I was both proud of her and irritated as hell that she hadn’t told me how she really felt about it. If I was going to be her man, I needed to know when something was bothering her. I couldn’t do shit to protect her if I didn’t know there was a problem. If I hadn’t been watching so closely and known her so well, I would have missed the subtle tightening of her throat as we’d discussed it, and I’d have been walking into the situation blind—which worried the shit out of me. Her armor was already clicking back into place after I’d fucked up the night before, I could see it, and there was fuck all I could do to stop it.

I’d been ready to talk her into it, convinced that it would be good for her—for us—but as I stepped out of the shower into the quiet apartment, I had a really bad feeling about the fucking barbeque.

Chapter 10

Farrah

I talked Gram into going to Dragon and Brenna’s house with us. I knew Callie would be there; she was the type to join the crowd and make friends, but she’d be with Grease and I didn’t want to rely on her to have my back if I needed her. At least with Gram there, I knew there was someone who wouldn’t be distracted. If Gram was nothing else, she was a fierce protector of her kids, and somehow I’d become one of them.

As we pulled in the gate and drove slowly down the gravel driveway in Gram’s car with Cody leading the way on his bike, I felt myself begin to sweat. I needed to get my shit together before we arrived if I had any hope of leaving again unscathed. I was under no illusion that the people at the barbeque would like me. After all, I was the bastard child of a man whose wife they were really close to; I didn’t belong there.

We climbed out of the car in front of a small house, and I shifted Gram’s potato salad in my arms. I hadn’t thought to bring anything with me, and I’d been silently freaking the fuck out until Gram pushed it into my hands. I couldn’t take credit for it, but at least I wouldn’t have to walk in empty-handed. Gram must have read my mind because she’d made a big show about how her arthritis was so bad she couldn’t carry it . . . and then insisted on driving.

Cody ushered us up the steps of a small covered front porch, practically pushing us inside. I couldn’t figure out what the hell he was doing at first, since his movements were jerky as he opened the screen without knocking and quickly ushered Gram inside. My hands had grown a little sweaty, though, so I’d glanced down at the salad bowl to rearrange it in my arms, and saw what he’d been trying to shield us from. A huge bloodstain sat directly to the right of our path, faded a darker brown than the weathered boards surrounding it.

He made a noise in the back of his throat as I stopped short, my stomach dropping. Oh God. It was Cody’s blood.

I was frozen, unable to look away from it when he grabbed my chin hard and jerked my face toward his.

“It’s over, Ladybug. Don’t look at it, baby. Don’t think about it.”

I nodded mutely, my heart thumping in my chest as we followed Gram into the house. I wasn’t sure how I’d get that stain out of my head. I knew he was protecting Brenna when he’d been shot, but I never imagined that I’d face such a stark reminder. Why the hell hadn’t they replaced those boards?

There was no one in the house, so we followed the noise of people into the backyard. It was open, only a couple of trees between what they used as a yard and the huge field beyond it, and was filled with kid stuff.

I pushed my sunglasses on to hide my reaction and take in the crowd before me. A small plastic pool sat off to the left, a little girl and boy playing in it with Barbies and plastic dinosaurs floating around them. Another little girl screamed as she ran through a sprinkler just past the pool, her hair a tangled mess of curls. And two more little girls sat in the grass, picking dandelions and throwing them in the air.

Holy shit, these people were like rabbits.

Grease was standing next to the barbeque with two other men, one deeply tanned with long black hair, the other with light brown hair and a slight beer belly. No sign of Slider yet. At the edge of the yard under the trees were three women, one of them Callie, who had Will on her lap.

They all stood up to greet us as we made our way outside, and I felt my hands tremble as they started walking our way.

“Gram and Farrah, that’s Dragon and Tommy at the grill. The pretty redhead is Brenna—” Cody said, his words cut off with a growl from the black-haired man. “Obviously Brenna belongs to Dragon, and the brown-haired sweetheart is Trish, Tommy’s wife.”

I could see why Cody was accepted so easily into the little group. He utilized a perfect mixture of teasing and charm, and it was a side of him I’d never seen before. He was working the people staring at us like a pro.

Different hellos were called out as the women reached us, and my hands started to shake as Brenna leaned up to kiss Cody’s cheek, her eyes on me.

“Hey, Casper. You’ve been ignoring us,” she teased.

My back snapped straight at her insinuation, and it took all I had to keep a pleasant smile on my face.

“Had some things to deal with,” he replied, wrapping his arm around my waist.

Just as she was about to say something else, we were interrupted by a small body wrapping itself around my legs.

“Auntie!” Will yelled, his face covered in something red and sticky.

“Hello, my William.” I’d never been so thankful for the kid’s lack of respect for personal space.

“Will! Let go of Farrah, you’re gonna get shit all over her pants,” Grease called out from across the yard.