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“What can I say? I’m a simple guy.” He shrugged, but he didn’t make eye contact.
Simple was not a word I’d use to describe this man. Complex and full of layers would have been my bet.
And I found that I wanted to get to know him better. I wanted to discover what was hiding behind those gorgeous eyes and muscular body.
I squirmed in my seat, my skin heating at the thought. What was it about him that made me feel this? Granted, it’d been a long time since I’d looked at another man, let alone had thoughts like that. But why was Kyle suddenly making me feel and think these things?
Chapter Seven
KYLE
Sunday dinners had beena ritual with my family for as far back as I could remember. As we got older and had various activities, it got tricky to get all of us kids together, and my mom wanted one night a week when we would all gather for a nice sit-down meal. So these dinners became even more important then. Obviously, I missed many of them during the fourteen years I was in the army, but when I was in town, I was here. When I came home after my injury, I avoided these more than I sought them out. But a few months back, my dad pulled me aside and told me he expected me at the table every Sunday. No excuses. That he was done watching my mom be disappointedwhen I didn’t show up. He didn’t care if I said a single word to anyone, but my ass better be in that chair come five o’clock.
I hadn’t been trying to hurt my mom.
It was just…
A lot.
Talking, noise, expectations.
Dinner with my parents was fine. Dad was quiet unless he had something important to say. Mom worried, but she didn’t push. But with a house full of my siblings, it was just…too much.
Like now. Savannah had been rambling on for the last five minutes about Mrs. Jones and her most recent slew of gossip. Being a bartender at our family’s restaurant required her to smile and listen, but did she really need to add to the gossip by repeating it?
She brushed her short blond hair out of her face. The streaks of pink and purple looked freshly dyed. I still didn’t get her. The hair. The newly added nose ring. Did we all neglect her as a kid? It sure seemed like she’d gotten enough attention. Hell, she probably got more than the rest of us.
“Then she said Kyle?—”
My head snapped up, and I homed in on my sister. Was she seriously dishing gossip aboutme? The town’s injured hermit?
“?was coming out of Tina Hughes’s house late last night.”
I grunted and went back to eating my food. I would not contribute to this insanity.
“He’s giving her kids swim lessons,” my mom chirped, squeezing my forearm.
I’d mentioned it to her because I was dressed in swim trunks when I helped her unload the car yesterday before I left for Tina’s. I wasn’t about to lie to her when she asked if I was going for a swim, and I knew she wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. She just smiled and saidthat’s nice.
“I heard Teddy had a close call on the dock the other day,” Bella chimed in.
“Yup” was all I had to say.
A few minutes of silence passed as we continued to eat.
“Wait.” Rhett tilted his head, his brows pulling together. “Did you know her husband? He was stationed at Fort Bragg too. He was killed on deployme—Ow. What the hell?” He glared at our sister Hattie, who sat across from him. “Why’d you kick me?”
Here we went again. At least one of my siblings had caught on that I didn’t want to talk about it.
“Sorry. Didn’t realize that was your leg.” Her voice said one thing, but her look said something totally different. “How was Hudson’s appointment today?” Hattie asked Bella.
“It was good. He’s at a healthy weight. B was such a good helper too.” She turned to their three-year-old and smiled.
“Me a good big brother.” Brendan sat up tall in his seat.
With that, we settled back into our meal, seemingly steered away from uncomfortable topics.
Or so I thought.
