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“I’m good,” she said, no longer whispering.
Thank fuck.
“I want to get rid of them and get back to what we were doing,” I said.
“We can hear you,” Dex said, the words garbled because he was eating again.
“You’re not getting rid of us, so go put a shirt on,” Silas added. “Sorry, Bridget.”
I winked at her, then went to get that shirt off the floor in the bedroom.
When I came back, she was perched on a stool between Silas and Dex, eating a section of sandwich and laughing at something Dex was saying.
“–as a businessman. And he held out a briefcase to put the candy in. Didn’t Farrah go as your secretary?”
He was talking about Halloween and me dressing up for trick or treating. I’d forgotten Farrah had done that.
“Who’s Farrah?” she asked, popping a barbecue flavored chip in her mouth.
“I grew up with her. Our parents are friends.”
I caught Silas’s look, but I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Farrah wasn’t anything more than a friend, no matter what he heard. I knew it. Farrah knew it. That was all that mattered.
“You weren’t even born when I did that,” I told Dex, reminding him that he was young as hell. Then I glanced at Bridget, who was even younger.
Five years younger.
Shit. I’d been in high school when she was born.
The guys caught on too but didn’t comment.
“What I don’t understand is why you wanted to be like Dad,” Dex continued.
I reached between him and Theo and snagged a section of sandwich from the counter. I’d bought several subs at the deli because I didn’t know what Bridget liked. With three extra mouths to feed, I was glad I did that.
“Because I didn’t know then how much of an asshole he was.”
“Our father was a dick,” Silas explained.
“Is your father a dick?” Dex asked. “I bet he’s not. You’re really nice, although there’s probably something wrong with you if you’re into Mav and not me. I’m younger. Cuter, too.”
“Jesus, Dex,” I muttered, going around the counter and leaning against it. They were using the four stools.
Bridget gave Dex a little eye waggle and a playful grin. “No. You’re right. My dad was a nice guy.”
We all picked up on the past tense. “Did he pass away?” Theo asked, using his soothing doctor voice.
She nodded. “When I was ten. My parents died in a car accident.”
“I’m sorry, baby,” I said. I went around to her, scooped her up and hugged her close. There was nothing I could do to make it better, but she’d know I would comfort her. For a stunned moment, she was stiff in my hold, then she relaxed and hugged me back.
The guys offered murmurs of agreement.
I finally let her go, when all I wanted to do was toss her over my shoulder again and carry her off to some quiet, non-brother filled room. But I didn’t. I set her back on the stool and gave her room.
“Our father’s dead too,” Dex told her, as if he was telling her he also liked mustard.
“Did you get hit in the head during practice?” I asked. He had zero tact, but it had turned the conversation off of Bridget’s parents’ deaths.
