Page 63 of Stolen Voices

The four of us groan.

“Dad, seriously. Don’t talk about Mom like that.” Cam lays his hand on his stomach like he’s nauseous.

“What? She’s no saint. We have the four of you, for crying out loud. Grow up.”

“I think he’s worse than Cam,” Jace mumbles.

“Fuck you, J. If anyone is the worst, it’s you. You keep doing unspeakable things to my sister-in-law in bathrooms and knocking her up.”

Jace preens like a peacock.

Lucky fucker.

Mason chuckles, drawing Cam’s attention, who points at him next. “Don’t get me started on you. In the hallway at your niece’s birthday? How dare you?”

Mason’s face falls, his eyes shooting fire. “Shut the fuck up, Cam.”

“Wait, what happened at Sariah’s birthday party?” Jace puts his hands on his hips. He looks so much like our dad as he stares daggers at Mason.

“Nothing.”

“Nothing my ass,” Cam grunts. “He had his hand up Emery’s dress when I came in. Could have been a full sex show if I didn’t show up.”

“I’m going to kill you, kid,” Mason growls.

“Like to see you try.” Cam gets up from the table and flexes. He might be the youngest, but he’s a big guy. He’s got at least three inches on us all, works out like a beast, and treats his body like a temple.

Mason doesn’t stand down, cracking his knuckles. “Fine. You want to play, Cam? What about you and Talia, and Emery’s now destroyed dresser?”

“What about it?” Cam shrugs, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. “Need a lesson in pleasing your woman?”

I can’t help barking a laugh at that, which was the wrong fucking thing to do as four sets of eyes—all eerily the same color—turn my way.

“What are you laughing at, E?” Jace asks.

I put my hands up in surrender. “Nothing.”

“Everyone has skeletons, Eli.” Mason crosses his arms.

Cam scratches his chin. “Did I ever tell you guys the story about Eli pretending to be a ballplayer so he could get his dick sucked?”

My jaw drops in shock. “What did I ever do to you, Cam?”

My dad glares at me. “You better have been respectful. I didn’t teach you to be a taker.”

Jace and Mason burst out laughing. As do the rest of us. We might give each other shit, but at the end of the day, we also love the hell out of each other.

“Alright. Don’t give Eli such a hard time. His day is coming soon.” Dad pats me on the back.

“Oh, I think it’s here. He was totally bullshitting us earlier with his ‘my work is my priority right now’ spiel,” Jace says with a smirk. “He thinks I didn’t see him smiling like a loon while he was texting. Who’s the girl?”

“What? There’s no girl. It was just Dez with work.” I make a face and brush him off.

“Dez, my ass,” Jace grumbles.

My cheeks heat, and my stomach flips, because of course there’s a girl. Not a girl, a woman. A woman I might be slightly obsessed with. One I can’t have.

All four of them stare at me, waiting for me to come clean.