“I’m not sure who’s going to be there,” Rose warned. “You might want to fix your hair.”
“Good call.” I reached up and tried to get my mop of black hair into some sort of a style. Thankfully, I’d had years to perfect styling it without looking in a mirror, so by the time we parked on Tommy’s street, I was reasonably sure that it looked okay.
“Whoa,” I murmured as we stepped onto the sidewalk. “There’s a ton of people here.”
“Yeah, I think it’s Hawk’s birthday. We’re having dinner at my house in a few days to celebrate.”
Rose strode toward the front door like she was meant to be there, when I knew for a fact that she hadn’t been invited. She’d overheard her brothers talking about it a couple days before, and as soon as I’d given her the story about Leo, she’d become convinced that we needed to go to the party and make sure he hadn’t brought his girlfriend.
My cousin wasn’t exactly trusting of the male gender when it came to fidelity. We knew a lot of men who were faithful to their wives, but I couldn’t argue whenever she pointed out that wives were different than girlfriends… or whatever I was. We’d been around too often when her brothers and other guys from the club had been complete man-whores.
“Dang,” she said quietly as we pushed our way into the house.
The music was loud, and the people were even louder as we made our way toward the back of the house. I didn’t know anyone in the living room or the entryway, but they still gave us space to move between them as Rose navigated through the mass of people.
When we finally reached the kitchen, we found everyone we’d come to see. They were standing around the counter laughing as they took shots of tequila. My sister-in-law Trix’s face screwed up in disgust, but she didn’t quickly chase the booze with something softer the way Hawk and Molly did.
“The party can start,” Rose announced, getting everyone’s attention. “I’m here!”
She was so much like my mother that I sometimes wondered if we’d been switched as infants.
“The hell are you doing here?” Will growled, looking past Rose to scowl at me.
“Hey, I’m just along for the ride,” I protested, trying not to laugh. He looked so pissed, and I’d always had a hard time keeping a straight face when the older boys got angry. They were all bark and absolutely zero bite when it came to me and Rose.
“Baby sister,” Cam said, stepping around Trix. “Ma know you’re here?”
“Actually, yes,” I answered as he pulled me under his arm.
“Does she know there’s a party goin’ on?”
“Well,” I hedged. “I’m not sure if Mom knows or not.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You drinking?” Hawk asked, lifting the tequila bottle and shaking it from side to side.
“No!” almost every voice in the kitchen answered.
“Well, that’s not very hospitable,” Rose complained.
“You’re lucky we’re not tossing your little asses out,” Tommy replied, pointing his beer bottle at her.
“We can stay?” Rose asked, a huge grin on her face.
Instead of answering her, he hopped on the counter and stood there with his head brushing the light. It was a good thing their ceilings were so high, or he would have knocked himself out.
“Hey,” he yelled, grabbing everyone’s attention. “I see anyone givin’ either of these girls a drink or anythin’ else, you’ll deal with me.” He looked around the room, making eye contact with people. “And then I’ll hand you off to my brother.”
“Oh, my God,” I mumbled in embarrassment as my brother’s body shook with laughter.
“How’s all that hard labor been treatin’ ya?” Cam asked, giving my shoulder a little shake.
“Sucks,” I replied as Trix handed me a soda and conversations started back up around us. “But I think she’s letting up.”
“Honestly, I think she’s just been worried,” Cam said, kissing my head. “Grounding you meant she could keep an eye on you.”
“You think?”
“Yeah.” He nodded. “Callie went off the deep end when they were younger, and I know Ma did, too. She’s just trying to make sure you don’t.”
“I won’t.”
“You’ve been moping around since you got your sight back,” Trix said, cocking her head to the side. “Seems like you’d be doing cartwheels.”
“I’m happy about it,” I protested, looking around the room. “I’m just having a hard time with all the shit that comes with it.”
“Big adjustment,” Trix agreed.
“I’m just like everyone else now,” I said, saluting her with my soda. “But, not.”
“That asshole have anything to do with your whining?” Cam asked, nodding toward Leo.
“Oh, shut it.”
“Cam,” Trix scoffed.
“What? He keeps lookin’ over here. You think I don’t know what’s goin’ on? I see that Ashley’s missin’ tonight.”
“She better be,” I mumbled.
“What’s that, baby sister?”
“Mind your own business.”
“You are my business,” he said, wrapping his massive arm around my head in an annoying version of a headlock. “You’ll always be my business.”