“Astrid is right here,” she said, finally tired of watching the discussion. “I like breakfast meat. However, I’m allergic to the protein enzymes in pork. It’s rare, but I guess it’s my superpower. Since most bar kitchens come into contact with it, I just don’t take the risk.”
The three men all stared at her for a moment in disbelief.
“Did you just assume since my name is Astrid, I grew up in a commune living on organic leaf clippings?”
“Yes?” Parker said with a smirk on his face.
“If our name dictated our world, Parker, then you would be sitting at the country club dressed in a white tennis sweater with Buffy, your fiancée, on your arm,” she said, straightening her shoulders in defiance.
Parker’s smirk was replaced with a scowl. When she heard a snicker, she turned to Liam.
“You would be a bare-knuckle boxer with too many concussions and broken noses.” He looked at her with a grin.
“And Ronan,” she added, figuring she was on a roll so she might as well finish. “Would be infiltrating the KGB looking for double agents.”
“Hey, how come he gets to be a spy?” Liam grouched at his twin. After a few silent moments, the brothers all began to laugh until Astrid couldn’t help but join in.
She remembered Dean, her friend Sam’s new husband, describing being around Sam as falling down a rabbit hole. She hadn’t understood what that meant until now.
All three men acted like it was nothing unusual to have a half-dressed woman eating breakfast with them. Wait, maybe it wasn’t. She narrowed her eyes at Parker watching him dig into a pile of pancakes.
“What?” he finally asked, looking across the table at her.
“I’m just trying to figure out how I got here. The last thing I remember was sitting in a booth in the bar last night. Maybe someone like you is used to eating breakfast in the morning with the ‘drunk girl,’ but this is completely new to me.”
Astrid watched as Parker’s eyebrows almost disappeared in his hair at her statement. “And what happened to my pants?”
“Someone like me?” he asked, his scowl back.
“That’s hysterical. Ronan, can you remember Parker ever bringing a girl up here? It’s like living in a monastery,” Liam points out with a snort.
Astrid was beginning to think there was more to the sullen bartender than she thought. Downstairs, he was everyone’s friend. He listened to their problems and broke up their fights before they got out of hand. This morning though, he just looked tired.
He stood to rinse his plate in the sink and slid it into the dishwasher.
“You two go get started. I’ll be down in a second.” She watched as his brothers stood.
“It was nice to meet you, Astrid,” Liam mumbled as they both walked out of the apartment.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply anything,” she said when they had both disappeared out the door.
“It’s fine,” Parker said, putting the orange juice away. She doubted they ever had leftovers with two growing teenagers. “I’ll get your clothes. You threw up on them in the middle of the night, so I helped you change. I laid fresh towels and a spare toothbrush out in the bathroom. When you're dressed, just come find me downstairs.”
He disappeared into a small room right off the kitchen. He returned with her clothes from last night neatly folded. Setting them on the table next to her, he left the apartment without another word.
She decided the bathroom was remarkably clean considering three men shared it. Putting her hair up in a ponytail, she took a quick shower. She then brushed her teeth with the toothbrush Parker had set out for her.
Feeling at least a little more human, she gathered up her purse and headed downstairs. She stepped into the hallway leading back into the bar. There was an argument ensuing. She stopped in the hallway, not wanting to intrude.
“Ronan, I can’t just skip out on the bar to take you to meet your friends tonight,” Parker said.
“It’s just dinner and a movie. You can drop us off and pick us back up, you don’t have to stay.”
Astrid realized she was standing against the wall listening to their conversation. So much for not wanting to intrude. This seemed worse. She suddenly stepped forward with a brilliant idea.
“I can take them,” she said, bursting into the room. Parker turned and stared at her as if she had materialized from the underworld. The twins, however, grabbed at the opportunity.
“Yeah, Parker, Astrid can take us,” Liam said, grinning at her.
