Page 14

14

brITT

ONE MONTH LATER

“ H ey, Britt! Wait up.”

Groaning, I drop my shoulders and stop walking.

So close! I was so close to freedom.

Turning in the middle of the school hall, I watch Brad’s mad dash between dozens of students in his attempt to catch me before I escape.

I’ve been ducking him since our date.

He was seriously pissed after Jack left us that night.

I mean, I get any guy would be pissed that his date was kissed on the cheek by another man, especially when the other man was bigger and hotter than him, but that was our first date ever.

Best behavior, right?

If his tight hands and snappy words were his best-date-behavior, then I have neither the patience, nor the inclination to meet day-to-day Brad.

No thanks.

My brothers taught me better than that.

“Hey.” He stops in front of me. Close. Too close. “I’m so glad I caught you.”

I turn as if to say ‘walk and talk.’ Mostly I just want to walk. “Hey, Brad. Sorry I haven’t returned your calls, I’ve been busy.”

“Yeah.” His voice, a low rumble, precedes his hand pressing oh so lightly against my lower back. I walk faster. “I hope you’ve been well.”

I paste on the best smile I can muster and move faster. I probably look like I sucked on a lemon. And maybe have a pending case of the runs. “I’ve been well, just busy with stuff coming up.”

I’m not even a little bit busy. I spend almost all of my time in the backyard with my brothers and friends. We’re in our twenties and thirties now, but weekends feel like we’re still in our teens.

Continuing through the long hall, I push the heavy double doors open and step into the sun.

Freedom. Sweet, blessed freedom.

“So, you up to anything this weekend?”

Not with you! “Um, I think I have plans actually…” I skip down the front steps and move across the parking lot. “Yeah, I already have something planned. With–” Silently, I chide myself for being a shitty liar, but before I can form a plan, I almost snap my ankle at the sight of a giant minivan and six Kincaid children.

Like my asshole knight in poo armor, Jack stands beside the sliding door looking all badass in jeans and a leather jacket. With a black ballcap pulled low over bright eyes, he laughs and counts kids.

This would look amazing, it should look amazing, but the minivan is the size of a bus and ruins the whole image. That should be his Mustang, or a motorbike.

He’d look sexy as hell on a bike.

“Britt?” Brad’s demanding voice brings me crashing back to reality. “You have plans?”

“Yeah, sorry.” Stopping when Brad’s strong hand grips my arm, my eyes shoot up to Jack’s, only to find his eyes on mine. “Um…” Think faster, dumbass! “Yeah, sorry. I have plans with my friend this weekend. You remember Jack?”

Looking over my shoulder with narrowed eyes, Brad no doubt studies the muscle clad badass with six billion children. “You have plans with your friend ?” His emphasis on friend doesn’t go unnoticed. “I was hoping we could go out again, Britt. I had such a nice time with you.”

“Umm–”

“Did you have a nice time, too?”

“Uhh–”

“Miss T!”

Turning at Evie Kincaid’s loud shout, I find her standing under her uncle’s arm with an exaggerated wave and trouble in her eyes.

I return the wave. “Hi, Evie.” Looking back to Jack’s eyes, butterflies flit around my stomach and make me nervous at his curious stare.

His eyes flip between mine, Brad’s, and Brad’s hand .

“Britt.” Brad’s hand drops my arm and comes to my chin so he can demand my attention.

Frowning, I turn my back on the minivan and bring my hands behind my body. Brad might think I’m simply standing with good posture, maybe even showing off my boobs, but in reality, I’m beckoning Jack, or Evie, or hell, any human being on this planet, to come save my ass.

Crooking my finger, I hope someone’s still watching. “I had a nice time, Brad.” When his eyes light up, I immediately slow that speeding car and nudge it into a new lane. “I mean, it was my first date in a long time, so it was nice to get out.”

Subtlety isn’t his strong suit. Or perhaps it’s me with the weakness…

“I had a nice time, too, Britt. It was amazing having you to myself after so long. So I was thinking, maybe tomorrow night? Or even tonight, since it’s the weekend–”

“Brad, no, I don’t think–”

A meaty arm drops down over my shoulders and disguises the way my entire frame jumps from fright. Pulling me in tight, Jack holds me with easy familiarity and flicks a smug smile in Brad’s direction.

“Hey, Bambie.” Noisily kissing my temple, he laughs in my ear when I blush and try not to notice the steam escaping Brad’s nostrils. “You ready to go?”

“Britt?”

“Um. Brad, sorry.” I clear my throat. “You remember Jack, right?”

Staring at Jack as though hoping he’d step down, Brad looks down his nose like we’re icky bugs. “I remember.”

Lifting his chin arrogantly, Jack squeezes me close and magically has me turned into his frame so my breasts press against his ribs.

“Brad.” His eyes come down to me. “The kids are all loaded up. Pizza’s coming. We’re just waiting for you.”

Get out of jail free, here I come. “Yeah.” Smiling when his dimple flashes, I turn to Brad. “Sorry, I have plans. But I’ll see you Monday.”

Turning away without a second glance at Brad, Jack keeps me tucked under his arm and chuckles as we move closer to the van. “You owe me, Bambie. You owe me so bad. I know I just got your ass out of a date you didn’t want.”

I bring a hand up to cover my burning face. “Oh my God, Jack. You really did.”

He laughs and presses a fun kiss to my brow. “Brad the Bore a dud?”

“Stop!” Smacking his disgustingly hard stomach, I laugh and let him propel me forward. “Brad the Bore didn’t even get a chance to be a dud. ”

“Sucks for him.” His sly smile flashes. “He missed out on something pretty fuckin’ pleasurable.”

“Shut up!” I smack him a second time and blush like a fool. “Thank you for your help. I appreciate it.”

“Anytime, Bambie. Though it’d be a lie if I said I expected that summons. I thought you were more of a screaming-in-the-yard, keying-a-guy’s-car kinda chick, not a wussy little princess that needs to be bailed out of a dinner request.”

“God. I am that chick – the other one, the badass one. But I feel weird about Brad. Probably because I work with him. I feel bad saying no, ya know?”

Shaking his head, he opens the passenger door to the dorky van and helps me climb in. “No, I don’t know. But I have loads of practice being an asshole. It comes easy to me. Get in, you can have pizza with us.”

“Wait.” I catch the door before he can slam it shut. “I can?”

“Yeah, you have to at least try to look legit. I’ll bring you back to your car in a couple hours.” Slamming the door shut, he walks around the hood totally at ease.

Slowly spinning in my seat, dread swirls in my stomach as I come eye to eye with ten separate sets of browns and blues and greens.

Six school aged children, and another four toddlers strapped into five-point harnesses, stare at me like I’m an exhibit in the zoo.

Jesus Christ. How many kids do these people have?

“Uncle Jack said asshole,” Alexandra Kincaid happily chirps. “I’m telling Mommy. She’s gonna whoop his butt.”

Scoffing, Evie turns on her sister. “Snitches get stitches, Alex. We don’t snitch on Uncle Jack. I’ll put you in the sick bay.”

Climbing into the van with a grin, Jack turns back and offers a fist bump for his violent niece. “There’s a reason you’re my favorite, Bug. Blood in, blood out, baby girl.”

“I gotcha back, Uncle Jack.”

“Which means you get to pick tonight’s movie.”

“No!” The older boys groan.

Blissfully uncaring, Evie preens and grins like the troublemaker she is. “I choose The Princess Bride.”

Jack smiles wickedly. “Thought you might.”

“Oh man,” Jamie whines. “I hate that movie!”

Jack and Evie turn on him as one. “Inconceivable!”

“Oh my God,” I laugh and turn back to the front. “You’re all nuts.”

Laughing, Jack turns to the front and starts the van. “We’re unique. We’re loud. We’re crude. And well, yeah, we’re nuts, too. But we own it, don’t we, Crew?”

Like a cheer squad that have practiced it a million times, everyone in the van – except me – yell in unison, “Yeah, Rollers!”

“Now let’s go eat,” Jack adds to the noise. “I’m starving.”

Three hours later – three loud, chaotic, tantrum filled, pizza and ice-cream consumed hours later – Jack walks out of his niece’s bedroom minus the four toddlers, then heads across the hall and snaps at the six and seven-year-olds to “stop screwing around, or we’ll roll.”

Turns out, everyone’s sleeping over tonight. Jack’s on babysitter duty while his brothers and sisters are off having a much-need night out – and probably creating another dozen noisy, messy offspring.

Shaking his head, but smiling like the chaos feeds him, Jack walks back into the living room and flops down on the couch beside me.

Evie and Lucy are the last kids standing, but they’re curled up under a blanket on the second long couch. Lucy’s head on Evie’s chest, arms wrapped around each other, the girls that fight – truly, the girls that are attached at the hip most of the time – watch Disney movies with drooping eyes.

Letting out a deep sigh, Jack rests his head against the back of the couch, stretches his legs out, and spreads them wide so his jean clad knee brushes against my stockinged thigh.

I’d kill for a pair of sweatpants right now.

“The babies are out, the older kids are still fucking around.” He laughs. “I think the girls will be out before the others.” Turning toward the girls, he watches them with a father’s love in his eyes. Rolling his head back toward me, he grins softly. “You good?”

“I’m good.” Smiling lazily, I relax back into the couch. “That was fun.”

He rolls his eyes. “That was exhausting. I couldn’t do this every day. I don’t even know what you were thinking when they asked you at college what degree you wanted to earn. You’re surrounded by these monsters every day.”

“At least I get paid for it… Makes it easier.”

Smiling comfortably, his eyes flick along my face.

He’s relaxed in a way I never knew he could be. I just knew the hyper, drunk Jack. This one knows how to sit and relax, and the shadows playing across his face lend a mysterious air.

“No. You can’t fool me, Bambie. You’re not in it for the money. I heard teachers get paid barely more than a bag of shit. And if you’re lucky, you might get a five-dollar coffee gift card at Christmas.”

I laugh. He’s not wrong. “Barely more than a bag of shit.”

“Thanks for helping me tonight.”

I shrug. “No big deal. It was fun, and at least now I repaid you for helping me with Brad.”

Snorting, his large hand comes up to rest over his stomach. “No way was that your payment. Throwing pizza slices at my kids’ faces isn’t nearly as awesome as my date dodging skills. Your debt isn’t even close to repaid.”

Brows furrowing, I consider this joking guy. He’s a stranger. I’m not sure what happened in the last few months, but this is not the guy I hooked up with. This new Jack seems lighter. His eyes are clearer.

And his smile comes easier.

“Actually, tonight kinda was a big deal. I’m exhausted.” I play it up dramatically. “I think that was payment enough.”

His dimple flashes. “We’ll see. I feel like I saved you from a boat load of shit tonight.”

He really did. But I don’t admit it.

“But I guess you saved me, too,” he grumbles. “I’m so glad you had no plans tonight. I was scared to be alone with all these monsters, and a school teacher is a safe bet that you’re not incompetent around children. I was gonna ask Brad, but he seemed a little mad.”

I burst out laughing, but clap a hand over my mouth to silence it before I wake the kids. “Oh my God. I think he’s really pissed.”

“A guy shouldn’t get pissed because you don’t wanna go out, Bambie.” Heavy brows darken his light eyes. “I mean, a guy can get cranky, he can have a bruised ego. Hell, he can puff up his chest and act an ass. I do it all the time. But getting pissed, like real and true pissed, is just weird.”

I shrug and downplay the anxiousness Brad’s constant requests make me feel. “He’s okay. He’s harmless. I just don’t think he’s ever been told no before.”

“Just be careful, okay? He looks like a pussy, but some pussies can be wily fuckers who like to hurt women.”

Biting my lip at his not-so-poetic words, I smile. “You shouldn’t swear like that. Your sisters will smack you for teaching the kids those words. ”

Smiling, he lazily turns his head to face the sleeping girls. “Smalls and Bean are cool. They already know more swears than I do. And the others are tucked up in bed, so they can’t hear.”

“Smalls and Bean?”

His hooded eyes come back to mine. “Hmm?”

“You called them Smalls and Bean.”

“Oh yeah,” he grins. “Bean is Lucy. Because that’s what her mom called her before she was born. And Smalls is Evie. Because she likes black rappers and her mom is too proud to admit she was the one who taught Evie her first swear.”

Snickering, I nod toward the sleeping pair. “Give me a rundown of your family. What’s your story?”

Jack’s body goes tense and turns the relaxed air around us into something more electric.

“My story?”

“Yeah. You have a ton of family. I met two dozen kids tonight, but I can barely keep them straight.”

He scoffs. “I can barely keep them straight. It was like an epidemic – Evie turned up, then Bean, then bam! The way the flu spreads with a sneeze, all of a sudden, these kids started turning up out of nowhere. I can’t even be sure they’re all ours. They just started coming down for breakfast one day, so we decided to keep ‘em.” I know he’s joking. There’s not one single child here that doesn’t look like one of their parents. “Alright,” he continues, “so there’s me.”

When he says nothing more, I laugh at his proud smirk. “Yes, I’ve met you.”

“Yeah, you have.”

“Stop!” I smack his thigh. “Stop with the sex references. You make me blush.”

Laughing, he lies back and nods. “Okay. So there’s me and Kit. She’s my sister.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, I got that, too.”

“Right, but she’s more than my sister. She raised me after my dad died.”

“When did he die?”

“When I was fifteen.”

“Where’s your mom?”

“She died when I was a toddler.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

He shrugs carelessly. “It’s cool. So there’s Kit. Kit married Bobby. ”

“Okay.”

“Bobby’s brothers are Jim and Aiden.”

“Okay.”

“Jim married Iz. Aiden married Tina.”

I smile. “Okay.”

“Jon grew up with them all, so we call him our brother, though he’s not blood related.”

“Alright.”

“Jon married Tink.”

I smile. “Tink?”

“Tink is the tiny chick you assumed was my wife that time. She’s an asshole, so she never corrected you. Then she spent the next month calling me her husband and shouting at me for being a prick. Her real name is Casey, but she’s our very own Tinkerbell.”

“Alright.”

“Is that everyone?” he asks. “I legitimately don’t even know. There’s so many people in this house every day, I honestly don’t know who’s who anymore.”

“I don’t know!” I laugh. “This is your story.”

“Yeah, I think that’s it. Oh, and Izzy, Jimmy’s wife, is Jon’s actual sister. She’s kinda Jim’s sister wife.”

I laugh a full belly laugh. “I think you’re confused about the true definition of a sister wife.”

He shrugs. “Whatever. So I think that’s everyone. Then there’s the next gen, but most of them go by their regular names. But Bean is Lucy, Jim and Izzy’s firstborn. Though she’s not actually Jim’s biological daughter.”

“She’s not?”

“Nah, but he was there before she was even born. He was there at the hospital when she was born. She knows her history, it’s no secret, but Jim is her daddy in every way that counts. And Smalls is Aiden and Tina’s firstborn. Oh, and Aiden is Biggie.”

I have a crush on Jack’s big brother. “Biggie and Smalls? That’s adorable.”

“She called him Biggie when she was a toddler. It stuck.”

“Then there’s you.”

He smiles wolfishly. “Then there’s me.”

“And Annie.”

Annie’s head pops up from her spot beside the sleeping girls.

“And Annie. And that’s it. That’s my whole story.”

“It must be fun having this giant family. ”

He smiles, brings his hands up behind his head, and drops his legs open wider until his thigh rests heavier against my leg.

“It really is fun most of the time, but it’s also a pain in my ass. It’s noisy as fuck around here. The milk’s always running out, and half the kids still wake at night.” He sighs contentedly.

He loves it here. Noisy, messy, no sleep; he loves it.

“Your turn. Do you have siblings?”

I smile. “Uh-huh. I have brothers, too. Two of them. Plus a house load of bonus family.”

“Older?”

“Yeah, the guys are heaps older. I think maybe I was an accident, considering the giant age gap.”

He laughs. “Oops.”

I smile, strangely comfortable sitting with this man I don’t actually know. The man who was once really mean. “Yeah, oops. But it’s cool. I love my family a lot. They’re great.”

“Are they still local?”

“Of course. They wouldn’t dare move more than ten miles from wherever I am. They so enjoy being up my ass all the damn time.” When Jack smiles with an ‘I can totally relate’, I continue. “One’s a cop, the other’s in a band.”

His eyes flash with laughter. “One’s a cop, one’s in a band?”

“Mmhm.”

“Miss T?”

I nod again.

“Your last name’s Turner, isn’t it?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Your brothers are Alex and Scotch?”

I smile. “Yeah. You know them?”

He barks out a laugh so suddenly, I jump. “No. Fucking. Way.” His entire frame bounces with muted laughter. “I’m a dead man.”

“Huh?”

“I genuinely cannot wait until I get arrested next. Oh my god. I wanna go rob a bank. Right this second.”