Page 14

ANTON

“Brenna, all I’m sayin’ is, you do realize this means you have to spend the rest of your life with this joker, right?” I say, trying to predict which one will react first. Ten bucks says Milo.

The three of us walk into Magnolia Manor, the smell of something delicious smacking us straight in the face, causing all three of us to pause. A scent like that can only mean one thing—Dolly is already in the kitchen.

“That’s the point,” Milo gruffs.

Bingo!

“I know, and I can’t wait,” Brenna gushes, sliding under Milo’s arm and snuggling into him. Her left hand rests squarely on his chest, showing off the bright, sparkly diamond he slipped on there the other night while watching the fireworks on our parents’ boat, Fishy Business .

One brother down, two more likely to soon follow.

We all know it’s a matter of days before Hux officially proposes to Dolly, and this whole town is waiting with bated breath for it to happen.

It’s also not a secret, at least among us brothers, that Gus already has Margeaux’s ring and recently asked all the men in her family for their blessing.

This is Gus, however, so he also has to calculate the exact perfect moment and execute a detailed plan.

One we all know that Margeaux will love every second of.

That leaves three of us.

Leaning down, Milo kisses Brenna softly, and it’s like you can see the happiness radiating off her. Little hearts floating up into the air like balloons disappearing into the atmosphere.

I shake my head, slapping my older brother on the back. I’m happy for them. Really. They bring out the best in each other, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Milo this happy. Even when he first opened Southern Brothers.

“As long as you know what you’re getting yourself into,” I joke.

“That’s rich,” Hux comments as we walk into the kitchen. “Considering you keep asking me if I’ve wifed her up yet.”

He nods at Dolly, who shakes her head as she mixes something in Miss Belle’s large, pastel pink mixing bowl. The smile on her face gives her away, the mouthed “not yet” also doing nothing to make anyone think that either of them are upset by my question.

“And have you? No?” I shake my head, letting out a tsk. “You should get on that.”

Hux throws up a middle finger, and I laugh, turning to grab something from the fridge. Halfway through my spin, I stop, slamming into something.

No, not something. Someone.

I react fast, arms shooting out to catch whomever I just accidentally bodychecked. Someone who, by the squeak they let out, is without a doubt female.

Looking up, I expect to see my sister, or one of the women I already regard as sisters-in-law, or worse, my mama.

My heart stops as the chestnut hair registers, followed by those eyes—the ones I know see right through me—my brain taking a moment to catch up.

I tighten my grip, then release a little, suddenly way overthinking holding on to her.

“Sawyer…”

My new lab partner prickles as I say her name, eyes going wide.

Playfulness bubbles up inside me, the serious look on her face goading me more and more with each second.

She’s so easy to get riled up, and now that I know she’s trying extra hard not to let me get under her skin, there is no way I’m going to stop trying.

“You need to watch where you’re going,” she states, not bothering to hide the ice in her voice. She steps back, moving out of my hold and walking around me.

She’s wearing her bossy pants today. Challenge accepted.

“Good to see you too.” I open the fridge, grabbing a Coke and cracking it open. “Enjoy the fireworks the other night? I hope you didn’t watch them alone .”

As expected—or maybe just hoped —that’s the magic word. She glowers at me, opening her mouth to launch a comeback. That is, until she’s cut off by my mama.

“Anton!” Miss Belle breezes into the room in a way only she can.

A pageant queen and true Southern belle to the very end, my mama has a way of slicing you in half with her kind words and polite smile.

She might just be the scariest woman on the planet.

“Doesn’t the house look much better put back together? "

“Walls look great, Mama.”

“Thank you. It’s called Noble Blush. Sawyer picked it out.”

Did she…

I raise an eyebrow, getting ready to make a comment on the name, watching Sawyer’s own noble blush creep up her face. Mama doesn’t let me though.

“It was between that and Blowing Kisses…”

Mama just keeps handing the material to me …

“Blowing kisses just doesn’t do it for you?” I say, looking directly at Sawyer. The door was wide open, and there was no way I wasn’t going to walk through that.

If looks could kill, I would be a dead man where I stand. From both sides.

“Anton Wright Hayes,” Miss Belle says, voice full of warning.

“What?” I shrug, trying to play it off. “Maybe Sawyer’s like Jace. Prefers her kisses all wet and sloppy—like making out with a golden retriever.”

“If someone’s not wet by the end of it, you’re doing it wrong,” Jace comments, appearing out of nowhere, swooping in to grab a piece of celery off the plate sitting on the counter.

“Jace. Butler. Hayes,” Miss Belle exclaims, the sweet, Southern belle long gone, and in her place the woman who could stop traffic with a single look.

I know that woman well. As the kid who lives to push buttons, she made a lot of appearances during my childhood.

“That’s it, outside! Every one of you boys, out! ”

“What’d we do?” Milo asks, arm still slung around his new fiancée.

Our mama shoots him a look that lets every single one of us know that she is not in the mood for questions. “Fine. Then stay inside and be prepared to contribute to a conversation about the cute little lingerie set I just bought your sister that says bride on it and?—”

“Bet Auggie needs help cleaning that grill,” Hux says, pushing up from the seat at the counter, right as Milo goes, “So, where’s the cooler?”

I’m out the door faster than both of them, Jace hot on my heels. Off in the distance, I think I hear Gus walking through the door, but I don’t stop to confirm—he’s on his own. Because the last thing I want to hear about is anything involving the words sister and lingerie in the same sentence.

Nonetheless, once we’re outside, I throw a glance back, searching for Sawyer. I know better, but I can’t help myself. I am the kid who lives to push buttons, and the urge to continue to push hers grows more and more each time I see her. Especially now that we’ve shared secrets.

Two hours later, the grill that sits on the large back porch of Magnolia Manor has never been cleaner, and the step that Miss Belle has been complaining about being loose is fixed up again.

Laughter wafts out the open window from the kitchen, as Margeaux tries to gives directions to Brenna on how to fry beignets, Willa’s snarky commentary no doubt as unhelpful as ever.

Dirty dishes litter the long, farm-style table that sits on half of the porch, none of us in any hurry to clear them.

“So, what’s this I hear about a hot new bartender at Pour Decisions?” Jace asks.

Milo quirks up an eyebrow. “The only hot bartender we have at Southern Brothers is Brenna.”

“Little sisters don’t count.” Jace waves him off.

“She’s not my little sister…” Milo winks at him, his shit-eating grin growing as he takes a long swig of his beer. “But I like knowing that you think of her as one.”

Jace nods, tipping his drink toward Milo in a long-distance toast. “So, you’re not getting someone new?”

“Brandt interviewed a gal, if that’s what you heard. But he wasn’t a fan. Said she didn’t have the aptitude.”

“To pour beer?” Gus questions.

Milo shrugs, leaving it at that. The sound of the screen door opening steals our attention, Dolly slipping outside with the first round of fried goodness in hand, smiling like she’s won the lottery.

With the speed of a jack-in-the-box, Hux pops up out of his chair, grabbing the plate and stealing a kiss from her.

“Give it a rest, you two,” I tease. “We get it; you’re cute. Duxley is finally together, and all is right with the world.”

Milo reaches over, smacking me upside the back of my head.

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Fuck around and find out, kid,” Milo says, smirking as he delivers his standard comeback to me.

“We’ve established this; Anton’s not fucking anything,” Dolly zings.

Oh, shots fired…

I’d clap back, but Dolly is off-limits. All the sisters-in-law are. But Dolly the most. Hux has already shown that he’s willing to actually, physically throw down when it comes to her, and I value my limbs.

“I do just fine, thank you…”

“I think we have different definitions of that,” Jace snickers.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You got a date yet?”

Jace smiles. A devilish, I’ve-fucking-got-you-cornered smile. A smile that is making me want to drop-kick him into the middle of next week.

“Don’t you worry ’bout me.” I shrug off the comment like it’s nothing.

But it’s not nothing. Because he’s right. Not only do I not have a date, I don’t even begin to have a prospect for a date. At the rate I’m going, she really is going to need to sprout up from the peach grove.

“So you don’t have one?” Ewan comments.

Seriously? Baby brother is going to get in on this too?

As the introvert of the family, Ewan is usually pretty quiet at family events.

You have to get him one-on-one to actually get words out of him.

Except, every now and again he delivers a one-liner so perfectly timed that Will Ferrell himself couldn’t have planned it better.

“I’ve got a date.”

The lie pops out of me so smoothly even I believe it for a second. Six pairs of eyes slam into me as every one of my brothers, and an all but brother-in-law, look at me like I just told them I saw Bigfoot this morning.

To be fair, seeing Bigfoot is probably more believable.