Page 169 of Shattered Silence Duet
“You think I can’t ride a horse?”
“Jesus Christ, Atlas! Did you watch us out there, too? That’s not cool, bro!” Tucker says with frustration.
“Of course not, I’m not saying I didn’t hear anything, but Iturned my back and kept watch for you. You were clearly too distracted to watch for any threats.”
“Therewereno threats out there!”
“There could have been.”
“God, you’re such a protective asshole, you know that?”
Atlas shrugs, pulling his knife out to spin in his palm. “As long as she’s safe, and you’re safe, that’s all that matters.”
“Well, if you are going to stalk us to the zoo, you may as well just join us,” I say, pushing my hand through my hair.
“No, I don’t want to take away from your date. I can stay out of sight.”
“It’s fine, Atlas, I really don’t mind. You’re family, it’s not like I don’t mind spending time with you, too. We can make it a double date.”
He frowns at me for a minute in contemplation as he spins his knife. “I already got her a charm for her bracelet. It’s a campfire, I was going to take her camping for a night,” he says, flicking his knife closed and pocketing it as his eyes drift to the ground.
“Why don’t we do that as a group activity, then you can still give her the charm,” Tucker suggests. “Besides, camping is more fun with more people, and less work for you if you have all of us there to help set up.”
“Yeah?” Atlas asks, looking up at him in hope.
“Of course, it’ll be fun, I love camping!” Tucker says with a smile.
“I don’t think it’s wise to be camping with Simon out there right now, anyway. It’s something we can do once he’s finally behind bars, where he belongs,” Dom adds, making me nod in agreement.
“Okay, if you’re sure?” Atlas asks, pushing himself off the wall to look at me in question.
“I’m sure.”
“Okay, I have to go get something, don’t leave without me,” he demands as he heads up the stairs.
A minute later I hear laughter right before the twins and Minaemerge, descending the stairs as she laughs at something Max says, making me smile at seeing her so happy.
“You ready, Princess?” I ask, holding my hand out for her, grateful when she slips it into mine so easily.
“Yeah, where are we going? The twins just told me to dress warm enough to be outside all day.”
“I could tell you… or you could be surprised when we get there?” I ask, letting her make the decision.
“Hmm… Surprise me?” she asks, looking up at me with her beautiful green eyes.
“No problem. We’re actually turning it into a double date, Atlas is going to join us.”
“He is?” she asks, her eyes searching the room for him.
“Yeah, is that okay?”
“Of course, where is he?”
“He’ll be down in a minute. Why don’t you say bye to everyone else while we wait?” I suggest. She goes around hugging each of the guys. Tucker doesn’t settle for a hug, dipping her back to kiss her so deeply it makes my cock jump in my jeans, seeing her melt against him like that.
She hugs the twins and they both give her a quick kiss on the lips. She hugs Dom, and he kisses her head before pushing her towards Gideon.
Every one of us can see how awkward the two of them are together, making me almost cringe at the sight of them nervously standing there, two feet apart and avoiding each other’s gazes. I’m not sure what’s up with him, but he needs to figure his shit out before she gets the idea that he’s no longer interested in her.
