“Come on. Everyone else is inside probably watching, and wondering if I’m going to screw this up.”
“Why are you going to screw this up?” she asked.
“I’m the negative one in the group. Didn’t you hear?”
“Why?”
“Everything tends to fuck up when I touch it.”
“And you think that’s going to happen now?” she asked.
“Isn’t it?” he asked.
“Gavin, leave the woman alone,” Ethan said. “Give her a break.” He had the door open and winked at her. “It’s always a pleasure to see you again.”
“You’re so sweet, thank you.” She entered the bar, and saw there was a lot of trash still strewn around. “Wow, you really weren’t kidding.”
“We had a band last night. It was pretty badass. You should have come and checked it out.”
“I’m not really a partier.” She’d never been to a party before, nor had she been invited.
No wonder everyone thought she was some kind of stick in the mud. The more she looked over her life, the more she realized how dull she’d been.
Pops came out of the backroom rubbing his hands on a cloth. “Rosie.”
Everyone turned toward her. The other men had been concentrating on their own work.
Holding up her hand, she smiled. “Hey.”
“Have you come with an answer?” he asked.
She looked around at the men, wondering what to say. Instead of saying anything, she nodded.
“We’re going to need a lot more than that, babe. What exactly are you thinking?”
Rosie took a deep breath. “Yes, I agree to your terms, and I really need your help.” She blew out a breath. There, she’d told him the truth.
“We’ve already paid Peter,” Pops said. “You will never have to worry about him again. I promise.”
“Oh, thank you. I don’t know what to say,” she said.
“You can tell us your answer.”
“Did you know I was going to say yes? Is that why you took care of Peter?”
“No. Didn’t have a clue what you were going to say. We handled Peter because we didn’t agree with what he was doing. We wanted to protect you either way, Rosie.”
“Oh. I don’t understand.”
“We were all hoping,” Billy said, rounding the bar.
All men moved closer, and Gavin stood behind her. “We all wanted you to come to us.”
“You’re wanting to do this right now?” she asked.
“Why not?” Ethan asked. He moved in close, stroking a finger down her cheek.
She wasn’t afraid.