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“You don’t got any lying around in case shit like this happens?”
Errin waved a single hand in the air, dismissing the mere idea of having them. “I hate peas. Can’t stand the icky structure. Yuck. But ice cream, Cal? Really? Just take the damn thing away.”
“Ye don’t have to eat the damn peas, just have the bag in the back of ye freezer,” Calum mumbled under his breath as he stomped out of the room with the popsicle.
Brennan glanced at Errin. “Okay. I’m going to—”
“Yeah, thank you for taking me to the ER,” Errin said. “And for taking me home, I guess. I’m sure my brother can take it from here.”
He nodded and turned on his heels before he could do something stupid. Something like going through her freezer to find something thatwouldwork. Or rearranging those pillows under her ankle just to feel her soft skin again.
A firm hand grabbed his shoulder in the hallway, right before he opened the front door even further. Ah, big brother isn’t done just yet. He and Calum mirrored each other not only in size, but also in the blunt way they went about things. He picked up on that shit when he first met Calum six months ago when he’d visited Errin’s sister, Kayla, here in Austin.
“What’s going on here?” Calum asked.
“I know… coming home at this hour and seeing she’s hurt her ankle—”
“Fuck. What it is with you Mills brothers? One by one, my sisters all fall for you,” Calum groused.
“Not a chance in hell!” Errin bellowed from her bedroom down the hall.Shit, this apartment is made of paper.
Brennan chuckled at Errin’s feisty response, even though her quick rejection of them ever getting together bugged him. Calum smirked.
“Look. I appreciate you letting her crash at your place. When she’dtexted me last night, I figured it was just that. Nothing more.”
Brennan nodded in confirmation.
“So, there isn’t more going on here?” Calum jutted his chin and waited for Brennan to answer him. He cocked his head, letting his almost white blonde hair fall over his raised eyebrow.
“You heard her, man. Not a chance in hell.”
During his drive home, this weird feeling crept up on him. Something about her response nagged at him.
Last night and this morning had come out of left field and, of course, they wouldn’t kiss ever again. Calum’s drill for answers was the wake-up call he needed. They were close to family now that her sisters were romantically involved with his brothers. Time to nip whatever the fuck this was in the bud.
At the pub, he glanced at the clock above the bar and sure enough; he had two hours left to get some sleep. He left the cash register for now. Things would be slow, since it was the day after Halloween. Who in their right mind would go to Lucky at eleven in the morning?
He walked up the stairs to the apartment and the smell of fried bacon and eggs welcomed him. Pops hunched over the dingy stove whilst humming along with Sinatra’s ‘Fly me to the moon’.
“Ah, boyo! Come sit with yer old grandfather for a bit.”
“I just got back from—”
“Yes, I just hung up the phone with Bunny. Glad our lass is gonna be all right.” Pops glanced at Brennan over his shoulder.
“She’s not mine, Pops.”
“Sit.” Pops clanked a plate full of toast, fried eggs, and bacon in front of him before turning around to crack another egg in the sizzling pan for himself.
The Sinatra song from last night filled the kitchen, and Pops sang along while flipping his omelet in the pan. “I tried so, not to give in… I said to myself this affair, it never will go so well…”
Brennan shook his head and smiled at his grandfather. Pops was on a roll now.
He knew better than to go against Pops when he was in this kind of mood. He was like a shark detecting a drop of blood in the water. Pops was free from doubt something was going on between him and Errin, and now he was circling and circling, ready to take a bite.
“Ever really listened to Frank, boyo? And think hard before you answer me. Did you everreallylisten to the guy?”
“Can’t say I have,” Brennan said after he swallowed half of his toast in one bite. He stood and grabbed a jug of orange juice from the fridge. He took another glass from the creaking cabinet and poured them both a glass.
