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“So I wouldn’t attack you in front of guests?”
Jesse shook his head, listening to the shower whine down the hall. “You’re my brother, Nash. I can’t…I can’t have bad blood between us.”
Nash nodded, his eyes so trusting. In a lot of ways, he was more than three years younger than Jesse. He’d never been married. In fact, he’d never even been in a serious relationship. He viewed the world through a different lens, and Jesse wouldn’t be the one to discolor his optimism and zeal for life.
He rounded the counter and cupped his brother’s head in his hand, bringing Nash’s forehead against his own. “I love you, brother,” he said roughly.
“I love you too,” Nash said back.
Jesse stepped back and dropped his hand. After clearing his throat, he said, “If you could let me know next time you have feelings for a woman, that would be great. Then I won’t ask her out.”
Nash chuckled then, and Jesse cracked a smile. “Will do,” Nash said just as Adam bellowed for help from the bathroom.
Jesse jogged that way and opened the door a crack. “Are you dead?”
“There’s no body wash,” Adam called back. “Can you get me some? It’s like a muddy river in here, and I have it between my blasted teeth.”
“Yep,” Jesse said, smart enough to keep his laughter contained until the body wash had been delivered and the bathroom door had been closed. Then he chuckled to himself about Adam’s predicament.
Jesse didn’t want to live with him forever, but for now, he could. He couldn’t know what the Lord had in store for him, but for now, he could take life one day at a time. He wasn’t sure if he and Starla would ever get back together, but for now, he could live with that.
Back in the kitchen, he said, “Starla and I are still going to play the last round of cornhole tomorrow. What tips can you give me on Kyle and Todd? There has to be a way to get past them.”
Nash grinned at him and leaned forward. “Kyle gets really rattled when it’s too quiet…”
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Blake approached the front door of his childhood home, the noise coming from inside enough to make him pause. He should just go back to his cabin. If he did that, though, the party would move from this house to his, and he couldn’t have that.
He continued across the porch and opened the door. Half of the people inside immediately stopped talking and the other half roared with welcome. Todd and Sierra rushed him, both of them hugging him at the same time while they clamored over his appearance.
Annoyance sang through him, and he frowned as he hugged his siblings. They stepped back and Kyle said, “Come get some of this cheesecake. It’s phenomenal.”
“Did Gina make it?” Blake asked, because he didn’t want any if she had. He hadn’t spoken to her for four very long days, and his patience with the whole situation was about to snap.
“No,” Todd said. “Daddy ordered it from New York City.”
“He knows it’s a family breakfast, right?” Blake asked, but he couldn’t stop the tide. Everyone who’d been lying in wait for his arrival in the living room pressed him into the kitchen, where his mother gave him a wide smile and reached up to hug him.
“Cheesecake,” Holly said, handing him a plate with a delectable piece of cheesecake with whole blackberries decorating the top. His mouth did water, and Blake had never said no to dessert for breakfast.
“The bread pudding French toast will be ready soon,” Mama said. “You boys get the table set.” She started handing plates and utensils to her sons, and Blake dutifully did what she asked him to do.
“Are you ready to lose later today?” Adam asked Holly, who immediately scoffed.
“We’re in first place, buddy-boy,” she said, practically slamming the juice glass on the table. “Not only that, but you and pretty-boy Lowry haven’t been able to unseat us for three weeks in a row.”
“Fourth time’s the charm,” Adam said, his smile more predatory than playful.
“It’s third,” Kyle said from down the table. “Thirdtime’s the charm.”
“Yeah,” Sierra said, grinning as she put the salt and pepper shakers on the table. “Besides, Blake and Gina are so close to you, they might even take over second place.”
All eyes swung to him, plenty of them with questions. He didn’t confirm that he and Gina would be playing that day, because he honestly didn’t know if they would be or not. He hadn’t asked her about coming to the final round of the family tournament. She hadn’t reached out to him at all.
He drew in a deep breath and continued putting out plates. He didn’t have to tell his siblings anything about his personal life. If he could just make it through this family breakfast and then the tournament—and then the next three weeks until summer ended and families returned home so their children could go back to school—he might be able to pick up the pieces of the past few months and put them back together.
“Fresh juice,” Daddy called, breaking the silence that had fallen over the dining room table.
