Page 21 of Deck the Skulls
“When?” she challenged.
Suddenly, he gave her that charming grin that made his entire face go from pretty to gorgeous. “When you were three doubles in. You’re chatty with some good whiskey in you.”
She felt her face get hot. “Oh fuck, what else did I say?”
His grin disappeared, replaced with a soft, kind expression. “You told us about your mom being an addict. I’m sorry your childhood was so difficult. I promise, Anatoly and I don’t have any substance abuse problems. My friend’s sister is struggling with addiction, so I know it can be hard for everyone involved.”
Out of all the reactions he could’ve had to finding out she was the bastard daughter of a drug addict, that wasn’t one she ever expected. Hearing about her unstable childhood should've made him wary. Unstable children tended to create unstable adults. For all he knew, she could be a druggie thief looking to cash in on their trust.
But no, he was giving her more grace than even her flesh and blood family was willing to.
She forced herself to blink back tears. “Um, can we forget I talked about that?”
He spread his arms open, inviting her in for a hug. “We can do whatever you need.”
There was no thinking, only instinct. She pressed herself into his embrace with a sigh of relief. He wrapped his long arms around her, hugging and rocking her gently. It was heavenly.
The hug only stopped because she ended it. They were out in the open and while a hug wasn’t much in the way of public affection, it still made her feel awkward.
“Thanks,” she said, looking up at him.
“My arms are always open to you, anywhere, anytime.” Offering her his arm again, he nodded his head down the street.“Now, about that breakfast? I could really use some sausages right now.”
“Sure,” she agreed. “Let's go.”
The Pack House was busy, and Rissa didn’t think they’d be seated right away, except Jesse saw them and pointed to a table half filled with people.
“Do you mind sitting with some of my friends?” Zan asked. She could tell he wanted her to meet them but didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
Her first instinct was to ask to wait until they could have a table alone, but then thought better of it.
Outside of work and volunteering, she didn’t do much socializing. Except for a few of the other volunteers, she didn’t have anyone she would call a friend. Maybe it was time to broaden her group.
“Sure,” she agreed, then was hit by a wave of anxiety. “I hope they won’t get upset if I can’t remember everyone’s names.”
Taking her hand, he led her to the table. “Trust me, everyone will love you.”
Standing at the empty end of the table, Zan pointed to a man who had a colorfully dressed woman with impeccable makeup sitting on his lap. “This is Mikey and in his lap is Maddy.”
Then he pointed to the three people sitting next to Mikey and Maddy. “This is Harper and Silas. The little guy trapped between them is Tag. I promise, he wants to be there. They're not holding him hostage.”
Harper and Silas were both large and muscular. In fact, Harper might be the most muscled woman Rissa had ever seen in the flesh. It was both beautiful and intimidating! Snuggled between them was Tag, startlingly smaller than the other two. He also had the darkest eyes Rissa had ever seen. Could someone have black irises?
“Finally, this is Briar and Memphis,” he said, gesturing to the couple on the other side of the table. “If you ever need non-lethal revenge on someone, talk to Briar. She’ll get it done.”
“Oh yeah?” Rissa asked, taking the empty seat. “What kind of non-lethal things?”
Briar grinned at her and ran fingers through her turquoise hair. “Fucking up their credit, getting them declared legally dead, spreading their social on the dark web, imbedding viruses on all their computers. Stuff like that. If they’re local, I’ll even key their car.”
Maddy laughed. “I promise she’s not evil. She’s a white hat hacker.”
Briar rolled her eyes but gave Maddy a fond smile. “I’m not a white hat. I’m a morally gray hat, and I’m happy that way.” Then she patted Memphis’s arm. “Now, if you need some lethal revenge, this is your guy. He’s got all the moves!”
The scruff- biker-looking dude blushed and ducked down to give her a kiss. “Aww, baby doll, you say the sweetest things.”
“Um, Rissa,” Zan said, drawing her attention. He looked concerned. “They don’t actually mean it.”
“Oh damn, that’s disappointing,” she said, making everyone at the table laugh.