He wrapped his hand around the back of her head to pull his old lady close and prove her right by laying a wet, deep kiss on her. When he finally pulled back, he complained, “Yeah, but she’s my sister. I don’t need to see that shit when they’ve got a perfectly good room upstairs.”
“So? Rylee is my best friend, but I don’t complain when you get all touchy-feely with her around me, Nova,” Arya huffed, turning to glare at her brother.
“Sorry, baby, but he has a point.” Dax rubbed his beard against the back of Arya’s neck. “It’s not the same thing.”
“You’ll notice that he didn’t say anything about sparing me from having to watch you two kiss in the future,” Nova muttered.
I was fascinated by their back and forth, but I tore my gaze away from the couples when Bridget asked, “Coke, Sprite, Diet Coke, root beer, water, juice, milk, or something stronger?”
Once again, I was surprised. The list of options didn’t sound as though it belonged in an MC clubhouse. “You have milk?”
“Yeah, just in case the kids want some when they take a break from running around being savages. Right now, they’re all being quiet because I turned on a movie, but you’ll see what I mean soon enough. Probably when we break up the party to take them home.” She wrinkled her nose. “But I should warn you, we only have whole milk. So it’s pretty thick if you’re used to drinking skim.”
“Root beer would be great,” I whispered, stunned to learn they were okay with members bringing children to the clubhouse. Heck, it sounded as though they actually encouraged it if they were keeping drinks in stock for them and hosting movie parties. The president of the Devil’s Jesters never even brought his kids to the compound, and he had four sons.
Instead of pouring me a fountain drink from the nozzle, she reached into the fridge under the bar, grabbed a glass bottle, and popped the top off. After she came out from behind the bar, she handed it to me. “Rider is a root beer snob, so we always have bottles of the good stuff in the fridge.”
“Oh, you should save this one for him then.” I tried to shove the drink back at her, but she wouldn’t take it. The last thing I wanted was to irritate a member of the MC who was offering me protection. “I’m fine with anything, really. I wouldn’t want him to run out of his favorite drink.”
“Don’t worry.” She waved off my concern and smiled. “He’s used to people dipping into his stash. Now he buys like ten cases at a time.”
My hold on the bottle tightened as the guy who’d helped me onto the back of Patriot's motorcycle back at Hell’s Kitchen stomped into the room and dropped down onto one of the couches. Kicking his legs out and crossing his arms over his chest, he grumbled, “Maybe our captain will be less of a stickler for the rules now that he’s found himself a woman.”
My mouth went bone-dry at the thought of Patriot with someone else. My reaction forced me to admit that I was more attracted to him than I’d realized since I was feeling territorial. I looked at my feet as I took a gulp of the root beer Bridget had given me, trying not to let on how devastated I was feeling. But my gaze slid toward her when she bumped my shoulder and whispered, “He’s talking about you, not someone else.”
“Oh.” I hid my satisfied smile by taking a long pull from the bottle.
Nova chuckled and shook his head. “You know Patriot better than that, Breaker. His time in the military taught him that rules save lives. It’s what makes him such a great captain.”
“I get what you’re saying, but I still think it’s more than possible. The man has lived like a monk for a damn long time.” Breaker shifted positions on the couch. “Why the man put hardware in his dick when he never uses it is a mystery to me.”
I almost spit out the root beer I was swallowing as the blonde gasped, “Patriot has a piercing?”
“At least you don’t have to worry about our captain kicking your ass for talking about dick piercings in front of his woman.” Nova sighed as he laced his fingers together to crack his knuckles. “I’m going to do it instead since you’re the reason my Rylee is asking about his dick.”
“Nah, Patriot will just wait till he’s healed and then do it again,” Dax disagreed as he grinned at Nova over Arya’s shoulder. “And the most hilarious part of this all is that Breaker started it by talking shit about Patriot living like a monk when his sex life isn’t any better.”