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“Yeah, Cam. It’s Thanksgiving. Don’t be so crude.” Alexis snickers.
He narrows his eyes at his sisters and scratches his temple with his middle finger. Stepping behind me, his hand brushes my lower back as he leans down to my ear. “I’m going to bring our bags to the boathouse”—he raises his voice—“have fun with Frick and Frack over here.”
“Good one,” Hailey says dryly, adding some pumpkin puree to the cocktail shaker.
“God, can’t you guys get along for two seconds?” Linda asks.
All three crane their necks to face her, confused. “We do get along!”
She shakes her head and says she's going to bring up a couple bottles of wine from the basement. “Bruce, will you help me?” He smiles and stares at her ass like he wants to do a lot more in the wine cellar than choose a chardonnay.
I was worried this visit would be stuffy and formal, but it’s quite the opposite. Cam and his sisters’ love language is giving each other shit, but there’s affection under the playful digs.
Hailey hands me a creamy bronze cocktail with crushed graham cracker on the rim. I take a sip and smile. She makes a fuckin’ mean pumpkin-tini.
Kelly is enthralled with Chicken Salad and offers to take her for a walk. She convinces Logan to go with her. Once they leave, I’m left defenseless with his sisters in the kitchen.
“So, what’s the deal with you and our brother?” Alexis asks, her eyebrows bouncing.
I furrow my brow. “What do you mean?”
“I mean he’s never brought a woman home. Ever. For anything. Are youtogether?”
My forced laugh seems to disappoint her. “No, we’re not dating. I recently got out of a bad relationship. He’s giving me a place to stay until I get back on my feet.” It’s the truth.
“Wait, are you?—”
“Yeah. I was engaged to Bryan. It was kind of an ugly split.”
They nod, with understanding in their eyes. I wonder how much Cam has told them.
“Bryan always gave me the creeps,” Hailey says.
“I wish he’d had that effect on me... Doesn’t matter anymore, it’s over now.”Though Bryan doesn’t seem to think so. Either way, I’m desperate to change the subject. “Camden has been a lifesaver. He’s a smartass, but deep down...”
“We give Cam a hard time, but he’s a good guy. He watches out for his people.”
I take a sip of the martini and nod with a tight smile. “Okay, give me something to do. I feel weird standing here and not helping.”
They hand me green beans to wash and snip, and I get to work. It goes by quickly with easy conversation. I like his family.
30
Idrew a line in the sand last night with her. Zero thought went into it, it was pure reaction. I didn’t like seeing her with another man. If she needs to be fucked, I’ll do it. If she wants to practice flirting, she can practice with me. She wasn’t getting birthday sex from anyone else.
And what was that shit aboutbirthdays don’t matter? I did a little research early on and found out her birthdate, couldn’t believe it was the same day as the date on their wedding invite. I couldn’t give her the present yesterday because I was gone most of the day with pregame prep. Who the hell made her think her birthday doesn’t matter?
I had to run a couple errands this morning to get her gift ready, and when I get back, she’s sitting in the living room with one of her romance books. She’s in her baggy sweatshirt and leggings, messy bun, and no makeup. It reminds me of the day I ran into her at the coffee shop.
“Hey, cover your eyes.”
She narrows her eyes at me like I’m about to play a cruel prank on her. “Why?”
“Because I want to give you your birthday present.”
The corner of her mouth curves up on one side. “Youreallygot me something?”
“Ireallygot you something. Now cover your eyes, or I’ll blindfold you again.”
