Page 5 of From the Start

“You’re only saying you’ll do better to get me to shut up.”

Well, yeah. Because Jaxon can go on and on about responsibility and all the other nerdy stuff. Sometimes I wonder if he’s really a Raider. He hasn’t got a fun bone in his body. Except he does have the Raider blue eyes. All six Raider brothers do.

I glance at my wrist. “Shouldn’t we be working now?”

“You’re not even wearing a watch.”

“Maybe it’s invisible. You know all about being invisible.” I wink.

Jaxon pretended to be invisible when he was avoiding Blossom. Why he was avoiding a woman who was chasing him is beyond me. It’s not as if he has tons of options as the king of nerds.

I wave as I saunter to my office down the hall from Jaxon’s. When I open the door, I hear a click before glitter and confetti rain down on me.

“Gotcha!” Zane and Miles, two more Raider brothers, pop up from behind my desk.

Jaxon chuckles from behind me and I whirl around to face him. “Did you delay me to give them time to set this up?”

He shrugs. “Finish the preparations for the inspection next time.”

What? My boring brother doesn’t usually participate in pranks. My jaw drops to the floor and I sputter when I get a mouthful of glitter.

“We are winning the prank war!” Miles shouts and Zane high-fives him.

There’s always a prank war going on between the Raider brothers. Usually, I’m in the thick of it with Miles and Zane. But recently I’ve been off my game.

I shake my head. “A prank doesn’t count unless five out of six Raider brothers witness it.”

Zane shrugs. “We can’t help it if we notified Eli and Rhett but they didn’tshow up.”

Miles narrows his eyes. “This five out of six rule isn’t fair. Especially when the boring brothers don’t show up the way they should.”

“The way they should?” I ask. “It’s the middle of a work day. We’re supposed to be working.”

Zane rushes to me. “I’ll check his temperature while you message Dr. Allens and tell her we’re bringing Kai into the emergency room.”

“Got it.” Miles pulls out his phone.

Zane reaches for me but I bat his hands away. “I’m not sick. I don’t need a doctor.”

“Are you sure?” Zane asks. “You literally said ‘we’re supposed to be working’.”

“Words I never thought little Kai would utter,” Miles adds.

I growl at the term ‘little Kai’. I hate being the youngest brother. Everyone treats me like a child. I’m twenty-four. I’m a man. They should treat me as such.

“Uh oh. Is little Kai getting annoyed?” Zane pats my shoulder and I shackle his wrist.

“Don’t make me break your wrist.”

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” Miles shouts.

“Are you seriously fighting in the distillery?” Rhett asks as he enters my office. “Jaxon is going to kill all of you.”

“He started it!” Miles and I shout at the same time.

“Jinx,” I say before Miles can. He sticks his tongue out at me.

“Is this why you texted 911 to me?” Rhett fists his hands at his hips. “I don’t have time for your childishbehavior.”