A smile.
Then Decoy was scooped up by Rubi, and I lost him.
Nash kissed my cheek. “You okay there, Orls?”
I hummed a vague answer.
He laughed. “Me too. Look at him, though. He’s so hot when he’s happy.”
I followed Nash’s gaze to Locke. He was with Ranger, laughing, his green eyes shining with the emotion he wasn’t afraid to show. He’d never been more beautiful, and as Alexei crossed the room to embrace Folk, perhaps none of us had.
The room calmed in a way it only did when we were all here. Rubi dumped an enormous plate of food in front of Folk, but the joke was on him. For a slim man, Folk could eat.
Nash’s growly chuckle cuddled my bones again, his arms around me, chest pressed to my spine. He felt so good, so right, but as my gaze swept the room and landed on my overly emotional big brother, I felt the pull in my heart to be somewhere else.
I disentangled myself from Nash’s embrace and swivelled to kiss him. “There’s a plate for you in the oven. Saint and Ranger too, if Rubi didn’t steal it all to swamp Folk. Will you eat? Please? I need to check on Cam.”
Nash rubbed his belly. “Woman, when have you ever needed to persuade me to eat?”
More often than he likely knew. But I took his answer for what it was and left him to feed himself unsupervised while I checked in with my brother. Mypresident.Not that I gave a toss about that.
I advanced on Cam and gave Saint the universal signal to move out of my way.
He rose, hopefully to join Nash in the kitchen.
I plopped into his seat. “I want to ride home tonight.”
Cam flicked me a glare. “No fucking chance.”
“Why not?”
“You’re safer in the car, preferably with Locke driving.”
“What’s wrong with my driving?”
“You drive everything like you stole it.”
“I drive like Dataughtme.”
“Yeah, well.” Cam jammed an unlit cigarette in his mouth. “Locke drives like he was taught by people who scrape up crash victims for a living, so I’m sticking with him.”
“It’s not your decision. I came over as a courtesy.”
At that, Cam laughed. “No, you didn’t. You came over to annoy me on purpose so I wouldn’t start bawling at the dinner table again.”
Guilty as charged. There was no earthly reason for Cam to be ashamed of how much he cared about anyone. About the gut punch of emotion he’d felt at the news that Folk was okay. But this life had damaged him, and he was fragile. Sometimes he needed a break. “I still want to ride home.”
“The answer’s stillno.”
“Why? I’ll go before it gets dark.”
Cam really wanted the cigarette stuffed between his lips. He jerked his head at the door, gesturing for me to follow him outside.
It was rare that I did as I was told, but I was serious about giving him a reprieve.
Out in the yard, I rubbed my arms against the wind gusting in from the sea.
Cam lit his smoke. “Don’t complain. You don’t have to be out here.”