Page 122 of No Strings

“Dani and Miles, too.” Miles rests his hand protectively over Dani’s barely-there bump. I can’t believe she’s pregnant. They’re moving back to their hometown in South Australia, but have promised to keep in touch. Shane simply just nods, awkwardly smiles and says hi.

I did invite Paige and Sawyer over. But beingthe first Christmas after the murders, they wanted to stay home, to try to keep a sense of normality for the holiday season.

After the introductions, we all kind of go do our own thing, and I show Shane to his room. “Brent, Molly and Tia are staying in the guest house. You’re here, Beau is opposite you, and Davis is next to you. Rhys and I are just on the other side of the house.”

“Good. I don’t want to hear you two.”

“Oh my god, would you stop?!” I turn on my heels and leave. Grumpy pants.

I bump into Rhys on my way to the kitchen. “Hey you.” Putting a little sweetness into it.

“Morgan?” He raises an eyebrow in question.

I fist his shirt and drag him to me, claiming his lips with mine. He groans and I swallow the sound. We deepen the kiss, not coming up for air.

“Jesus.”

Right, guests. One of which is my brother.

“Sorry.” I turn and do my best to look apologetic.

Ignoring that, he goes into his question. “Can I borrow your car? I need a couple things from the shops.”

“Perfect, I actually need a couple things for lunch tomorrow.” I race into the kitchen and pull my list from the fridge. Walking back out I find Shane and Rhys whisper yelling. I walk in between them and thrust the list into Rhys’s chest. “Congratulations, you’re going with him.”

RHYS

As soon as we’re in the car, Shane starts on me. “You’re not marrying my sister.”

“I didn’t ask for your permission, I was just giving you the heads up.” I say as I start the car. “Plus, shouldn’t you be happy to see that I wasn’t just using her for sex? That I actually love her and that I want her with me? Always.”

“You’ve only been together for what four, five months?”

“What’s your point?” I pull out onto the main road headed into town.

“I… Ah… Fuck.”

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

The fifteen-minute drive into town is tense. But soon enough, we’re finally pulling up into the busy car park. When I find a parking spot, I get a call from Morgan. “Can you stop in at Jasmine’s and get a couple treats?”

“Is she or Delilah and the guys coming tomorrow?”

“No, Delilah is up in the city with her sister and her husband, and Jasmine is having Christmas with what sounds like half the town.” She lightly laughs at her own joke.

Delilah Sainsbury and Morgan became fast friends. Morgan is the same age as her younger sister Ivy. Jasmine was their first client for the business, and they took her in as one of them. She’s the same age as my half-sister, and already has her own business, which is more than I can say for Penelope. Morgan was worried she wouldn’t have anyone, but she’s finding her people.

“Okay I’ll be home soon, Love you.”

“Love you more.” And with that, she hangs up.

I pocket my phone, and we walk to the shops in silence. He seemed okay with Morgan and I when we left. Maybe that was all for show; for Morgan’s sake. We should probably tone down the PDA and affection while Shane is here. But I’m going ahead with my plan.

“You grab what you need, and I’ll start on Morgan’s shopping list.”

And in true Shane fashion, he grunts and walks off. This is getting old fast.

When I’m almost done, I find him in one of the aisles, “What are you d—” I go to ask him when I see what has stopped him in his tracks.