Page 13 of The Moment They Can't Forget

“Not funny,” her brother growled.

The Bandits were the local motorcycle gang that her brothers had many confrontations with over the years.

“I’m a big girl now, Sawyer. Butt out of my life.”

He bared his teeth at her, and she did it right back.

“You two cut it out, or I’ll bang your heads together,” their mother said with the practiced ease of someone who’d been saying that for more years than she could count.

Sawyer then pointed to his eyes and then to Zoe. She poked out her tongue.

Brothers. They could turn you back into an annoying child in minutes. She sometimes wondered why she loved them so much.

Chapter6

Sawyer’s face changed from a scowl to a smile as he looked at the woman who appeared in the kitchen doorway.

“Good morning, everyone,” Birdie said with her usual sunny smile.

She was the youngest child of the McAllisters, who were the resident hippy, nature-loving family in Lyntacky, and love of her brother’s life. She wore pink leggings and a pale blue running tank top. Her ash-blond hair was pulled into a high ponytail. Not overly tall like the Dukes, she was the complete opposite to the man she loved.

The words “grumpy, unsociable bear” were created expressly to describe Sawyer, whereas Birdie was Lyntacky’s Little Miss Sunshine.

Sawyer got out of his chair smiling and went to kiss his girl. Zoe looked at her mother, who had a silly smile on her face too.

“I need coffee, Mom.” Ryder, the middle Duke brother, stumbled through the open door, bleary-eyed. “Why are there so many people in the kitchen at this hour?”

“Because normal people rise before midday,” Sawyer said. “Need me to hug you or something?”

“Fuck off.”

“Language!” their mother snapped at Ryder.

“Make it stop.” Next to enter was Jay, Dan’s best friend since high school. He had a hand over his blue eyes and wore a pair of shorts and nothing else. His brown curls stood off his head in a tousled mess.

“Make what stop?” Robyn Duke asked, ushering him and Ryder into seats at the table. She liked nothing more than having a brood of people in her kitchen to cluck over.

“The light,” Jay said, now laying his head in his hands. “I don’t know how Dan got up and went to work after the night we had.”

“He doesn’t get hangovers,” Sawyer said. He was now standing with his hands wrapped around Birdie’s waist.

“Stop doing that,” Ryder snarled. “Hugging and shit. It’s nauseating.”

Sawyer grinned.

“Let’s go, Birdie,” Zoe said, getting to her feet. “Leave these three to Mom.” She slapped her hands on the table loudly, making Ryder and Jay moan. She then ruffled their hair.

“Evil witch,” Ryder muttered.

Sawyer grabbed Zoe as she walked by him and pulled her into a cracking hug. He then placed a kiss on top of her head.

“Behave, and I will find out about Chicago.”

“Right, because there is so much trouble I can get into running through the small town of Lyntacky with your woman,” Zoe said, ignoring the rest of his statement.

“Love you,” he whispered in her ear, which, of course, made her sigh.

“Love you too, asshole.”

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