Page 54 of Saved By the Marines (Soldiers Of Misfortune)

“We eat a lot,” Wolfe explained, spearing bacon and putting it on his plate.

We were still dishing up when the kitchen door opened. It was the back door, so each of us guys already knew who was coming through it. I shot a look over at Bailey. So much for easing her in.

CHAPTER24

Bailey

Abeautiful older woman with dark hair and chocolatey colored eyes stood glaring at us. Her hands were on her hips and she had an apron on. “You don’t even bother to stop in and let us know you’re home?”

A man stepped in behind her and put an arm around her shoulders. “They’re grown men, Jean. Give them a break. Maybe they had a reason…” He cut off as his eyes landed on me. Jean was already staring at me.

Realizing I had a forkful of pancake halfway to my lips, frozen as I stared at the strangers, I dropped it back onto the plate. My gaze flicked to each of the guys. They were relaxed and Kip was grinning, but that didn’t mean much since he almost always was.

Wolfe stood up and moved toward them. Jasper elbowed him out of the way. “Me first,” he declared and yanked Jean into his arms for a hug.

My brows crashed together and a dark feeling started rumbling in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t believe that I was sitting here, still muddled from Kip’s intense love-making, and I was jealous. I didn’t even know who this woman was—or the man with her—but it didn’t seem to matter.

“She’smymom, you dickhead,” Wolfe grumbled.

“Wolfe! Language!”

“Yeah, Wolfe,” Jas teased.

The jealousy poured out of me like thick honey out of a bucket. This was Wolfe’s Mom—and Dad, I was guessing. Suddenly horror struck me. This was Wolfe’s parents. How were we going to explain ourselves?

My eyes darted around the kitchen and I wondered if I could somehow slip out while they all gave each other hugs.

“Don’t bother,” Kip said as he stood up, reading my intent. He whispered, “Jean will just hunt you down to give you a hug.” Then he turned and swept Wolfe’s Mom into his own hug, lifting her off her feet. Her laughter trilled out as she happily spoke to ‘her sons’ as she called them.

“You must be Bailey.”

My head snapped up and I realized Wolfe’s Dad had made his way over to my side. “Hi. Yes, I’m Bailey Michaels,” I stuttered, standing. Self-consciously, I tugged at my short sleep shorts and tried to cover more of my thighs.

It didn’t seem to matter. Wolfe’s replica wrapped me up into his arms and hugged me tight. He smelled like a smokey pear scent. He and Wolfe could be twins except for the color of his hair and eyes. Obviously those had been Jean’s contributions to her son.

It only took me moments before I sank into his embrace. When was the last time a father figure type had hugged me? I couldn’t remember. My own father had refused to hug me for as long as I could remember, claiming it would make me soft. He wanted a ‘strong Marine’ and I had to act like one.

Tears built up behind my eyes and I tried to blink them away. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with me, but Kip had somehow brought out my vulnerability this morning along with all the pleasure. I was on the verge of becoming an emotional, blubbering mess.

“I’m Ray. Raymond Wolfe. It’s nice to meet you.”

He released me, but gave me a soft shove straight into Jean’s arms. “We’re so happy to meet you, Bailey. Our boys have told us so much about you.” She was surprisingly strong as she held me close.

A sob was working its way up from my chest and if I ended up crying in front of all these people I’d never be able to live down my humiliation.

A strong hand gripped my shoulder. “Why don’t you let me take her to get dressed, Mom,” Jasper said.

Shock had me moving along with him woodenly. I wouldn’t have guessed he’d be the one to read my distress and rescue me. It just reinforced my belief that all the name calling and picking he did was his way of flirting with me. When it came down to it, he was just as sweet to me as the others were. More than that, he was always on the lookout for any threats to me, even when I was the biggest threat to myself.

“We put your stuff in Kip’s room for now,” Jas said softly. His dark eyes were watching me as I went over to the bag he motioned to. “You okay?”

I shook my head, unsure of how to explain the roiling emotions inside of me. He didn’t ask me anything else and I closed the bathroom door, shutting him out. Leaning my head back against the door, I closed my eyes.

Would my life ever go back to being normal? Did I even want normal?

My dad was pissed at me—he’d left multiple voicemails—I had three boyfriends, they’d beaten up my old boyfriend, and about a dozen of his friends. I was living with them, and now their parents were sitting in the kitchen after one of their ‘sons’ had given me so many orgasms I’d nearly died.

Maybe normal was off that table, but could I do this? With them? For the first time in…forever…I felt happiness threatening to make its way into my life.

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