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Raven shrugged as she continued to clean up the mess that she had made putting together my sandwiches. “Bash is still sleeping. Hawk took Gracie out for a ride. Raider and Colt are over at Matt and Tanner’s house. And Willa went for a run. It’s just me and Lexa for the moment.”
“So I’m crashing girl bonding?”
Raven wrinkled her nose. “Yes, but it’s okay. We like having male attention, don’t we Lexa?”
The three-year-old giggled again and nodded. “We like you, Uncle Spider.”
I touched a huge finger to her little button nose. “I like you too, Lexa.”
I was just swallowing the last of my second sandwich when the backdoor opened and in a sweating Willa walked. She didn’t glance my way as she went to the fridge, took out a pitcher of water and poured herself a large glass. Raven moved around as if she didn’t notice the other female, cleaning up the drops of milk Lexa had dripped on the table.
My body reacted instantly to the sight of her. She was wearing short, tight, neon pink running shorts with a white tank top that showcased the fact that she was wearing a neon pink sports bra underneath. Her toned thighs and calves flexed with every step she took. Her hair was a mess with damp strands falling from her ponytail and clinging to her neck and face. She looked exactly how I remembered her most evenings back in Vegas four years ago. My balls tightened, making it nearly impossible to stay seated without causing myself some irreversible harm.
I stood and took my empty plate to the sink to rinse. It had been a while since I had been in the Hannigan house, but I was more comfortable here than I was at my uncle’s house. Before Bash had come back and brought Willa and Lexa with him I’d been a regular in this house for dinner. Raven had taken care of me and I would always take care of her.
The sink was right beside the fridge where Willa was still standing with her back to the room as she gulped down the rest of her water before filling the glass up again. She shut the fridge door and turned to face me. I was surprised she wasn’t glaring at me, but she sure as hell wasn’t happy to see me. “I guess you’ve decided to untuck that tail of yours and come back around.”
I stiffened at her accusing me of being a cowardly dog. Sure, I hadn’t been coming around to visit Raven. She had enough shit on her plate at the moment without me adding my shit to it. She would want to take sides and I didn’t want her to do that when she was just now starting to accept Willa. “Figured I’d let the waters calm down here before I stuck my toes in it and made them muddy again,” I bit out. She raised a brow at me but didn’t say another word to me as she moved to sit at the table beside Lexa.
“Lexa, go wake your daddy up,” Raven told the little girl. “He doesn’t get to sleep all day just because he came home at two in the morning.”
“Don’t get mad at him, Rave,” I told her as I dropped down into my chair again. “He was out with me.”
Lexa bounced out of the room before Raven turned to frown at me. “I’m not mad at him because he was out with you.”
She might not have been mad about that, but it was obvious that she was mad at him about something. I reached for her hand, tugging her toward me so I could look at her closer. Her face was pale, and I could see that her eyes were tired. “Are you feeling okay?” I asked, noticing that her hands were trembling slightly.
“Just an upset stomach, Spider.” She gave me a small smile and pulled away, busying herself with more cleaning.
“Again?” Willa inquired with a concerned look on her beautiful face. “You’ve had one all week. Maybe you should see the doctor?”
“It’s nothing. I’m fine.” Raven’s tone was firm but she smiled a little as she wiped down that table again. “I know what’s wrong with me. I’ll be okay.”
Before I could even open my mouth to ask her what it was that was wrong with her the backdoor opened again and Gracie walked in. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair was a mess, but she looked happy as she greeted us before practically skipping through the kitchen headed for the stairs. A minute later Hawk came in with a grin on his face.
Seeing Hawk Hannigan grin was a rare event. He was always so serious and brooding-looking. Next to Jet he was the Hannigan you didn’t want to fuck with. He was the reason that I was working my ass off trying to find out what Kevin Samson was up to. If I didn’t find out what that little scumbag was doing then people I loved would end up hurt.
“What’s for dinner, Rave?” Hawk asked as he pulled a beer out of the fridge before dropping down into his usual seat at the table. “I’m starving.”
“Spaghetti, garlic bread, and salad.” She winked at me when I grinned up at her. She was making my favorite. “Apple cake for dessert.” I groaned in appreciation and she squeezed my shoulder as she passed. “I have to fatten some people up around here. They’re wasting away into nothing.”
As soon as Gracie returned to the kitchen she started helping Raven make dinner. The cake was going into the oven when Bash joined us. When Gracie greeted him he grumbled something unintelligible and dropped down in the chair between me and Willa.
“You didn’t drink that much last night, bro.” Bash shook his head and leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed as if he were going to go back to sleep right there. “You feeling sick too?”
“Nope. Just didn’t get to sleep until nearly six.” His eyes snapped open. “Who’s sick?”
“No one is sick,” Raven assured him as she placed a mug of black coffee down in front of him. “You wouldn’t have been up until six this morning if you weren’t trying so fucking hard to get me pregnant.”
There should have been fog in the room the way the temperature dropped so quickly on one side of the table and while it got scorching hot on the other. I watched as Bash’s face paled while Hawk’s turned blood red, his nostrils flaring. I gritted my teeth, not sure how I felt about Raven’s accusation and who I was going to protect if—when—Hawk reached for Bash to beat his brains out.
Raven was obviously good mother material. The way she had taken over as Lexa’s mother figure even though she had and still was struggling to accept the fact that Bash had had a kid with someone else, proved that to me. The thought of Raven pregnant, however, just didn’t sit well with me. Yes, I knew she had sex—had actually walked in on her and Bash just a few weeks ago. That didn’t mean I wanted even more proof of the girl I thought of as my sister actually having sex.
If I was having those feelings then I knew that Hawk—and any of her other three brothers—wasn’t going to take it well either. It wasn’t going to matter that Bash was the MC’s president.
“Raven…” Bash started but she cut him off with a glare that would freeze over an active volcano.
“Don’t try to make excuses. I’ve known for a while now that you were trying, but by then it was too late to do anything to stop you.” Raven slammed her hand down on the table making Gracie jump and Willa flinch. “Congratulations. You can stop trying now.”
