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“Let’s ambush him when he comes in after his workout, then?” I flash my eyebrows at him.
“Deal,” Liam agrees as he puts his phone down on the table.
“So, what did you do while Mikey was training to be a chef then?”
He sucks in a breath and runs his hands through his hair. “I’ve only ever worked for Shane,” he says with a shrug. “But Mikey always wanted to be a chef.”
“Why didn’t it work out? He’s a great cook.”
Liam nods. “Yeah. But it’s kind of hard to be anything other than what we are when you’re a Ryan.”
I nod at him because I know all about not being able to escape the shackles of a name. I’d like to know more, but I don’t want to push him. Liam is the quietest of the twins and although he and I get on great, I figure it takes a lot for him to open up to people and he’ll talk to me when he’s ready.
“Shane did his best to help us live a different life, don’t get me wrong,” Liam goes on, feeling the need to defend his older brother. “He never wanted to leave Ireland, but he came here for us. Mostly for me and Mikey.”
“Oh?”
He shakes his head. “Some shit went down. We were sixteen. He brought us here. Mikey trained to be a chef. But me, well…” He looks down at his hands and starts picking at his fingernails.
“You what?”
“Shane is the boss. Conor is the negotiator. Mikey is the funny one who cooks great food and can also make a bomb out of the ingredients of most people’s pantries. And me, well, I guess I’m just the fuck-up.”
I blink at him. Wow! “Well, that’s not how I see it,” I say as I pick up a grape from the fruit bowl on the table and pop it into my mouth.
He arches an eyebrow at me. “And how do you see it, Jessie?”
“You’re the buffer.”
“The what now?” he says with a frown.
“The buffer. The person who stops Conor and Shane from killing each other, or Mikey from blowing too much shit up. You’re the one who keeps them all that little bit calmer.”
Liam narrows his eyes at me. “You think?”
“That’s what I see anyway.” I shrug just as Mikey bounces into the kitchen.
“We got this place to ourselves tonight, kids. The folks are going out.” He grins at us as he rubs his hands together. The folks are how he sometimes affectionately refers to Shane and Conor.
“Where are they going?” Liam asks.
“The O’Malley’s wedding. They forgot all about it,” Mikey replies. “And they’re staying over at the hotel too.”
“Who are the O’Malley’s?” I ask.
“Old family friends.” Liam pulls a face. “Boring fuckers, the lot of them.”
“Why aren’t you two going then?” I take another grape and watch as Mikey pulls off his sweaty gym shorts until he’s standing there in just his skintight boxer briefs, and I try not to choke on the grape I’ve just eaten. I’ve seen them both bare-chested plenty of times. They constantly walk around shirtless and my ovaries are just about getting used to it, because they are both huge and ripped. But, damn, if there isn’t the outline of the hugest cock beneath the gray cotton of Mikey’s underwear.
Dear God, these boys are fine!
“You checking out my tattoo, Jessie?” Mikey asks with a chuckle, referring to the tattoo of a phoenix that he has on the very top of his right thigh.
“Yeah,” I reply as calmly as I can. “That’s some nice ink.”
He nods to himself as he walks toward the utility room and disappears inside. I swallow hard. If he comes out of there naked, I might just pass out. But my modesty is spared when he walks out a few seconds later with a white towel wrapped around his waist.
“So, why aren’t you two going then?” I ask again.
