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Not that I don’t butt heads with my people. As soon as I walk back to the family room, I know Ruin’s ready to give me shit. I take a plate of food from Xenia who finally stops working and goes to eat with Hobo.
I walk onto the deck to avoid Ruin reaming me out in front of a cranky Goose, smug Tomcat, and the edgy, younger guys. Hobo and Xenia have a way of ignoring people, and they do just that when Ruin and Armor follow me.
“You need to be careful with that woman,” Ruin says immediately.
“You used to be cool, man,” I mutter. “What happened to the guy I considered a friend? Has domestication killed your kind heart?”
“Shut up.”
Armor rolls his eyes and steps between us. “You handled the problem in Banta City.”
“That I did. I killed a few guys. I charmed my hot girlfriend’s powerful mom. Got in nice with some bikers who went ahead and killed the rest of our problem. I did good,” I say and toss a bite of egg in my mouth before adding, “Goose helped. Your sister blasted one guy like she was channeling John Wick. You’d have been proud of her.”
Armor smirks at my words. “Yes, I know Goose can hold her own.”
“But you worried.”
As his smile fades, he nods. “I did.”
“But we’re home now, and things can get back to normal.”
Ruin watches me for a minute before muttering, “Austen Halvorson needs to be treated with kid gloves.”
“Because you’ve got a beef with her fuckwit dad?”
“No, because she looks like Selene does when she’s about to fall apart.”
His response isn’t what I expect, so I continue eating and let him say his piece.
“She doesn’t look healthy, man. Can’t you see that?”
“They nearly killed her a few days ago, so, yeah, I get it.”
“Not really. I didn’t get it with Selene. When she flipped out, I figured she just needed to get a night’s rest and we’d be fine. But that’s how I’d handle something, not her. Austen looks ready to shatter.”
“I’ve already given everyone a lecture on dialing down the crazy around the Pigsty. Can we let Austen have a few days to settle in before we start breaking out the intervention plans?”
“In the past,” Ruin says between gritted teeth as he attempts to control his temper, “you’ve had impulse-control issues.”
“How do you figure?”
“It’s all the bullshit from your parents. Their insane rules made you crazy. As soon as you were free, you ate too much, drank too much, fucked too much, got stoned too much. You tend to overdo it. I’m worried that’s what happened here.”
“Well, worry no more because I’m in control.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’ve got mad skills,” I say with bacon in my mouth. “I just organized a great surprise for Austen. She’s going to be fucking thrilled. Don’t you worry.”
“You’re making me worry more.”
“You know what this is?” I ask, and Armor fights a grin as I poke at our president. “You got yourself all worked up for a big battle. Now, you need to foist that energy elsewhere, and you you’ve chosen my love life as your target. Why don’t you go give Goose advice instead?”
“About what?” Armor asks, grim now.
“She’s nursing a big crush on Austen’s gal pal, Coco. As you know, Goose doesn’t believe in romance. She normally only wants to ride dicks and smash lady bits. Her heart doesn’t know how to handle all these gross emotions.”
Armor frowns annoyed at me. “And what exactly would Ruin tell her?”
