as we finally pulled free of the crowd. “This joint is extremely popular.”

“This place is nice,” he said. “On the beach on a corner lot. You see the Gulf on one side and bay on the other. And it’s a small place that barely fits anyone in it. It looks busier than it actually is.”

He had a point.

Still, even more people were hanging out in the parking lot by their cars.

By the time we made it to the X7, I was a little more freaked out.

I didn’t like crowds. Never had, never would.

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