This protection detail is going to be an interesting one.
Isla rolls her eyes at her sister. “You can’t be mad at me for giving him a sex education moment. I mean, he’s a guy. Most of the time when they’re his age, they aren’t thinking with the right brain.”
“I don’t need a lecture from my sister,” Sawyer snaps, anger leaking out, but I’ll give him props that he doesn’t yell or get in her face about it.
“Alright, enough,” Avery barks. “Both of you. Isla, you cannot go around talking to people like that, and you certainly don’t get to talk to Sawyer that way. He is smart enough to know about sex and if he has questions, I’ll be the one to answer them, not you. Now, stop objectifying Hulk and making him uncomfortable.”
“Am I making you uncomfortable, Hulk?” Isla asks me innocently, blinking up at me owlishly.
I nearly laugh, but I swallow it down. God, any boy who thinks about dating this girl is in for a world of surprise and craziness. I almost feel sorry for them. I also feel sorry for any woman that Sawyer thinks about dating because Isla is going to be a strong-willed sister that they’re going to need to learn to deal with.
“I’m good,” I tell her easily. “But your sister is right,” I add when she turns to send a smug smile at her sister. That stops her and she scowls when she looks back up at me. “I do think that purposely embarrassing your brother isn’t a great way to stay on his good side. Especially considering none of you really know me.” Sawyer shoots me a grateful look, and Rose gives me a wide smile of approval. When I glance at Avery, I see her watching me thoughtfully. At least she’s not pissed at me for saying something to her sister.
Isla regards me through narrowed eyes, but finally nods and says, “Alright, I get that.” She turns to look at her brother. “Sorry, big brother.” Sawyer looks surprised but nods his acceptance. Then he shoots me a look that’s a mixture ofwowandhow the hell did you manage that?Isla draws my attention back to her when she suddenly says, “I’m sorry to you too, Hulk. I was just joking, but I guess that was in poor taste. You know, considering everything that’s happened and why you can’t have a shirt on.” She pats my arm gently. “I’m glad Avery’s got you taken care of.” She steps away and sits in her seat.
“Who are you and what have you done with my sister?” Avery demands, eyes wide.
“Ahh, the teenage years.” Rose sighs, grinning when Avery looks at her like she’s lost her mind. “I have not missed this, though I will say it wasn’t as entertaining with three boys instead of a girl.” She winks at Isla. “But I have a feeling she would have been just like you if I had a daughter myself. Now, all of you sit down and let me feed you.”
I take the open seat beside Avery that Thea left, and Avery slides a glance over at me. She doesn’t say anything, but I see her eyes dip down to take in my chest and abs. I bite back a grin. Oh, I definitely can work with this. Maybe playing guard for her and her siblings will be just the thing for me to find out more about my devilish angel and make her mine.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
AVERY
I’m pretty sure my brain short-circuited for a second.
Why doesthis man have to be so hot? And why the hell haven’t I insisted on him putting on a shirt? I mean, he doesn’t have to walk around half-naked; a shirt won’t irritate his stitches other than maybe making them a bit itchy or something every once in a while, but that’s easy enough to handle. Instead, I have to sit here, pretending like all those muscles don’t affect me.
He’s not the first hot guy I’ve seen, but damn it, he’s the only one who’s ever made me take notice for longer than a few seconds. Maybe it’s my brain processing this whole business weirdly, but this entire thing is just a pain in the butt. I need to remember he—for all intents and purposes—is my patient. Not to mention, he’s also a man who has been through some horrific things, and that can take a long time to get over. He doesn’t need a woman lusting after him too.
So that settles it, I’m going to get a grip on myself and act professional.
“You’ve been staring at my abs for the last few minutes,” he suddenly whispers in my ear, startling me. “Had I known you would be that mesmerized by me, I’d have found us a quieter spot for you to look and touch.”
Shit. “Sorry, I zoned out,” I say casually, lifting my eyes back to his. Damn it. They’re full of amusement, and a heat that I really wish wasn’t there. I don’t need to know this is reciprocated. “I did notice that the bruising on your belly is going down, though.” There, that’s better. Back to medical professionalism. “And your ribs are starting to lose the black and blue and go more green and yellow, so those seem to be healing nicely.”
His lips quirk up into a knowing smile, but he nods. “Yeah, things are getting better. Still stiff and sore, but the shower helped.” The mention of the shower instantly brings back the image of him standing there naked and just how perfect he looks without any clothes on. Damn it! He winks at me, clearly knowing the direction of my thoughts, and I try to fight back the blush that I can feel heating the back of my neck. Thank God I left my hair down today.
I force myself to look over at Isla and Sawyer, who are watching me with a mixture of amusement and a smug knowingness that makes me roll my eyes at them. Thankfully, neither of them says anything, and instead, Sawyer tells Hulk, “Torque showed me your bike and all the modifications you did to it. Was it hard to do that?”
Hulk shrugs. “Some things are, but I had Torque and the guys at the shop do most of the hard stuff. They have smaller hands than I do for the finicky stuff that I hate doing. You’re interested in working on bikes?”
Sawyer nods, eyes lighting up in excitement to talk about one of his favorite topics. My heart swells a bit in my chest. He hasn’t had anyone in a long time who was willing to talk about it, orin my case understand it, and he’s soaking up the time with the guys around here as much as he can. “I want to be a mechanic,” he explains. “I’m good with my hands, and Dad and I liked to work on cars growing up. He taught me a lot. We rebuilt and restored old cars all the time.” A twinge of sadness fills his voice, but then he’s gone when he grins and adds, “And as soon as I get a job, I’m going to start saving up for one of my own to work on. Nothing fancy, but something I can make my own. Then, when I get my license in a few months, I also want to try and get my bike license too.”
Hulk smiles. “That sounds like a good plan to me. When you’re ready to buy something, make sure you talk to Torque or one of us. We’ll make sure that you’re not getting ripped off. Might be able to give you some help on things that you need too.”
Sawyer nods and smiles. “Thanks. Torque offered already and said he’d keep an eye out if something comes in that might be a good fit. I’m patient, though, so I don’t mind waiting for a bit to get the right thing.”
“Good. Patience is key in life.”
“It’s annoying how patient he can be,” Isla huffs. “Do you know how many times I’ve tried to piss him off on purpose over the years and all he does is stare at me or walk away? It’s infuriating.” She glares at her brother, sticking her tongue out at him. Sawyer just gives her a bland stare in return.
“God, you two remind me of Torque and King when they were younger,” Rose laughs. Her eyes sparkle with laughter and memories. “King would do everything to ruffle Torque’s feathers, and Torque would just walk away or ignore him for the most part. There were a few times we had to pull them off each other, but thankfully those were few and far between. Well, at least until they were all teenagers.” She rolls her eyes. “I still say girls would have been easier.”
“You say that, but I have a couple of friends with sisters and they’re just mean and sneaky when they’re trying to get back at each other,” Isla states, shaking her head. “One time, one of my friend’s sisters took a limited-edition plate and tossed it into a sink full of water just because my friend took one of her favorite shirts and got a stain on it.” She looks over at me. “Aren’t you glad I’m not like that?”
I arch a brow at her. “Says the one who got pissed at me a couple of months ago and hid my car keys in the back of the toilet making me super late for work. All because I accidentally embarrassed you in school by talking to some boy you liked and somehow making you seem like some kind of nutcase. Still not sure how I did that, but sure, you’re not like your friends.” I roll my eyes. A part of me has always been glad that Isla is so much younger than me or we probably would have been exactly like her friends and their sisters, but probably worse.
