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Jasper smirks, running a hand down the front of hisJasper Auto BodyT-shirt. “My wife’s a bestselling steamy romance writer with an upcoming deadline. I’m her muse. Let’s just say it was a long night. Those sex scenes don’t write themselves.”
Cash frowns at him. “Lucky you. I was up with Meghan until four in the morning deciding on personalized napkins and picking custom place settings and choosing toasting glasses.”
A group of women wave at Mason through the front window. He winks at them. “Meghan’s a bridezilla?” he asks Cash. “She doesn’t strike me as the type.”
“That’s just the problem,” Cash says, folding his arms across his chest in frustration. “She’s not asking for help. She’s trying to do it all on her own, like the fucking sweetheart she is. She says she knows I’m busy with work and doesn’t want to stress me out. But seeing her stressed out is stressing me out. So now, I’m just going around trying to anticipate her every need since she won’t come and ask for anything outright.” He scratches his forehead and grunts. “Plus, I’m busting my brain trying to figure out what to get her as a wedding present. Guys, I’m losing my mind over here.”
Cash is a high-level executive of our father’s Chicago-area wealth management firm. Ever since Dad’s health scare, my second oldest brother has been in charge of the company. But now that he’s engaged to Meghan, he’s doing it all remotely from here in Honey Hill.
I wouldn’t be able to explain what exactly my brother does on a day-to-day basis. But it sounds like a lot of responsibility. And he’s really fucking good at it because he got the company past the one billion dollar mark not too long ago. That’s pretty fucking impressive to me.
And apparently, he’s a wedding planner now, too. See? He never ceases to impress me, that guy.
Jasper guffaws. “Emma and I eloped. We skipped all the headaches of wedding planning and jumped right to the honeymoon.”
Jasper used to be the biggest manwhore in town. Then his ex-hookup dropped a surprise baby on his doorstep and drove off into the night. Our sister Nicky’s best friend, Emma, stepped in to help out with Baby Sparkle. Next thing you know, Emma and Jasper were head over heels for each other and running off to the nearest altar.
Cash’s eyes flit to Davis. “What’s your excuse, asshole? Why are you so tired?”
Davis shrugs and stifles another yawn. “Don’t know. Need a new mattress maybe.”
Jasper’s brows waggle. “Hmm…That mystery woman you refuse to talk about with us has been wearing down your mattress springs, hasn’t she?” Grinning, he claps a palm on Davis’s shoulder.
Our oldest brother has been going around town with some professional-looking woman for the past few months. But something’s ‘off’ between the two of them. There’s no chemistry. He’s never introduced her to the family. Hell, we don’t even know her name. And anytime we try to get any information out of him, he shuts the conversation down. Like he does right now.
Davis throws up his hands and backs away from the counter. “Annoyed, sleep-deprived, and not even remotely interested in this conversation.” He rips off his apron, revealing his cop uniform beneath. “I have a job to get to. Later, suckers.” He grabs his jacket from the counter he’d tossed it on, then he’s out the side door.
“Oh, come on, bro!” Jasper calls after him and the other guys chime in as he goes. “Don’t run away!”
“Is he ever gonna get back to himself?” I frown, watching after Davis. God—I really miss the out-going, fun-loving older brother I grew up looking up to. I hardly recognize the grump he’s become.
Davis never quite recovered after he and his high school sweetheart abruptly ended their marriage. He’s been a little bit jaded ever since. The only thing he’s even remotely interested in these days is his career on the police force here in our sleepy, five thousand-person town. He seems to have given up on everything else, including his lifelong dream to be mayor of Honey Hill one day. It’s sad to watch him crumbling like this.
“He’d have to get over Alana first,” Dad mutters. “And that’s probably never gonna happen.” My father flinches so hard I’m tempted to believe that he’s speaking from experience.
Cash shrugs. “Man, I don’t blame him. I can’t even imagine being a functioning human being if Meghan ever left me.” He shudders visibly.
“Tell me about it,” Jasper echoes. “If I go more than a few hours without talking to Emma, I start going through withdrawals. I wouldn’t survive losing her completely.”
“Meghan and Emma are good women. Hold onto them,” Dad says, suddenly looking pretty tired himself. “True love is one of a kind. Once you find that other half of you that fits just right, there are no spares and no replacement parts.”
The guys and I share a look. Dad has been making these cryptic comments ever since he’s been home. It’s got me wondering exactly what’s going on with him.
All eyes in the room turn to Mason. “What’s your relationship status these days?” Cash asks.
He grins smugly. “Single, stress-free and well-rested.”
We cackle knowingly.
“For how much longer?” Jasper questions our cousin. “We all know you can’t keep your distance from Zara for any extended period of time.”
Mason shakes his head violently. “No, man. I’m done. This time, I’m done. I’m detoxing that woman right out of my system.”
“If you say so,” I mutter under my breath and take a sip from my jug of workout mix.
It’s a running joke in the family that Zara put a love spell on our cousin. No matter how toxic she gets, Mason always goes crawling back to her. I’m starting to think it’s not a joke, though. That man is whipped.
“So, little bro,” Jasper turns the spotlight my way. “What about you? How’s the sex life of an NFL star?”
