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“What were you saying?” I asked.
Colton shook his head. But I knew my older brother, and he wasn’t done.
"What is it, Colton?" I pressed.
"Dude, don't spoil his mood," Gabe said, pointing a finger at Colton. "Or it's a double old-fashioned for you. You’re always relaxed when you’re drunk.”
Colton cleared his throat. “A lot has happened lately. You might not want to jump into a relationship."
"That's not what this is," I said.
Cade cocked a brow. "Really?"
"Really. Penny and I both have baggage. She recently finalized her divorce. We're calling it a fling."
Cade burst out laughing. Gabe gave each of us our drinks.
"Yeah, you just wait a bit and see how that starts changing. That's what Meredith and I said at the beginning too."
I knew where my brother was coming from, but this was different. Penny and I, we'd both been burned badly. Neither of us had anything more to give than a fling.
"Okay, let's change the subject," Cade proposed. "I can see the two of you are already starting to sweat." He pointed back and forth between Colton and Gabe.
Colton shook his head. "Nah, Grandmother is busy enough with all of you. I'm the oldest. She knows better than to get involved in my life."
Jake patted his shoulder. “Age has nothing to do with it. But I agree, let's talk about something else."
"I haven't sent the invitations for the opening party yet," Gabe said. "But I want everyone here."
"Okay," I instantly said.
Colton looked at Cade. "I assume our half brothers will also be here?"
"Obviously, man. You know I'm close to them. Don't be a dick about it."
"No, it's your party. You can invite whomever you want."
I couldn't believe my ears. Not too long ago, Colton would have found an excuse not to join us, but maybe he was coming around.
"Let's toast to another smashing success in the family," Cade said, holding up his glass. We all followed suit, clinking them together. "We should have brought the girls to celebrate too."
"We wanted to," Jake said, "but Natalie has an event tonight.”
“And Meredith is caught up at the office, and she can't leave. One of these days I'm going to convince her to work with me,” Cade added. Up until recently, the way Jake and Cade always seemed to think about their women felt foreign to me. Naomi and I never had any of that. But now I could understand where they were coming from. Ever since I stepped inside the bar, I couldn't help thinking that Penny would enjoy this place.
I told her that having a fling was easy as long as we followed the rules. But the truth was, I wanted to break more than one already.
