“That’s quite a bit of questions you’ve got there. What’s bringing this up?” He didn’t sound angry with my questions like Mom sometimes did; he just sounded concerned.
“A boy in my class, Kenneth, told me that his parents take him and his brothers to the zoo every year, and Mom took the boys to the fair a few weeks ago and Dad met them there, but they didn’t take me. Kenneth said it’s because I’m a girl and they don’t like me.”
He stared out the window for a few minutes, and I wanted to press the question, but I wouldn’t. I didn’t want to sound ungrateful; I just didn’t understand why they treated us differently, and I hated not understanding something.
I stuck another bite of pancake in my mouth. Grandpa and I added a ton of chocolate chips and blueberries to mine. Maybe if I just kept eating, I wouldn’t ask stupid questions anymore.
“Did you ever think maybe I just wanted you to hang out with me and not your rotten little brothers?” Grandpa asked, interrupting the silence as I chewed. “And Kenneth sounds like a little shit. I wouldn’t listen to him anymore.”
I arched a brow and stared up at him. “You don’t want to hang out with my brothers?” I asked.
“Oh sure I do, I just want to hang out with you more. But don’t tell them, okay? No sense in getting them all riled up that you’remy favorite.” He playfully nudged me with his shoulder and winked.
I smiled back. I couldn’t help it. I’d always known I was Grandpa’s favorite, but hearing it just cemented the fact that I was more fun than my brothers, and that made me happy.
We ate the rest of our pancakes in silence, listening to some old record my Grandma used to like when she was still alive. It was good, my time here with Grandpa. Who needed to see my dad when I had Grandpa to make pancakes with?
4
ANONYMOUS PHOTOS
Wyatt
“I’m sorry,back up. You’re building a sex app? This isn’t some weird talk sexy shit to a robot thing, right?” Theo asked, wide-eyed and giddy. I could tell he was thinking that the jokes wrote themselves.
I shook my head no as Rowan cackled next to me. My twin brother already knew all about this. I’d told him a week ago in the midst of trying to keep him from going after his girl’s ex and killing him in cold blood—not that the fucker didn’t deserve it, but still. I hadn’t had a chance to tell the rest of my siblings until now.
I was one of five; Oliver was the oldest. Then there was Rowan and I, then Theo, and the youngest of us was our sister Payton.
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me about this Ro,” Aspen said from next to Rowan, a smile bright on her face. They’dbeen together almost a month now, and they were grossly obsessed with each other. However, my brother deserved to be happy, so we all held back our gags at their lovey-dovey eyes and nicknames for each other.
“Sorry, little angel. I was a bit side-tracked by a certain someone when I’d finally gotten you back home, so it hadn’t crossed my mind again.” Rowan shrugged and smirked my way. Again, gagging at the nickname shit.
I looked towards Oliver, waiting for him to say something. It was rare we were able to get him out of the house, away from the ranch, and off single-dad duty, so this was a treat. “I’m truly just happy you’re successful with something you love. I don’t think much else needs to be said there.”
“So this is for Silk and Spice?” Payton asked.
“How do you know about Silk and Spice?” Rowan asked with an arched brow, but she just rolled her eyes and her gaze returned to me.
“Yeah, they reached out after I finished that job for the law office in Sapphire Cove. Apparently Julian’s lawyer works there and recommended me. Said I was discreet, great at my job, and professional in all aspects.”
They all laughed, and Payton shook her head, the disbelief clear. “Discreet, absolutely. The best secret keeper of the family, but professional? Ha!”
I shook my head and took a drink of my beer. We were trying to make this a weekly thing—the six of us meeting at The Raven for beers. Sibling bonding and shit at mine and Theo’s favorite local bar. Once upon a time, we’d been able to drag Rowan out for a night of fun, but now that he was in love, he wasn’t intothattype of fun anymore. So we settled for casual beers.
My phone pinged and I looked down to see a text from Julian.
Julian: Your profile is all set up as far as preferences and shit. Make sure to add your picture so they know how handsome you are.
Julian: Also, ideas on what we should do for people looking for the anonymous feature? Photo’s make it less…anonymous.
This was true. Hadn’t thought about that.
“Okay family. Ideas on how to keep the anonymous sex anonymous on the app when you have your photo on there?” I looked around the table, everyone suddenly quiet. I wasn’t sure if it was because they had no damn idea, or because they were actually thinking. Aspen was the first to speak up though.
“Well that depends. Is there an option to include what you want physically in a person? Hair color? Eye color? That type of thing?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yeah of course. Even height and body type are included.”
