Page 103 of His to Love
He shrugged. “Whatever you want, honey.”
Chelsea’s backyard was the bomb, as I had learned the first time she’d had a girls’ night at her place. It was gorgeous and filled with trees, bushes, and flowering plants and had this firepit in the back corner that made you feel like you were in a wilderness oasis, without the risk of snakes and bears. The first time I was there, it reminded me of Colorado because it was so peaceful and the girls and I had hung out there a few times in the last couple of weeks, drinking wine around the fire, roasting marshmallows—or even better, when we skipped the marshmallows and just ate chocolate bars.
I freaking loved it.
I smiled at Chelsea. “We’re in.” Then I looked at Aidan. “What about you guys?”
Aidan’s eyes softened in a way I suspected meant he wanted to come but wouldn’t and he was trying to find a way to let Chelsea down easy.
Maybe it was the fact that I was finally in love and I wanted that for a friend of mine, who had been through so much that it made my heart clench, because I began to speak up. Then Derrick jumped in and almost shouted, “Yeah, that’d be awesome,” at the same time that Aidan muttered, “Sorry, Chelsea, but we can’t. Got something going on this weekend.”
Derrick’s eyes went to his dad. “We do?”
Aidan’s lips tightened but he said nothing.
I saw Chelsea frown and I lifted my shoulders. “We’re still in.”
“Awesome,” she said, only half meaning it. Then she slid out her credit card, but Tyson stopped her.
“We got dinner. You’re providing the fire later.”
“I couldn’t,” she started to stay.
“Trust me, Chelsea,” I said. “Let him pay. If you argue, you’ll lose and just have wasted your breath. Save it for something important.”
Next to me, Tyson chuckled.
Aidan and Declan grinned. That was when I knew they were the same kind of men Tyson was.
Good men.
Bossy men.
I loved that kind of man.
Chelsea gave in with a defeated sigh and reached for her purse. “Fine then, but I’m leaving a tip. I’ll go call the girls. I’ll see you in a bit?”
“Yup,” I returned as she slid off her stool. Then I watched her say goodbye to Declan and Derrick, before her eyes shifted and she barely managed to murmur a word to Aidan.
I gave her a smile when she walked away.
But I noticed when I turned back to the table I wasn’t the only one watching her leave, because Aidan’s eyes were trained on her back.
I smiled into my glass when I heard Tyson ask, “You doing anything Declan? Any chance you can get some time off and hang with us?”
One side of his lips rose into a sneer. “Nah. I’ve had some problems in the alley lately.”
Tyson’s interest piqued and his back straightened. “What kind of problems?”
Declan waved him off. “Probably just some little high school shits messing around by the dumpsters, but I want to stick around until close to see if I can stop them.”
“If you need me—,” Tyson started.
Declan scowled further. “I think I can handle teenage fuckers.”
Tyson lifted his hands and surrendered. “All right, man. Just checking.”
“Damn,” Aidan said, smirking as a waitress walked up with two plastic bags. I figured they were a to-go order Aidan must have called in before he arrived because she walked straight toward him. “Give the guy a lead job in the FBI and he thinks he’s the shit.”
