“Why, you want a matching pair? Don’t be weird, Judy.”
I walked up to Beau—fully aware of Judy watching us—and placed my hands low on his hips from behind. He stiffened at the touch, his hands stilling as I leaned down and nuzzled my nose against his soft—holy fuck, it was like velvet—cheek.
“Morning, doll,” I murmured, pressing my lips to his cheek. I wanted to let my tongue run wild all over his face. His neck. The rest of his body.
Beau trembled in my arms, and I couldn’t see his face to gauge what he was feeling, but when he leaned back into me, my heart began to race. A satisfying sense of triumph coursed through me, and I squeezed his hips, unable to stop myself from kissing him just above his ear.
“G-good morning,” he said softly.
He was so, so warm, and I wanted to drag him back to the room and demand he cuddle me.
When I heard the click of a camera, I whipped around to find Judy grinning with her phone pointed at us.
I’d completely forgotten she was here.
“I swear to god if you send that to the family group chat I’m going to smother you in your sleep,” I warned, starting towardher. She grinned like an asshole as she dodged my attempts to grab her phone.
“Oh no, my finger slipped,” she cackled.
Motherfucker.
“Was there seriously not a hotel you could’ve stayed at? God, why are you here?” I loved Judy—I did—but she was a little chaos gremlin that tried my patience. Fucking little sisters. Ugh. She was a pampered princess and an utter pest. I blamed our parents for spoiling her so much.
I also blamed myself, because I’d spoiled the shit out of her growing up.
I still did.
We were all to blame, just one big family of enablers.
Judy stuck her bottom lip out in a faux pout. “Because I love my brother and it’s been over a year since I’ve seen you. I mean, you didn’t even come for Mom’s birthday. Or Dad’s. Or mine. Or Liam’s. Or Fluffy’s.”
Even the fucking hamster had a birthday?
“Because I’ve been working! Running a bar isn’t some easy job I get to take breaks from whenever I want to. I can’t just up and leave whenever it suits me. It’s been a rough year with a lot of turnover.”
“Pshaw. You could’ve taken a few days off, at the very least. Whatever. I’m here now, and I get the delightful privilege of being the first in the family to get to know your future husband.”
Christ almighty.
I glanced at Beau, who looked like he wanted to slip through a crack in the floor and never be found. I was already regretting letting him go through with this. It wasn’t fair to him. He’d told me it wouldn’t make him uncomfortable, but I could see through that lie.
Actually, I was pretty sure it was Judy that was causing all ofhis discomfort. She was so oblivious and couldn’t read a room if her life depended on it.
I turned to Judy, raised my brows, and said, “Please behave. Please. I have no issue kicking you out if you make Beau uncomfortable. Zero. I mean it, Judes.”
Judy looked insulted and turned to Beau. “Do I make you uncomfortable, Beau?”
Beau, who was quietly scraping eggs onto three different plates, looked over at her. “N-no,” he said.
Sexy little liar. I didn’t want eggs, I just wanted him.
Judy looked back at me and raised a brow. “See? No issues here. You know what is an issue? The seagull that came and pecked on my window this morning. I swear it was possessed or something, it looked so evil. And then it pooped while staring me straight in the eye.” She shivered. “Oh, Lee Lee, is that place on Randolph with the mini muffins still there? I’ve been dying to get some of those lemon poppyseeds forforever.” She returned to her stool and started typing on her phone.
With a frustrated sigh, I said, “Yes. It’s still there.” I walked over to Beau and murmured, “Hey. You good?”
He nodded, but I noticed how his hands were trembling as he moved the bacon from the pan to a plate that had paper towels on it to catch the grease. I carefully took the pan and the fork from him and said, “Here, I got it. Go sit.”
He opened his mouth like he was about to argue—which, fuck, I really wanted him to. Beau asserting himself? Yes, please. But he didn’t, he just took the stool next to Judy.