Page 35 of This Reckless Home

Silence.

“What?” I ask, sitting up.

“James is gay. Very, very gay. He's married to his husband, Daniel. They just adopted a baby girl named Sophie.” She's grinning now, clearly enjoying this way too much. I’d be pissed, but I’m too fucking relieved. “He kissed my cheek because that's just how he greets people he cares about. He's been working with my kids for two years, he's like family.”

I feel heat creep up my neck. “Oh.”

“Oh indeed.” She's trying not to laugh at us again, her plush lips twitching and I just want to see how they’d twitch as I spank her naughty ass for letting us believe he was interested. Though maybe we did jump to some conclusions. “Were you three actually jealous of my kids' gay, married therapist?”

Anatole clears his throat, his cheeks red. “We didn't know he was gay.”

“Or married,” Steele adds.

“Or that he kisses everyone,” I mutter.

She walks over to me, sitting down next to me on the couch. She's close enough that I can see the flush still high on her cheeks, the pale skin of her wrist as her hand reaches my face, and something in me goes completely quiet.

I can feel her body heat all along my side and I tense as she reaches out, her fingers brushing my jaw. The touch sends electricity straight through me.“You were jealous,” she says softly, not a question, but her eyes won’t stop looking at mine.

“Said I was, didn't I?” My voice comes out rougher than intended.

Her eyes move between the three of us, something unreadable in their hazel depths. “All of you were.”

“Yeah, Petal,” I confess quietly, her beautiful eyes coming back to me. “All of us.”

The air feels charged, like something's about to break open between us. Her hand is still on my face, and I can see Anatole and Steele both watching us with that same hungry intensity I'm trying to hide.

Then James's voice calls from somewhere, breaking the moment. “Blossom? Could you come here for a second? Sally wants to ask you something.”

“I should go check on that,” she says, pulling her hand away from my face. “Sally still has issues with men, even James who she knows is safe.”

I catch her wrist gently. “Blossom⁠—”

“Later,” she whispers, and I see something like hope and fear warring in her expression. “We can talk later. Promise.”

Then she's gone, and I'm left sitting there with my brothers, all of us watching her go.

“Well,” Anatole says into the silence. “That was enlightening.”

“We're all jackassess,” I mutter, a huff of laughter escaping me.

“Yeah,” Steele agrees. “We really are.”

But the truth is hanging in the air between us now, unspoken but undeniable.

We're all falling for her.

And we have no fucking clue what to do about it.

Later, I find Steele in the garage, elbow-deep in the engine of our old truck. The sharp scent of motor oil and metal fills the space, mixing with that wild, piney scent that's distinctly him.

“So, James comes every Monday,” I say without preamble, leaning against the workbench.

He doesn't look up from whatever he's doing to the engine. “Apparently.”

“You gonna be okay with that? Him kissing her every week? Even if he’s gay and married.” Yeah I know I sound like a dick, but, something in me still doesn’t like it. Like his lips being on her more than mine are.

Now he looks up, wiping his hands on a rag. “He's gay and married. Not a threat.”