My brother and cousins would throw a huge fit, and someone would call Dad and I wouldn’t get my one night with Lyric.
“Wait,” I said and turned us toward where Monroe was sitting.
Several feet behind the couch, Maverick was sitting with River, so I waved my sister over. She rolled her eyes at me but got to her feet and walked over to us, muttering something that had River pulling Mav’s head down and distracting the hell out of him with her lips.
“What’s wrong?” Monroe asked, her gaze lifting to take in Lyric before going back to me. Her eyes were still full of sadness, and it wasn’t a second later before she was reaching for that damn medallion that wasn’t around her neck. When she didn’t feel it, she balled her hand into a tight fist and dropped it to her side.
“Mon, this is Lyric. Lyric, my sister, Monroe,” I introduced. “Now you know who I’m with. We’re going to get out of here. Please cover for me.”
My sister was used to me doing things like this, so it didn’t surprise her, but she still shook her head at me. “Mila.”
“Thanks, Mon,” I said, kissing her cheek. “I’ll owe you one,” I told her before stepping back. “I promise to be there before it’s time to leave for the church.”
“You better be,” she grumbled and walked back to her chair.
“You have a twin sister?” Lyric commented as we walked out of the club.
I shrugged. “Monroe and I are identical, but we’re actually triplets. My brother, Maverick, was the one lip-locked with the gorgeous blonde.”
“Mila.” He stopped once we were outside and turned to face me. “I have an identical twin brother.”
Surprised, I blinked up at him a few times then ran my eyes over him from head to toe again. “Your poor mother,” I said with a grin. “She had to birth two of you beasts at once?”
A hearty laugh left him. “Guess that’s why she and Dad stopped after us.” Lifting a hand, he hailed a taxi. Not surprisingly, one pulled right up beside us within seconds. “You hungry?”
Even though it hadn’t been that long since I’d had Taco Bell with the others, I wasn’t going to turn down more food. I might have been on the small side, but I loved to eat. “I’m always hungry,” I told him as he slid into the back seat of the taxi before I could. Once I was beside him, I poked him in the ribs. “That wasn’t very gentlemanly of you, mister.”
Not that I was used to guys treating me like a lady, but for some reason, it had surprised me that Lyric hadn’t let me in first.
“It’s dangerous for a girl to get into a cab or an Uber first. The driver could drive away before I get a chance to get in.” He draped his arm over the back of the seat, and he turned his big body toward me. “My mom would kick my ass if I ever let a woman I’m with get into either before me, but I’m especially not taking the risk with you.”
“Because I’m oh-so-special,” I teased.
But his face was serious as he lowered his head so that our gazes locked in the dim light coming through the windows. “Yes,” was all he murmured before touching his lips to the corner of my mouth.
The kiss was over before I could even respond, and then he was lifting his head and telling the driver the address of his hotel. “Room service okay?” he asked, sitting back. Reaching across himself, he grabbed my hand and entwined our fingers. “If not, I think there is a really good restaurant across the street.”
“Room service is perfect,” I assured him, loving how he was playing with my fingers. His hand was so big, my hand looked childlike in his. It should have been weird, yet it was kind of comforting.
All my life, I had been surrounded by big, alpha MC men who would kill anyone who so much as looked threateningly at me. Not that I needed them to. My mom and aunts had more than taught me how to take care of myself. Yet right there in the back of that taxi with Lyric—a guy whose last name I didn’t even know—I’d never felt safer.
“What’s your last name?” he asked when the driver stopped for the next red light.
“Masterson. Yours?”
He frowned down at me. “You don’t know who I am?”
I elbowed him in the side. “Am I supposed to? I’ll admit you look familiar to me, but no, I don’t have a clue who you are.”
A huge grin split his face, making him that much more handsome. Damn, but when he grinned like that, I became spellbound. It wasn’t fair. Guys shouldn’t look that good—ever.
“My mom will fucking love you,” he muttered, shaking his dark head. “My last name is Thornton.”
Oh shit.
My sharp inhale told him I’d put it together, and he only laughed. “Yeah, Jesse Thornton is my dad. Luca Thornton is my twin brother.”
“Luca means nothing to me. I’m not even sure why you would bring him up.” I touched my ribs where the verse of my favorite Demon’s Wings song was tattooed. Dear Lord, Lyric’s dad was the drummer of my all-time favorite band.
Fuck, I’d only had one shot of the Spirytus…right?
This couldn’t be real life. A girl like me didn’t hook up with the son of the richest drummer in the world. I had to be dreaming…or hallucinating.
“You must not follow football, then,” he said, not seeming in the least offended I didn’t know who his brother was. “Luca just went into the draft this spring. He was a first-round pick for Tennessee.”
“My brother would understand what you just said, but none of that makes the slightest bit of sense to me.” I wasn’t going to pretend to know what kind of draft his twin had been in or what team Tennessee was. I knew there were a few pro teams in California, but other than that, football was not a language I spoke.
His laugh vibrated through him and into me, making my chest swell at the sound. “I love that you don’t know who he is, or understand anything about football. Means I can teach you and you haven’t ever salivated over my bro like so many others have.”
“Well, I mean, I’ve been kind of drooling over you for a good thirty minutes now,” I told him with a teasing smirk. “You’re identical, so that kinda means I have been. No!” I squealed when he started tickling me. “Okay, I’m sorry,” I giggled, but I didn’t try to get away from him. “Please. I didn’t mean it.”
“You’re so damn beautiful,” he growled, lowering his head to touch his lips to the sensitive skin directly under my ear. “And that giggle. Fuck, I’ve never heard a prettier sound in my life.”
Gasping for breath that had nothing to do with laughing so hard, I turned my head and brushed my lips over his. It was just a quick touch of our mouths, but when I pulled back and licked my lips, all I could taste was him.
“Wh-what job did you land?” I stuttered, needing to put our minds on something other than how much we wanted each other. “You… You said you got your…erm, dream job?”
His tongue skimmed over his bottom lip, as if savoring my taste just as much as I had his. “I start working with Dustin Branch at Branch House of Ink on Monday.”
“You what?” I half screamed, so damn excited for him, I was practically bouncing on the bench seat.