"Yeah, why not?" He swung a leg off the bike and lifted me out of the seat with a firm hold on my waist. It took a monumental effort not to swoon.
"Come to the upstairs room and knock if you get sick of them." I squeezed his forearm as we walked up the front porch together.
"I should be fine." He pulled the door open and stepped aside to let me through. "Grudge will tell the other two off if they get annoying."
"Well hey there, little lady—Shadow!"
Seated on worn leather couches and armchairs around a coffee table, all three Sons of Odin turned to face the door, mouths pulling into grins at the sight of the two of us together.
"So this has finally happened, huh?" T-Bone gestured between us. “Thought I saw sparks flying between you two on our little Blakeworth getaway."
"Don't you three have jobs or something?" I teased, rubbing my hand over T-Bone's shaved head.
"Hey, it's hard work being on official business from the governor," Dyno piped up. "We require lots of R&R."
"Uh-huh. Hi, Grudge!" I leaned over the back of the couch to hug the silent man around his neck. He hummed a greeting in return and smiled up at me, squeezing affectionately around my arms.
"How are you, brother?" Shadow eased into the seat next to him, accepting the empty glass and pour of whiskey the other man offered.
"Having a drink with us, Mari?" T-Bone lifted the whiskey bottle up to me.
"Later, maybe. I wanted to see Tessa and the baby for a bit."
Dyno cleared his throat. "You might want to, uh," he curled his hand into a fist and made a knocking motion as he clicked his tongue, "knock before you go in there."
T-Bone snorted, trying to hide a laugh behind his drink, his face going red. My eyes narrowed. What had they seen that they weren’t supposed to?
"I delivered her baby, Dy," I laughed it off with a wave of my hand. "There's nothing I haven't seen."
Dyno slouched into the couch cushions, hiding a grin behind his whiskey tumbler. "Suit yourself."
I ignored him, turning to run a hand along the back of Shadow's shoulders before heading to the room upstairs. "I shouldn't be long, but come find me if you need me."
"Take your time." He tilted his head up for a kiss and I happily planted a long, slow one on him in front of our audience.
T-Bone immediately started with the wolf howls, and Dyno was quick to join in with barks, howls, and aggressive hip thrusts.
"Just kidding, man. Don't kick my ass." T-Bone smirked as Shadow and I separated. I didn’t hear Shadow’s reply, but the two jokers burst into peals of laughter that filled up the bar, Dyno nearly sliding off the couch to the floor.
Giggling at their antics, I made my way to the stairs tucked off in the corner of the bar. Freyja ran ahead of me and jumped up the rickety steps to wait for me on the landing. Despite what I told Dyno, I did knock when I reached Tessa's door. Even while sharing a single room with three other people, I still knew the need for privacy. A room to myself was starting to sound downright heavenly.
"Who is it?" Tessa called from the other side, sounding nervous.
"Santa Claus," I snickered. "It's me, Mari."
"Oh! Uh, just hang on a second."
I waited patiently by the door, trying not to eavesdrop as I heard multiple footsteps on the other side. Voices murmured through the wood, not just Tessa's, but another woman's. My mind remained curiously blank until the door pulled open slowly, and it was Andrea, Dallas's widow, on the other side.
"Oh, hey." My voice carried a tone of surprise before I could control it. "Uh, I could come back later?"
"No, no, it's okay." Andrea blushed, palming her neck nervously. "I was just stopping by, and on my way out."
"Okay." I watched her hurriedly gather up her things, large bags full of several changes of clothes and toiletries, as though she had stayed over much longer than she let on. Like she had spent the night, or several nights by the looks of it. "You don't have to leave—"
"No, it's okay! I should get the kids anyway." She hurried out the door, sending a flustered smile over her shoulder at Tessa, sitting up in the unmade bed. "See ya, Tess."
"Bye, Drea." Tessa looked like she wanted to hide under the covers and never come out.
“Hey.” I approached the end of the bed cautiously. “Everything okay?”
She raised her hands and flopped them back down over the comforter. “It’s exactly what it looks like. You can just come out and say it, Mari.”
“Say what?”
“You know.” She looked at me with her chin tucked low. “That Drea and I are two women sharing a room. And a bed.”
I lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “That’s not for me to speak on. But we can talk about it, if you want.” I tentatively sat on the far corner of the mattress.
Tess looked hesitant, fingers curled over the bedspread. “Promise you won’t tell anyone? Not any of your men, even Reaper. And definitely not my ex-husband.”
“Nothing you tell me will leave this room.” I moved to sit in front of her, reaching for her hands. “So, what’s going on?”
“So I wasn’t completely honest with you and Reaper,” Tessa picked at the comforter on her lap, “when I talked about separating.”
“What do you mean?”
“This didn’t just happen out of nowhere. Andrea and I have a…a connection that Big G doesn’t like. We have for years.”
I nodded calmly. “A romantic connection, I take it?”
“Yeah, I…had feelings for her before, a long time ago, that are kind of rekindling now.” She swallowed nervously. “There was, uh, an incident a couple years back.”
“A, uh,” I cleared my throat, “sexual incident?”
“Not exactly, and we didn’t cheat on our guys or anything. They were there. It’s just, fuck.” She slapped her palms to her cheeks too late, they were already reddening. “I’m just digging myself into a hole here.”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” I scooted further up the bed and took her hands, rolling my thumbs over the back of her palms in an attempt to soothe her. “You’re my friend, Tess. I won’t judge.”
“Really?” She looked skeptical.
“Hon, I sleep with, and am basically married to, three guys. I’m the last person that should be judging you.”
“But…Andrea and I are women. People have been killed for that.”
I nodded my head toward the door I had just come through. “I’d like to see someone try. There’s at least three men downstairs who would cut through anyone trying to harm you for loving another woman.” Four, if you include mine sitting with them.
The worry eased slightly in Tessa’s brow, a small smile coming to her lips. “The Sons are good allies. They’re staying in rooms here too, and have essentially appointed themselves as our bodyguards. They eat with us downstairs, come with us on errands. It has helped to alleviate the gawking and dirty looks.”
“See?” I told her. “I can’t even imagine what they’ve had to face. It’s sweet of them to want to protect you from that.”