“Woman, I’m the one who does the askin’. Shit,” Tommy replied, a huge ass smile on his face. “You didn’t even get me ring. Your proposal blows.”
“Let’s have anal,” Hawk said.
“I’ll marry you tomorrow,” Tommy said seriously before she’d even finished the last word of her sentence, making the entire table roar with laughter.
Hawk lifted her beer in salute, then sat back with a smug grin on her face.
I liked her. I’d wondered what the fuck Tommy was doing when he’d first gotten with her, since all of us had remembered her as his younger brother Mick’s girl, but it didn’t take long to see how well they fit together. Honestly, Hawk was the kind of chick that any guy would fit with—and I didn’t mean that disrespectfully. She was fun, sweet when she wanted to be, smart as shit, and she didn’t take crap from anyone. Girl was her own person and didn’t give a fuck about what other people thought, and hell if that wasn’t attractive as shit.
I glanced at Copper and noticed that he was probably thinking the exact same thoughts as I was, but his weren’t quite as innocent. He’d better get that look off his face before Tommy saw him or we’d have problems.
“You got a woman back home?” I asked pointedly, making eye contact.
His lips tipped up a bit as he gave me a slight nod of acknowledgement. “Nah,” he said with a shrug. “Free as a bird at the moment.”
“Snatch he was with before was crazy,” Bob—or whatever his name was—piped in.
“Hey,” Copper said darkly. “She’s none of your fuckin’ business.”
“Sorry,” Bob said quickly, raising his hand in surrender.
“Had a girlfriend all through high school and for the past few years,” Copper clarified simply. “Didn’t work out.”
“That why you’re lookin’ to change chapters?” Tommy asked.
“Part of it,” Copper replied.
I barely paid any attention as conversation veered in another direction. I could understand wanting to move to a different state after being burned by a woman. Back in the day, I would have done anything to get away from Cecilia. I’d been too young and dumb to cut ties when I should have and that mess had gone on a lot longer than I should’ve allowed. Most of the hard feelings I had about Cecilia had pretty much disappeared over time—being around someone once you got out from under their spell does that—but I still fucking hated Mouth.
I looked around the room as the music got louder and found my sister and Cam mauling each other in the corner. It wasn’t anything new. Going at it wherever they were was pretty standard on the rare nights that they didn’t have my nephews with them.
Callie Hawthorne and Farrah were sitting with Lily and Rose at a table across the room, and it looked like Lily’s mom was telling a story, because no one else was talking, just laughing as she waved her hands around in the air. Lily had a grin on her face as she leaned forward, her face tilted toward the table in front of her. She didn’t look pissed anymore, but I was going to steer clear of her for the rest of the night, just in case.
She was turning out to be all kinds of gorgeous. I’d predicted it when she was just a little thing, but honest to God, she’d surpassed all expectations. She and Rose looked really similar, more like sisters than Lily and Cecilia, but where Rose’s features and build were round and soft, Lily was delicate.
“Not sure if it would be better if you were eye fuckin’ my mom and aunt or the girls,” Tommy said derisively, kicking my chair. “Knock it off.”
I spun my head in his direction, then took a second as the room seemed to tilt. Shit. Way too much booze. I was going to feel it tomorrow.
“What?” I asked stupidly, focusing on his face.
“Quit staring over there,” he said, shaking his head. “My dad or Uncle Casper are going to see you.”
“I wasn’t staring,” I mumbled, taking a drink of my mostly empty beer.
“Yeah, you were,” Hawk said, chuckling. “I don’t even think you blinked.”
“Fuck off.”
“Who’re they?” Copper asked, glancing in Lily’s direction.
He’d better turn the fuck away before I knocked his ass out.
“My mom, aunt, and baby sister and cousin,” Tommy said, his voice filled with warning.
“Hey, just curious,” Copper replied, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
“Keep your curiosity to yourself,” I snapped.
“Jesus, Leo,” Hawk murmured. “Go sleep it off already.”
“I’m good.” I shook my head slightly. “Gonna get another beer. You want one?”
“I want one,” Tommy answered.
“Wasn’t talkin’ to you, asshole.”
I got up and made my way to the bar, weaving through the crowd. The place wasn’t as packed as it usually was during a party, but there were still quite a few people hanging out. Members and their old ladies or side-pieces, women looking to get laid, some hangers-on that were trying to weasel into the club and didn’t realize that partying with us wasn’t the way to do that. It took initiative, hard work, and loyalty. Loyalty was the most important.