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Her glower made me snicker, then add, “Lunch smells great by the way.”
The compliment and removing my cap smoothed her over enough to switch the focus. “Ainsley, you’ve outdone yourself with these food platters. Shall we set them out now?”
Lee aimed a pointed look at me. “I think that’s a good idea.”
While her and Mum fussed over the pre-lunch snacks, I passed Dad and casually strolled over to Fletch and his new bird.
My brother rose to his feet and grinned. “Well, look what the cat dragged in,” he drawled, giving me a hug.
I pulled back and looked him over; all boat shorts and swanky polo shirt. “Yeah, I agree; it’s a fucking disaster.”
Mum reprimanded me about my choice of language, while Fletch scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“Whatever.” He reached for the wavy-haired beauty at his side. “Travis, this is Megan. Megan, this is my little brother, Travis. The reckless one.”
“The fun one,” I corrected while hugging her in greeting.
She laughed lightly. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you from Fletch.”
I waved my beer around. “Forget everything he’s told you; it’ll all be a crock of shit.”
“Travis!” Mum barked, coming over with the hors d’oeuvres. “Mind yourlanguage!”
“Sorry, Ma.”
After her and Ainsley set the platters down, I introduced Lee to Megan. “Lee, this is Megan, Megan, this is Goat.”
“Goat?” she exclaimed with a burst of laughter, then snickered again when Ainsley backhanded my stomach.
“Ignore him,” Lee sassed. “I’m Ainsley, but you can call me Lee.”
They hugged, then Megan’s eyes pinged back and forth between us. “You guys are…” She waved a hand. “You’re the same but different.”
I grinned and threw my arm around Lee’s shoulders, then pointed at Fletch. “Little bit different from this clean-skin, huh?”
“Yeah, heaps,” Megan murmured, now openly comparing me to my brother.
“Travis is our free-spirited son,” Mum explained as her and Dad sat on the couch in the blind-filtered sun.
“That’s Mum’s way of saying that Travis is the problem child,” Fletch drawled.
I scoffed and threw myself onto the couch beside Lee. “No, that’s her way of saying I refuse to fit into the mould. Unlike you.”
My father finally weighed in. “Boys, enough.”
“How about we do gifts?” Mum suggested optimistically.
My hearty laugh broke free. I couldn’t wait for this part.
“That’ll be fun,” Megan declared.
“I think we should do ours last,” Lee warned. “Trav did the shopping and wrapped them before I got a look, so I literally have no idea what you guys are getting.”
I smirked, barely able to sit still. “Oh, I dunno... I think we should do ours first.”
“Go on then,” Fletch chuckled.
I all but skipped to the bag of presents I’d left on the kitchen counter and eagerly handed them out, putting an extra flourish into Fletcher’s.
