Page 23 of Shared By Her Brother's Best Friends

Max lets out a whoop of excitement and races out the door. “No running on the stairs, Max!” I call out after him.

I can hear Ty greeting him downstairs and Max excitedly chattering away before the sounds of his favorite cartoon come floating up the stairs. It seems I’ll have to face Ty after all. Not wanting to do so looking a mess, I quickly head to my room to shower and make myself presentable.

When I come downstairs some ten or so minutes later, Max is sitting on the sofa with Ty eating what appears to be a sandwich and chatting Ty’s ear off in between bites, explaining his cartoon to Ty with gusto. They both look up as I enter the room, Ty has the grace to look a bit sheepish so it would seem they know I overheard them last night. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.

“Hi, Mom! Ty made me a PBJ sammich!” Max declares, proudly holding it up in his sticky fingers.

“I can see that, did you say thank you?”

Max nods his head vigorously.

“I hope that’s okay, he said he was hungry…” Ty says awkwardly.

“It’s fine, thank you,” I reply my tone coming out harsher than intended. “Where are Mason and Jax?” I ask, deciding to feign ignorance.

Ty contemplates how to respond for a moment, stroking his jawline in a gesture that is surprisingly sexy and has me feeling flustered. He glances at Max and me before answering.

“They went to speak to someone that Mason thinks might be able to help with… the situation,” he finishes, not needing to explain or wanting to elaborate for Max’s benefit.

“Help how?” I ask.

“The person they’re going to see has a lot of contacts all over, if anyone can find out who’s behind all this, it’s them.”

“If this person is so knowledgeable, why didn’t we go to them straight away?”

Ty again looks uncertain about how truthful he should be. “Mason has a history with her… it’s complicated. He wanted to leave her out of this if he could but well, we’re not making any progress.”

“And you want Max and I out of your hair,” I finish for him.

Ty opens his mouth to protest but I hold up a hand to silence him. “It’s fine,” I say bluntly, turning my attention to my son. “Max sweetie, it’s time to get dressed, Mommy and Ty have to go somewhere so we’re going to take you to Auntie Jessica’s to play with Ben.”

“Yay!” Max cries, happily getting up to go and get ready with the promise of a day playing with his friend and being spoiled by Jess.

“Where are we going?” Ty asks, confused.

I look at him, giving him my best no-nonsense mom stare. “If you think I’m going to sit around here while the guys speak to the one person who might actually be able to help find out who’s after my son then you are sorely mistaken.”

“I’m not sure it’s the best idea for us to…” Ty begins but again I cut him off.

“I don’t care what you think. Max is my son. So, you can take me to this person, or I can call my brother and tell him all about the ‘fun’ his best friends had with his little sister yesterday,” I threaten, though to be honest, I knew I wouldn’t follow through with it if he called my bluff.

Fortunately, I must seem more confident than I feel because Ty sighs and nods. “Fine. Emma Miller, you are a stubborn woman,” he says with grudging respect.

***

As I suspected, Jessica was more than happy to take Max for the day, though she did raise her eyebrows almost to the point of them flying off her face when she saw a different guy with me. Ty didn’t come to the door, instead opting to stay straddling his bike waiting for me. He’d insisted on riding behind me—whether it was because he found my presence intolerable, or the idea of making small talk in the car put him off, I don’t know. Probably both.

“Another friend of yours?” Jessica asks once Max says goodbye to me and runs off inside, her tone jovial yet judgmental.

Although Jess has been a good friend to me these past few years and I don’t know how I would have managed without her help, she has the uncanny ability to make me feel like the world’s worst mother. Perhaps that’s why I decided to do what I do next.

“Sure is. We’re just going for a drive. Thanks again, Jess!” I reply before walking determinedly down the path.

I grab the spare helmet in the trunk of the car and stride over to Ty. “I’m riding on the back with you,” I state as I plonk the helmet on my head.

He looks at me like I’ve lost my mind, which perhaps I have. I can feel Jessica’s eyes on me as she watches in shock. “Why? I mean… what about the truck?” he sputters.

“Hey, Jess, we can leave the truck here, right?” I call out, not waiting for her to answer before saying, “Thanks a bunch, you’re the best!” and swinging my leg over the back of the bike. Ty stiffens and I wonder if he’s going to insist I get off. “It will be quicker this way,” I insist.

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