He grins as though he hadn’t quite realized how observant I was until now, but when it comes to Tully, I need to have her back. Her business is my business. “Surprised you even noticed with your attention stuck on his ass all day,” he tells me.
“Trust me, I notice everything,” I tell him. “Sort of like I noticed the way you’re suddenly treating me like a human being rather than a bug you stepped on.”
His face scrunches up. “Yeah… that’s why I came out here actually. I wanted to apologize.”
I suck in a breath. “Apologize? I wasn’t aware you knew the meaning of that.”
He looks at me blankly. “You want an explanation, or what?”
I nod my head. “Yeah, I’ll shut up.”
“Thank fuck for that,” he grumbles before letting out a deep breath. ‘Look, I don’t know how much Tully has told you, but I’m not exactly a welcoming person. I like things the way they are and when change happens…well, I just don’t like it.”
I nod. “She might have mentioned something like that, but it wasn’t hard to figure out for myself.”
“Don’t take it personally, yeah?” he says. “I had to look out for what’s mine, and you…well, you don’t exactly have a great reputation.”
“And yours is stellar?”
“No, but this ain’t about me.”
Noah turns around and narrows his eyes suspiciously on the two of us talking before Rivers gives a quick nod. Noah instantly relaxes and it’s almost like they have some sort of secret language that doesn’t actually require words. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve had each other’s backs for so long.
“So, what’s it about then?” I ask, pushing for a little more.
“You chicks. Noah brought you back here that very first day and despite the fact that he did it to fuck with Monica, there was something else there. He liked you and I didn’t like that. We’re a fucking pack and when chicks come in, they fuck things up. They try to get between us and suddenly our kingdom crumbles.”
“I’m not like that,” I tell him.
“It took me a while to figure it out,” he admits. “You got close with Tully, and don’t get me wrong. I love that she has a good friend now, but I hated that because it took her away. She was confiding in you and it drove me fucking nuts.”
“You were jealous,” I murmur. “But you know there’s nothing to worry about, right? That’s just what girlfriends do so the guys we like don’t see just how crazy we are.”
His eyes narrow on me before continuing. “I wasn’t fucking jealous,” he defends, but the conviction is there. He was jealous. “Not only that, but Noah was suddenly all about his little Spitfire. Things were changing, and to be honest, all the extra time he was spending with you actually freed up a little of Tully’s time, so I guess it wasn’t a complete disaster.”
“Are you in love with her?”
His eyes widen for a second before he shakes his head. “Nah…just. I don’t know. There’s something there, but it’s complicated.”
“Just… don’t hurt her, ok?”
He shakes his head before glancing up at Noah. “Never.”
“So, you and me? We’re all cool? You’re not going to try and kill me in my sleep?”
He shakes his head with amusement shining through his dark eyes. “I honestly don’t know how the fuck you did it. No one has ever been invited in like that, but you were, and for some reason, I’m not completely hating it.”
“Well, thanks, I think,” I laugh.
He grins back at me. “You’re one of us now. Part of the pack,” he tells me before getting up and placing a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t fuck it up and don’t hurt him.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
With that, he walks away, leaving me gawking after him, completely stunned.
Noah turns around and takes in the confused, blank expression on my face. “You good, babe?”
I smile back it him. “I’m part of the pack.”
“You better fucking believe it,” he says, striding over to me. He grabs my hands and hauls me up off the seat. My body slams into his and I brace myself against him, my hands on his warm chest. Not a second later, his lips are crushing down on mine, completely devouring me.
He pulls back and I groan, needing more. “You sure you really want to come to this? You chicks usually aren’t into this kind of thing.”
“I thought you’d have learned by now, I’m not like most chicks.”
“Thank fuck for that,” he murmurs.
Ten minutes later, Noah slams his fist against the front door. “You fuckers get your asses out here. We’re leaving.”
Tully and Rivers eventually dawdle out, both with guilty expressions on their faces that has me smothering a smile and shaking my head.
We head for Noah’s Camaro and I call ‘shotgun’, though not because I have a desperate desire to sit up front with Noah, but because listening to Rivers groan about it is just too good.