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I clenched my fists and tried to control my temper. It would not be cool to get up off this couch and punch that woman in the throat.
“Yes,” Bayou said.
He didn’t say another word, so it was obvious that he wasn’t even going to tell her why he thought she was his, only that she was and there was no other questioning why.
Brielle took the hint, luckily, and moved to the fireplace where she took a seat and crossed her arms over her chest, and took up glaring holes through me.
I wasn’t sure if she was mad at me because I was holding Isa, or because Bayou was standing behind the couch playing with my hair.
He’d been doing that in full view of the others since I’d walked in the room.
First it was a kiss to the cheek—which my sister caught, causing her mouth to fall open. Then it was giving up his seat and placing Isa in my arms only to show back up moments later with a cup of sweet tea and a cookie. That had caught Rome’s attention, and he and his wife, Izzy, had been whispering like little old church ladies ever since.
Finally, it was him walking to the back of the couch and leaning against it as he alternated with playing with my hair and rubbing my neck that caught the rest of the guys’ attention.
Though, they looked less surprised by it.
Apparently, we hadn’t been as circumspect with our feelings with them as we had been with each other. It’d only been oblivious for us. Which Castiel, another member of the club and a police officer/detective for Bear Bottom PD, had informed us of.
Castiel had said that ‘he knew it’ and had left it at that as he’d gone to the kitchen and planted himself at the bar that separated the kitchen from the living room.
Apparently the preliminary ‘Bayou now has a kid’ meeting had taken place while we were otherwise occupied, and Rome had filled everybody in on what had happened with the baby mama.
A weird sound came from the kitchen, and I turned to see Castiel already standing from his perch on a barstool and walking to a radio that was plugged in under a set of cabinets.
He came back moments later, turning it up and placing it on the bar which almost every single man there stared at and waited.
It didn’t take long for the lady to come on the line.
“Bear Bottom Fire, we need you en route to Bear Bottom High School for a…”
Everyone was up and moving all at once, even Brielle, cutting off the rest of what was said by the dispatcher.
Everyone but Bayou, who was still playing with a curl of my hair.
“You not coming?” Brielle asked, trying not to let her annoyance with Bayou’s hand in my hair show.
“No,” he declined. “Isa’s here. And it’s late. I don’t want to take her.”
“You have to go,” Brielle argued. “You’re the one with the most authority.”
“And the one that doesn’t piss Zee off when he’s working,” Hoax pointed out.
“Why would Zee get pissed off?” I asked.
Zee was actually Ezekiel, and a member of the club. He was really quite odd, odder than most if you could believe it. Though he made up for his oddities by being super good at everything he did, and very nice when you did get him to talk.
He liked to hang out in the dark shadows like me, though where I always did it so I could read my books, Zee did it so he could avoid talking to people and watch the comings and goings around him.
“Zee doesn’t get along with a few of the other volunteer fire departments.” Bayou stood up straight and stretched his arms up over his head, showing off a short expanse of belly as he did.
I wanted to lick it.
I did lick my lips.
“I sense a story,” I said, sounding somewhat giddy.
“It’s none of your business,” Brielle countered.
I turned my head and made eye contact with my sister. I widened my eyes to say ‘what the fuck is her problem?’ causing Pru to cover her mouth and start to laugh.
Bayou’s hand came down on my head, partially covering my eyes, having caught the look between me and my sister.
I couldn’t help but smile.
“What was it? I didn’t hear the rest of it,” Pru said, sounding tired.
“They need us to set up a LZ—landing zone—and shut down the road so that a helicopter can land,” Hoax explained. “A landing pad for the helicopter is at the high school.”
“Ohhh!” I cried out in excitement. “Can I go with you? I want to go with you!”
“I’m riding with him,” Brielle denied me. “We always…”
“You can ride with me,” Bayou offered. “If you promise to stay in the car with Isa and make sure she’s okay. I won’t be far away at all, but the loud noise of the helicopter might scare her, and I don’t want that to happen without someone she trusts with her.”
