Holding Her Hand (The Reed Brothers 9)

“You’re not mad?”

He shakes his head. “If you told them really personal stuff, it might bother me. But not girl talk, no.”

“What qualifies as personal stuff?” I bite my lower lip.

“Like if we were arguing and I said something stupid and you told them and they held it against me. That might bother me. But not girl talk.” He grins at me. “You gloat about the size of my dick all you want.” He waggles his eyebrows playfully. “I want to shout to the whole world about how tight your pussy was. But I won’t say a word, because that was special to me.”

I tilt his face up so I can look into his dark eyes. “It was special to me too.”

He nods.

“Peck was talking about how Sam’s dick is pierced, and I just kind of fell into the conversation—”

“It’s okay!” he says dramatically. “I think it’s sweet that Josh wants to protect you.”

“I’m going to kill him,” I mutter to myself.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“What did you say?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

He glowers at me. “It does matter. What did you say?”

“I said I’m going to kill him for even texting you. That’s all.”

“He already warned me about you.”

“He did?”

“Yes, after our first date.”

“Oh.”

“He loves Star and Star loves you. It’s only natural for him to feel protective.”

I nod and settle back against the seat. “So, is there anything I should know about your mom?”

He smiles wolfishly at me as the car slows down in front of a small brownstone. “You’ll have to ask her yourself.” He gets out of the car and holds a hand out to me. “Ready?”

No, not really. I wish I’d worn something else, something that didn’t show sweat at all, because I’m worried I’ll walk in with pit stains. I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous. But I put my hand in his and let him pull me from the car. He gathers my gift and we walk hand in hand up the sidewalk.

He lifts my hand to his lips and kisses the back of it. “I could hold your hand forever,” he says, staring into my eyes. “Ready?” he asks. “Take a deep breath.” I do, but I feel like I’m about to pass out.

“I just hope she likes me,” I admit. Then I square my shoulders.

“I love you enough for both of us,” he says. Then he opens the door and steps inside. He looks back at me, his eyes twinkling.

“You can’t say something like that and then expect me to just walk in and meet your mother.” I try to take a step back, but he grabs my hand and pulls me inside. We walk in and find that the house is completely full of people. They’re lounging on sofas and sitting on chairs, and people are spread into the other rooms. The sliding glass door is open and I see that a bunch of people are milling around on the back deck where a grill is being used.

People stop and greet us, and Ryan introduces me to people. I recognize a few of the guys from poker night, and some of them come to say hello. One of my security guys is right behind us. He’ll go back outside as soon as he sees that the place is secure, but he gets a few strange glances.

“He’s not blending in really well, is he?” I ask Ryan.

“Who cares?” He shrugs.