Page 99 of As Thick As Thieves

Cruz and Knox joined us, sliding plates in front of us as I moved to sit beside Drake, and Stone sat opposite us next to Cruz.

“Okay, no one swing at me until I’m finished,” Stone said gruffly, making Knox snort.

“We’ll see. Start talking.”

Stone’s eyes met mine and he blew out a breath, launching into a detailed explanation of everything that had been happening. Between the texts, secret meet-ups, and the kiss, it was a lot, and I was surprised when he made it to the end and no one had thrown a punch. Cruz and Drake weren’t fazed by any of it, but Knox still seemed a little unsure from beside me.

“You seriously want to let him in? He literally shot himself and pretended you did it. He’s a dick,” Knox grumbled, and I gave him a sweet smile.

“So are you.”

“I don’t like you sometimes,” he grunted, but his mouth curved into a small smile as he tried to hide it behind his coffee cup.

The rest of breakfast passed by without anyone losing their temper, but I sensed tension when Stone opened up a new subject. “You don’t have to, but if you’d like to move back here, I think it would be a good idea.”

“I bet you do,” Drake muttered, but Stone rolled his eyes.

“Think about it. Someone’s after Penn, and it’s obvious they don’t care who gets used as collateral damage in the process. The compound has the best security possible, there are more eyes here to keep watch, and you’ll have access to the best weapons and tech in one place. It’s not just Penn’s safety I’m worried about, it’s yours, too. You don’t have to like me right now, but you’re still my brothers, and I love you. Not that I’m good at proving it.” He said the last part more to himself than to us, but Cruz’s expression softened a little as he studied Stone.

“It’s going to take a lot for me to trust you again, man,” he finally answered, and Stone nodded.

“I know. I owe your girl my life, and I won’t forget what she’s done for me.”

“Our girl,” Cruz said dryly, giving me an amused glance. “Pretty sure she’s yours too.”

“Maybe,” Stone mumbled, not seeming too sure on what I wanted. “Regardless of where I stand with Penn, I really would like you all to move back here.”

“I’d like that,” I said softly, startling as Drake let out a loud whoop and got to his feet.

“We’re moving home, baby!” He took off, screaming it through the compound to make sure everyone knew, and Knox barked at him to shut up as he stomped after him, the rest of us laughing at the familiar antics.

Stone

I was being pathetic. I couldn’t keep my damn eyes off Penn, and I got fucking butterflies like a damn girl whenever she glanced over and smiled at me.

“I hate to tell you this, but your emotions are showing,” Cruz whisper-yelled from beside me as we watched Drake and Knox attempt to teach Penn some more shooting skills in the gun range. She needed to be able to defend herself if one of us weren’t there, and I wasn’t surprised to see her skills were somehow worse than before. She really did suck at it. It probably didn’t help that the last time she was down here, I’d locked her in and turned the lights off.

I was impressed that she’d even agreed to step foot in here.

“Eat shit,” I muttered, my eyes trained on her as she took another shot. I knew it would miss its target before she even fired the bullet. Her stance was all wrong and she kept looking back at me, repetitively distracting herself. “Jesus Christ, you make this look so fucking hard,” I bit out after the millionth failed attempt, ignoring Cruz’s warning to be nice.

I stalked over to her and shoved Drake out of the way, moving her body how it was supposed to be, then I wrapped my arms around her from behind and helped her position the gun correctly.

“You’re a shitty teacher,” she whined, making me scoff.

“I’m the second best shot in this entire organization, so shut up and pay attention.”

“Who’s the first?”

“Knox. Now stop talking, focus, and hit some targets. I won’t put you on jobs until I know you can do basic targets successfully. Relax your arms more, you’re as stiff as a board,” I ordered.

“Me too,” Drake mumbled under his breath, rearranging his dick in his pants as he watched Penn. I understood what he meant, Penn looked good with a gun in her hand.

Knox smacked the back of his head and scolded him for being distracting, but Cruz said nothing, standing back and letting me take over. He knew I was a good teacher because I’d learned from my brother, who’d trained all of us.

She managed to hit a target, but I didn’t let her celebrate, keeping her in place and speaking in her ear. “Now, do it again. Hit five in a row, then you have something to be excited about.”

She didn’t argue, which was nice for a change, hitting three before missing the fourth, then starting all over again. It took half an hour, but she finally hit five in a row, so I dropped my hands from hers and gave her a small smile. “That’s better. Now you can celebrate.”

---