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“What is a songbird chick?” Ryder asked, pushing past Sawyer even though he’d been blocking the door. He, followed by Dan, wandered into the house.
“I don’t want company.” Sawyer tried again.
“There you go again thinking we care,” Dan said, heading for the fridge and pulling out two beers. He then went to his pantry and grabbed a bag of chips.
“You know this is my place, right?”
“The mom and dad songbirds are real hardasses. They want their chicks to move on. Some species will even stop feeding their chicks in the nest so they leave before they can fly,” Dan said.
“Mom should have tried that with us,” Ryder said.
“True. Lack of food always worked as a punishment,” Dan agreed.
“Birdie’s smart, just not street-smart,” Ryder said, now sitting in Sawyer’s chair which pissed him off more. “You shouldn’t mess with her.”
“I’m not messing with her,” Sawyer said. “We’re not dating. This is a onetime thing. If I’m going with Birdie, you and the rest of this town will have to get off my back.”
“She’s not in your league, man,” Dan said. “A songbird chick is all I’m saying.”
Dan, like Sawyer, was a Duke full of useless facts, but unlike his big brother, Dan spouted them constantly.
“Get used to it. I’m taking her.” If someone told Sawyer not to do something, he’d always had this need to do it. That hadn’t changed with age.
“I just don’t get why. Sydney Jane or one of her friends could go with you,” Ryder said.
“You’re not serious?” Dan said. “Sydney Jane would have been picking out her wedding dress if Sawyer asked her.”
Sawyer had just grabbed his beer, so he pointed it at Dan in acknowledgment.
“So you’re taking Birdie because she’s a no-strings-attached girl?” Ryder said. “But she’s not. Not really. Birdie’s easily hurt. She’s also a nice person who this town loves.”
“And I’m what?” Sawyer growled. “An asshole everyone hates?”
The look on his brother’s faces told him he should have kept that to himself. Sawyer didn’t get emotional and never said stuff like that.
Chapter12
“We never said you were an asshole, bro. But you are a hard ass, and Birdie isn’t,” Dan said. “What’s the deal? You rarely get defensive. You put salt in your coffee this morning?”
“Fuck off,” Sawyer grunted. “And I did that once because you assholes changed the containers.”
Dan smiled, clearly enjoying the memory.
“She could be good for him though,” Ryder said. “Soften his hard-assed edges. And maybe he can get her to stop working all the time.”
“The McAllister’s may need the money?” Dan said.
“Yeah, Sawyer and I talked about that the other night,” Ryder said. “I reckon it could be true.”
Sawyer could add a lot to that conversation, but it wasn’t his story to tell yet.
“I spoke to Birdie yesterday, and she said everything is sweet, but I don’t think it is,” Ryder added.
“What did you ask her?” Sawyer said.
“Is everything all good with you and your family? Standard question because I didn’t want to tip her off that you’d said something,” Ryder said.
The sound of another car had Sawyer glaring at his brothers. They both put their hands in the air.
