Page 4 of Reclaimed Roots

Chase raised an eyebrow. "And who might this be?"

I forced a tight smile. "Liam, this is Chase and Elliot Everton, my... old friends." The pause was barely perceptible, but Chase caught it. His lips twitched. "Guys, this is my boyfriend, Liam."

"Boyfriend, huh?" Chase looked him up and down. "Didn't realize our Natty was off the market."

Liam's hand tightened on my hip. "A lot can change in seven years."

An awkward beat passed before Elliot cleared his throat. "We should probably head over to the house. Mom will be expecting us."

"He's right," I said, eagerly grasping the escape route. "We don't want to keep everyone waiting."

I slipped from Liam's hold, moving to embrace the twins one more time. As I pulled back from Chase, he leaned in, his whisper a hot brush against my ear. "We'll catch up later."

I stiffened, suddenly a little nauseous. I loved Chase like a brother, but the look he gave me as he pulled back gave me anything but brotherly vibes.

Chapter Three

JASPER

My hackles roseas I watched Chase with Natalie.

I didn't like the way he was fucking looking at her, the way his eyes followed her as she walked away. Before I could stop myself, I was barreling toward him, right past Natalie and her boyfriend. I ignored them completely, though I didn't miss Natalie's eyes widening as I approached.

"The fuck are you doing?" I barked at my brother.

"Don't know what you mean, Jas."

"Get fucked, Chase. Stop drooling over Natalie."

"I'm not drooling over her, ya douche. She's my friend."

I loved my brother, but he had about as much impulse control as a sugar-crazed toddler. And when it came to Natalie, I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him—which wasn't far since he had a couple of inches on me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Just behave, okay? She's going through enough right now without you making a mess of things."

"Relax, bro. I'm not trying to step on your territory."

"She's not my territory," I gritted out.

"Right, she belongs toLiamnow."

"She doesn'tbelongto anyone, you tool." My voice dropped to a low warning. "I mean it, Chase. Don't stir up any shit."

"Jesus, okay! Message received." He shook his head. "You know, you really need to remove the stick from your ass. Maybe get laid while you're at it."

I flipped him the bird as he sauntered off, no doubt to cause trouble elsewhere. I rolled my shoulders and blew out a long breath. Having Natalie back in town was messing with my head. Seeing her again, being near her... it was bringing up feelings I didn't want to examine too closely.

I took another breath, trying to center myself.

"You okay, baby brother?"

"Yeah, El. I'm fine."

He simply nodded in his quiet, reassuring way. "Chase doesn't mean anything by it. He's just an idiot. You know that."

"I do."

Elliot clapped a big hand on my shoulder. "Let's head up to the house and see if Mom needs anything."

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