Page 61 of Just Say Yes

“What are you doing?” I whispered, knowing Royal was definitely up to something.

He grinned and opened his coat, flashing an air horn hanging from the inside pocket.

I rolled my eyes and laughed. “What the heck is that for?”

His eyebrows bounced, and his eyes moved up the sidewalk toward the Sugar Bowl. It was then I spotted Duke, dropping off our sister and giving her a kiss that lasted long enough to make me blush.

When Sylvie turned to go inside, Duke swatted her butt and I smiled. “Don’t be mean to Duke. He’s a good guy.”

Royal kept his attention on Duke as he sauntered up the sidewalk toward us. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

As Duke got closer, Royal gripped his jacket, and I stuffed my fingers into my ears, waiting for him to blast the air horn and make Duke jump out of his skin.

To my surprise, Duke offered Royal a stealthy nod, and instead of blasting the air horn, Royal simply opened his jacket. Without a word, and in one smooth move, Duke pulled the air horn from Royal’s coat and slipped it into his own.

“Morning, MJ,” Duke called and kept his lazy pace down the sidewalk.

Royal grinned.

“What wasthat?” I asked.

My brother shrugged. “Like I said, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I rolled my eyes and laughed again. “So you’re workingtogethernow?”

Now that the Kings and Sullivans were one, big dysfunctional family, it was getting hard to know where the lines of the feud had blurred. My guess was they were gone forever, but the boys still had fun busting each other’s balls with childish pranks.

Thankfully the label ofsweet little sistertypically kept me out of the crosshairs. I’d used it to my advantage only once or twice. Either way, I was taking any involvement to the grave.

Like the time Lee convinced me to look the other way when he slipped over-the-counter urinary tract medication into Royal’s drink. The next day Royal’s pee was neon orange, and he was convinced his wiener was going to fall off. Of course he’d come to me, and I’d had to convince him that it was completely harmless.

I chuckled at the memory.

“So who’s got you floating on a cloud?” Royal finally asked.

I blinked up at him, hoping he couldn’t see Logan’s name flashing across my forehead. I tried to look annoyed. “What? Ew.” I watched as Duke disappeared around a corner. “Just happy to see everyone getting along.”

“Mm-hmm.” His stern, disbelieving eyes watched me. “Well, just know that if he breaks your heart, I’ll break his legs.”

A shotgun burst of laughter escaped me. It would be a tough match between Logan and Royal, but the sheer image of it was ridiculous. I wondered whether the rest of the King and Sullivan men would jump to restore my honor.

I had a sneaking suspicion they would.

“I’m good, but I appreciate the offer.” I bumped my shoulder into Royal’s.

He looked me over. “You’re dressed awfully cute to go to work.”

I looked down at my olive-green trench coat. Beneath it I wore a cream-colored knit sweater with a mock turtleneck, medium-wash jeans, and low-cut brown leather cowboy boots with a snip toe.

Maybe I should be offended by his comment, but my outfit was a lot more polished than my work scrubs, so I guessed he wasn’t wrong. Truth was, I’d spenthourslast night debating on the perfect outfit to meet theotherKings.

Something cute but effortless. Polished but that didn’t look like I was trying too hard.

I shook my head. It still blew my mind that there was an entire group of people, related to us by blood, living only a few hours away and we had no idea.

“Today’s the day.” I sneaked a peek through my lashes at my older brother. “I’m going to drive out and deliver Dad’s ashes.”

Royal’s hand landed on my shoulder, and he gave me a reassuring squeeze. “You’re the best one out of all of us. I mean that. If it were up to me, that urn would have gotten lost on the side of a highway.”

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