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“Stop or I will vomit.” She slapped her hand over her mouth. “I really, really will.”

I smiled and then settled against the bar.

“And in the spirit of honesty, I may have played poker with Brock as well.”

“Brock…!” She looked around to see if her yelp had got us any attention, then focussed back on me. “Damn, girl?—”

“In my defence, they are all really hot, and I thought it was all fake and this was my one chance to act out some really persistent sexual fantasies without ruining our friendship, so?—”

“No, it’s fine. If they were someone else’s brothers, you know we’d have done a dick girth to orgasm ratio analysis by now. I’m not slut shaming, but…” Her lips pursed and her brow creased right before she smiled. “It’s different this time, I guess. I care about you and them. I want you all to be happy and… I guess you are.” She snorted and then put the back of her hand to her brow. “Like sleep with all of my brothers, please, but…”

The furrow between her brows deepened, even as her smile grew pained.

“What happens when you decide to take things further with only one of them?”

All of the good feeling of Hunter’s kiss was washed away then, leaving me feeling cold and shaky. I couldn’t answer that, because honestly, I had no idea.

Chapter 36

Hayden

The next morning, I stood in front of the mirror, straightening my collar then sighing when it seemed determined to flop flat again. I started to unbutton it, ready to give it another iron to hopefully transform the cotton button down into something crisp and classy looking, when Hunter walked into my room.

“Going for the Disco Stu look?” he said with a smirk, flicking my half-opened shirt, but I just knocked his hand away. “Don’t you need more chest hair, or any for that matter, to make that look work?”

“Piss off.”

I dragged the ironing board back out of the cupboard, wincing at the rusty groan and then plugged the iron back in.

“Ironing…” Hunter followed me into the lounge room and nodded slowly. “You are going all out for this barbeque.”

“Jamie’s mum is already ringing wedding bells around Brock, so I need to come across as a likely contender,” I said, pressing the steam button and hearing the iron hiss before laying the shirt down on the board.

“Because of this whole fake date thing?”

He cocked an eyebrow, looking at me meaningfully.

“To throw Majorie off the scent right now, but…” How the hell did I say this to a brother that wanted the exact same thing? I took a leaf from Hunt’s book and just opened my mouth and blurted it out. “Maybe one day I’ll be meeting them for real, as Jamie’s partner.”

Hunter’s mouth tightened, but he nodded and then disappeared into his room, making me think he was having a sook, but he returned with another white shirt.

“You’re never going to get that shirt to look sharp.” He reached over and rubbed the fabric. “It’s made from a really soft cotton. This one will do the trick.”

He passed it over and I could feel the difference immediately. I turned off the iron and then pulled the shirt on, buttoning it up and then rolling up the sleeves. Paired with a neatly pressed pair of chinos, I felt like I looked smart but casual, like a serious contender for Jamie’s hand.

“Why the hell are you helping me?” I asked, raking my hand through my hair and straightening up the strands. “Or have you formally given up?”

Bloody hell, let it be that, I thought fiercely.

“Nope.” That slow smile told me everything I needed to know and none of it was good. “I went to the pub last night?—”

“You what?” My hands stopped mid cuff roll. “I told you that Jamie and Millie…” I shook my head. “What happened to the meeting with Billy?”

The smug bastard just grinned.

“Got it done early and then went and apologised to Jamie.”

Apologised… It was the least he could do, but in some ways I wished he hadn’t. If he was fucking up, then Hunter was no threat. That was an ugly thought, one that’d never occurred to me before. There were plenty of girls who tried to catch his eye rather than mine, but it’d never mattered.