His to Love (Carmel Springs Book 6)

Chapter 9

Clayton~

Now, normally, Poppy didn't do big lunches, but she made exceptions for us when we called ahead. Dreamy Sweets was a bakery that offered a little more on the side, but nothing that was too much for Poppy and Addie to handle. The bakery was supposed to be a fun place to relax and take a moment to catch your breath. So, while people could pop in and buy a sandwich and chips, if we called in and gave Poppy a heads up, she made lunch for us.

So, walking into the bakery, I wasn't surprised to see Addie smiling at me from the front of the counter, my lunch already waiting for me. Unlike the pastries, lunch wasn't free, but I wouldn't expect it to be. Poppy hadn't come to Carmel Springs to go broke. Granted, if she knew how much Keats was worth, she'd probably freak out, but that was between them.

"Thanks, Addie," I said as I reached for my lunch.

"You're welcome," she replied, ringing me up, and I hated how professional she acted around us when she was working. Privately, she acted a little more comfortable when we were around, but in public, she acted like everyone was still judging her, and maybe they were.

"Add mine to his tab," came Brett's annoying voice from behind me.

"Sure thing," Addie chuckled softly, and no matter what else might be going on around in this town, it was clear as day that Addie Tilda was in love with my brother. You could see it in her green eyes whenever she looked at him. While Brett didn't deserve her, I was glad that she wasn't holding that against him.

"Last I checked, you had a job," I huffed.

"Last I checked, a big brother was supposed to look out for his younger siblings," Brett retorted, and I just shook my head as Addie rang us both up.

When I left the two lovebirds to make goo-goo eyes at each other, I was surprised when Brett followed me to my table. I didn't even bother to ask what was going on as we both took a seat. Brett wasn't the type to beat around the bush any more than I was.

"So, while it's not bad, it's...something," he said as soon as he got comfortable.

"What's not bad?"

"The guys are already talking about you and Stevie."

My fingers stopped unwrapping my sandwich as I looked over at my brother. "What are they saying?"

"They're mostly just wondering if things between you guys are serious or not," he answered, looking uncomfortable.

"What else, Brett?"

"Don't lose your shit, okay?"

"What else, Brett?" I repeated, not bothering to reassure him of anything because we both knew better.

"Since you guys are acting like you don't know each other at work, they're thinking...they're wondering if Stevie's open to dating casually-"

"They want to know if she sleeps around," I said, cutting off Brett's unnecessary politeness.

Brett winced. "Well, yeah...I guess."

I gave him a terse nod. "Okay. I'll just-"

"Jax and I already talked about it, and if Chief Sergio fires you, then we're going to quit and go work for Colter Security, too," he said, and while that was a bit of a surprise, it really wasn't all that shocking. It was hard to offend one Colter and not automatically offend the rest of us.

"While I appreciate the show of solidarity, that's not necessary, Brett."

"Well, we think it is," he huffed before he started eating, ending our conversation.