Page 35 of Crave Me
CHAPTER 9
Wren
I shove my way between the wall of muscle that is Killian and Finn, holding tight to my towel. Poor Evan is standing behind the counter with my niece in his arms and his jaw hanging open. Sol and Sofia ease away when I reach him and round on my brothers. “Seriously, I can’t take a damn shower without you bozos picking a fight with my date.”
“Date?” Angus bellows, motioning to my towel. “Since when do dates involve getting naked and taking showers?”
“Not my fault you haven’t had sex in two non-fucking years,” I answer just as sweetly.
Molly huffs. “Not my fault either,” she says, rolling her eyes.
“Seriously, Wren?” Killian tells me.
As a retired professional fighter, and the biggest of the brood, he doesn’t have to yell to be heard. Not with his deep voice. That doesn’t make me any less pissed. “Seriously, what?” I ask. “I’m not doing anything you guys—except for Angus—don’t do all the time. And what the hell are all of you even doing here? You’re supposed to be in New York.”
“The press conference got cancelled,” Finn answers. He reaches for a piece of bacon, appearing to settle, with food so close to him. “Main card and their camps got into a fight. Everyone got kicked out of the hotel and we came home.” He cocks his head. “Didn’t you get our texts?”
I shake out a hand. “Nah, I was too busy having sex.”
I ignore the hollers, protests, and choruses of “what the fucks” and reach for my niece. “Hi, Fiona,” I say lifting her from Evan’s arms. She immediately starts to babble. “I know, I know, your daddy and uncles are out of control, but you still have Auntie Wren looking out for you. Oh, yes, you do.”
“Hey,” Curran snaps. “Don’t talk to my kid like that. We’re just trying to do the right thing.”
I grin. “Says the man who knocked up his wife out of wedlock.”
Tess reaches for Fiona when I turn. And even though she laughs, I can’t tell whose face is redder, hers or Curran’s. It doesn’t matter, at least not now. I reach for Evan’s hand. “Come on, let’s get back upstairs.”
More “what the fucks” followed by a couple of “you have to be shittin’ mes”. I lead Evan around the island, my chin jutting out when Killian cuts in front of me.
“Really?” I ask.
“Wren, this isn’t like you,” he counters.
“Which part?” I ask.
“Parading half naked guys in the kitchen in front of women and children,” he responds, his deep voice more like thunder.
“Would you rather I parade him in the living room?” I offer.
“You’re pissing me off,” he says.
“Am I?” I have to crane my neck since like I said, he’s the biggest, and as a former champion title holder, probably the baddest. But I don’t crane it for long, stealing a glance over my shoulder. “Hey, Sofia,” I call. “You going to put up with your man being all rude like this to his baby sister?”
Sofia’s willowy frame appears as she glides around the dense crowd of bodies, her long mane of curls almost as wide as she is. I don’t have to see Sol to know she’s seconds from laughing her ass off. They may be cousins, but Sol always lets her presence be known. Sofia is more like an apparition, her motions as subtle as her reaction. She knits her brow in disapproval. It doesn’t seem like much, but seeing how Kill’s loved her since before he got pubes, it’s enough.
“Killian,” she says, keeping her voice soft. “Be nice.”
His stare, which up until know could have sent a pack of pit bulls running, softens. He steps out of our way, allowing us through.
Of course, my brothers aren’t going to let me go that easy. They file out behind us. We don’t make it halfway up the stairs before Angus starts up again.
“This isn’t over,” he yells.
I point at him. “Just for that I’m going to straddle him when we get back to my room.”
More hollers, more cursing, more threats. I shut my bedroom door behind me, doing little to muffle their loud and irate grumbling.
My back smacks against the door as I fall against it, covering my face. “God, I’m so sorry.”