Page 62 of My Three Hometown Hard Hats

“Fuck,” he mumbles under his breath. He presses a soft kiss to the corner of my mouth before standing and facing my brother.

“I thought all those rumors around town were a joke,” Grayson says, arms crossed as he stares down Austin.

“I’m sure a lot of them are,” Austin says, sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

Grayson gestures to where I’m sitting between the twins. “Obviously not all of them.”

Austin sighs loudly. “No, not all of them.”

“So, you’re fucking my sister? All of you are?” he asks, his eyes darting to Brooks and Conrad.

“I’m not going to answer that. I’m also not going to talk about her like that,” Austin says.

Grayson huffs out a breath, his jaw tense. “Are you with all three of them?” he asks, eyes locked on me.

“I am,” I say, my voice hoarse from crying.

“They’re going to break your heart, Had. This is never going to work,” he says.

I love Grayson for caring so much about me, but he’s dead wrong about this. I know we have a lot of things standing in our way, but I’ve never wanted anything as much as I want this relationship to work.

“We aren’t going to break her heart,” Conrad says in his calm tone.

“You say that now,” Grayson retorts, running his hand over his face.

“Let’s go outside and talk,” Austin tells my brother. “You can hit me or whatever you need to, but I’m not letting her go.”

My head snaps up off Brooks’ shoulder. “Grayson, do not hit him,” I say, my eyes shifting between the two of them.

Austin leans down, kissing me fully on the lips this time. “For you, it would be worth it.” He looks at the twins. “Take care of her. I’ll be back.”

Then he’s striding out the doors and into the parking lot. Grayson continues to stare at me for a moment before following his best friend outside.

Through the large windows, I can clearly see them yelling. Well, Grayson is yelling. Austin is standing there letting my brother say what he needs to say.

Conrad squeezes my hand. “Are you okay?”

About my brother knowing about us? Yes.About everyone knowing about us? Yes.About my mom still being in surgery? No.

Not knowing how to put all that into words, I just shrug.

“I’m sorry we just showed up,” Brooks says. “We wanted to be here for you.”

“I’m glad you’re here.” I grab his hand with my free one. “Grayson is mad now, but it’s just because he loves me. He’ll get over it.”

“I hope so,” Brooks says, running his hand through his hair. “Your brother kind of scares me.”

Conrad and I both laugh quietly.

My brother is a big, burly fire captain, but to me, he will always be the guy who put Band-Aids on my knees when I fell and always told Mom to buy strawberry ice cream even though he hated it because it was my favorite.

“Don’t tell him that. He’ll make it a million times worse,” I say.

Movement out the window draws my attention back to the two men I care about, who are bickering overme.

Grayson cocks his fist back like he’s going to punch his best friend. Austin stands there calmly, saying something that I can’t make out.

Grayson’s arm drops down to his side.