Page 19

Chapter 19

Brodie

My brothers descended on my house like a plague. It wasn’t unexpected, but it was unannounced. Lucky for everyone, Liam and I had been on our best behavior all morning. Well, after the morning sex, and the shower sex, and the frantic frot when we walked in the door after shopping. It was almost a blessing that my brothers appeared on my doorstep, their boyfriends in tow. My dick needed a break.

Liam was in the kitchen when they arrived. After our shopping trip, he insisted on reorganizing my kitchen to his liking. His gaze flicked up to the sudden influx of guests and I saw his shoulders lift and his spine straighten.

“We thought we’d come with a housewarming gift.” Shane held up a couple cases of beer. “Didn’t know you had company.” His gaze slid over to Liam.

“That’s Liam,” I told them. “Liam, this is Shane and his boyfriend Archer.” I gestured at Kieran next. “And that’s Kieran and Clay. Everyone, this is Liam. Yes, he’s my boyfriend. No, you may not interrogate him, threaten him, or otherwise act like irritating brothers toward him.”

Kieran reached out and ruffled my hair. Shane scowled. Liam came over and slid an arm around me and tugged me into his side. He pressed a kiss to my cheek in front of everyone.

Archer tugged a case of beer out of Shane’s grasp and elbowed him. Reluctantly, Shane extended a hand toward Liam, who took it graciously.

“Good to meet you,” Liam said. “I have to admit that I almost feel like I know you already. Brodie talked about his family a lot.”

Shane glanced at me, looking surprised and pleased. “Only good things, I hope?”

I shot him a mischievous grin. “I’ll never tell.”

“Are you all unpacked?” Kieran asked. He’d taken the other case of beer from Shane and sat on the couch, pulling Clay into his lap.

“There’s a stack of boxes in my bedroom that I have to get through, but mostly, yeah. Liam and I tackled that this morning.” Unpacking had happened after morning sex but before shower sex. My face heated at the memories. It wouldn’t be long before Liam had me on every surface in the small house.

Tugging Liam with me to the couch, I took up space on the other end. Liam sat on the floor in front of me. He draped an arm over my lap, like he was claiming me as Kieran passed him a beer.

“So how long are you in town for?” Kieran asked.

My leg shot out and I kicked Kieran. He was unaffected by my assault, only pausing to look at me with a raised eyebrow to mock my attempt to inflict damage.

“I’m not interrogating him. It’s a question.”

Liam cracked his beer open and took a sip. He offered it to me and I waved him off.

“You don’t have to answer their questions, Liam.”

He leaned against me, pressing his side against my leg. My hands found their way into his hair and I ran my fingers through the short strands.

“I’m in town for as long as Brodie wants me to be.”

Liam was never leaving because I definitely didn’t want him to go. I liked having that little nugget of knowledge.

“What do you do for a living?” Shane asked. His big brother instincts had kicked in. He was standing at the kitchen island. Archer had taken up residence on one of the stools and had his arms looped around Shane’s shoulders.

“Right now? Nothing. I quit my job.”

I saw Shane’s expression darken. “You quit your job? And moved here? Whatever money you think you can get from Brodie, you’re wrong.”

I hated Shane for being presumptuous and judgmental, but loved him for being protective. Even if he was going about it the wrong way.

Liam squeezed my leg as though he wanted to reassure me that he didn’t take any offense to Shane’s ridiculous assumptions.

“My parents owned a pharmaceutical company. My sister runs it now. I never had an interest in it, but family obligation had me in college for a degree in business and then I got a job at the family company, mostly so I could make my dead parents proud of me. Even without my income, I have more money than I can spend. And if that ran out, I have a sister I could mooch off. Maybe she should come here and interrogate Brodie about his intentions with me.”

Liam looked up at me and grinned. “What are your intentions with me?”

My intentions with him were definitely not something I could discuss in front of my brothers and their boyfriends. In lieu of listing all the X-rated things I intended to do to him the moment we were alone, I drew him into a kiss that tasted like beer. There was no doubt that the interrogation was going to continue with or without my permission, but knowing Liam gave as good as he got settled something in me. I’d been afraid that they were going to scare him away. I no longer worried about that.

Liam had chased me halfway around the planet to sit on Kieran’s step for an entire day just so I’d give him five minutes of my time. He wasn’t about to let something like Shane’s bristly personality bother him.

When the kiss ended, I took Liam’s beer from him and stole a sip before returning it to his grasp. I loved the way our fingers brushed when we passed the can back and forth. The thrill it sent through me made me feel like a high school kid who accidentally touched their crush. Happiness rose in me like bubbles

“Any further questions?” I scowled at Shane.

Shane shrugged, his drink hovering near his mouth as he paused to answer. “I’ll let you know.”

I took it for the truce it was meant to be and I changed the subject. I didn’t mind them coming over unannounced and it was nice to see them, but part of me felt guilty because I just wanted them to go away so I could be alone with Liam.

Kieran was the first to comment on the stack of kitchenware that was still spread across the counter. “Did you learn to cook on your travels?” He motioned to the mess in the kitchen.

We’d torn everything out of the packages and given most of it a quick rinse in the sink with soapy water. I’d never been so content doing chores before, but with Liam it didn’t feel like work. The domesticity of it hit me in the sternum and made it hard to breathe. I’d floated so high on my own happiness that the air got thin.

“Hell, no. I’m still hopeless. But Liam can cook, only he thought my kitchen equipment was pathetic. It was. So he bought us new stuff.” I tried to pass it off as casual, and not the life-altering event that it was, but I wasn’t sure of my success.

Liam glanced up at me and I realized that I’d said us, not me. I might have bought the house… well, Shane might have bought the house, but it was ours. I already thought of it like that. Our spatula, in our kitchen, in our house. I’d asked him to stay and he’d agreed. He checked out of the hotel and unpacked his bag, stowing the empty suitcase in my walk-in closet. His meager stack of clothes took up too little space. I wanted him to get the rest of his things so they’d be mixed up with mine. In my head, it wasn’t my house, it was ours.

He narrowed his eyes, looking at me with a quizzical expression. Unwilling to get into it in front of my brothers, I shook my head. My fingers raked through his hair again like they had a mind of their own. There was something about Liam that made me want to be in constant contact with him. I was comfortable with him, even after everything that happened between us, and that more than anything gave me hope for our future.

I wasn’t used to kissing people in front of my brothers, but it was quick and chaste, more sweet than heat, and Liam smiled against my mouth before I pulled away.

“Oh gross,” Shane said. I looked over at him to see a huge smile on his face. “The two of you are sick.”

Archer was wrapped around Shane, arms encircling his shoulders, legs around Shane’s. Clay was in Kieran’s lap, quiet and observant, but seemingly content. When I’d left, we’d all been single and I didn’t think any of us minded being that way, but this was nice too. Better in a lot of ways.

Liam’s phone rang and part of me still bristled at the sound.

“Sorry.” He dug his phone out of his pocket and glanced down at the screen. “It’s Oren.” He looked at me. “My best friend. He’s also my lawyer.”

“You should get it. Take it in the bedroom if you need privacy.”

Liam didn’t move, but swiped at the screen and pressed the phone to his ear. “Oren, what’s up? Yeah, I have a couple minutes.”

He glanced at me and mouthed an apology. He handed me his beer before getting to his feet. “Let me just step into the other room.”

When Liam was gone, I had four sets of eyes trained on me. I took a sip of the beer Liam passed off to me and shrugged a shoulder. “Before you ask me, I have no idea.”

A small lie, but they didn’t need to know Liam’s entire history.

His absence made my skin crawl. Not because I couldn’t be without him—I wasn’t that codependent—but because of the look on his face when he excused himself.

“If the four of you are sticking around, be useful and order some dinner. I’m going to see what’s up. I’ll be right back.”

I slipped past everyone and into my bedroom before anyone could get a single question out. Liam was already off the phone. It was lying on the bed and he stood in front of the windows, his arms crossed over his chest with his jaw clenched.

“What happened?”

“Piper’s parents want to sue me.”

“For what?” I barked, probably too loud. I lowered my voice and closed the distance between us.

“It’s not official yet, but their lawyers were in touch with Oren. About the eggs. They’d wanted to sue me for access to them, but I’d had them destroyed before they could get anything filed. It’s what Piper wanted. Oren wanted to warn me that they were going to be unhappy about it. As if that was news.”

I looped my arm around Liam’s waist and leaned my head against his shoulder. “Did you two want kids?”

“Piper did, more than anything. And sometimes that made me want them too. I’d have done anything to make her happy. Which means that it’s probably a good thing it never happened. It’s not what I want anymore. Maybe it never was. Sometimes I still don’t know if it was that I wanted them, or that I wanted them with her. Or for her. If that even makes sense.”

Relief washed over me. I’d never wanted kids either. Kids were fine. Occasionally cute, sometimes sticky, often loud. I’d leave populating the world up to other people.

“I’m sorry.”

Liam exhaled and turned to me, gathering me close. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” Trouble still brewed in his eyes, but he teased his lips against mine. “Let’s go back out there.”

“Are you sure you’re up for company? I can tell them to leave.”

“I’m sure. I want to get to know your people.”

“I’m not sure Shane qualifies as a person.” I laughed and dragged Liam back toward the living room. Worry for Liam and that phone call still nagged at me, but I pushed it to the back of my mind and focused on enjoying the moment.