Page 69 of Her Brother's Keeper

“My makeup good?” I asked and he nodded.

“Yeah.”

“It’s my birthday, and Reaver and Hayden are about to be here any minute to pick you up. I’m going to kill you if you’re lying to me,” I told him and punched his shoulder lightly. He twisted away from me and laughed.

“I’m serious! It’s fine.”

“Waterproof everything for the win, huh?”

“I guess,” he said. “You going to open that?”

I laughed, and pulled the box closer to me, tearing off the paper. It was a bigger than average shoe box. The lid taped down with Scotch tape. I worked my fingernail under the satiny tape and popped it free on all four sides and lifted the lid off, setting it aside. White tissue paper blocked my view and my curiosity mounted. I lifted some of it aside and found a pair of leather gloves. Sturdy, but that would mold to my hands, and definitely made for a woman.

I set them down and lifted the paper off the rest of the way, and found a pair of sturdy riding boots. They looked like typical men’s boots from the front and sides, with the exception that the laces to tighten them up were located at the back of the calf, reminiscent of corset lacing and adding a decidedly feminine flair.

I looked up at Sage and asked him, “How on Earth did you...?” I left the ‘afford this’silent, and felt more than a little dirty for the question escaping my mouth. It was rude and ungrateful, but with the way Sage had been acting, I couldn’t be sure that a theft hadn’t happened.

“Used all my allowance, Nox made up the rest. I guess it’s from both of us.”

“You used all of your savings? Onme?”

“You only turn eighteen once,” he said with a shrug, and it was very grown up of him. I pulled him into a hug and sat down at the kitchen table to put on my new boots, laughing with him as we figured out straps, buckles, zippers, and laces together.

Sage had even run upstairs to bring me down an extra pair of socks, saying that Nox had told him to make sure I wore two pairs until the boots were well broken in, to prevent blisters. I was glad it was still cold enough outside that wearing two pairs of socks wouldn’t be any kind of a hardship.

The doorbell rang just as I stood up and Sage and I were admiring the fit of the boots over my dark, skin-tight jeans.

“I’ll get it!” he cried and went to the front door. I followed him up the hall and when he opened it, it was to a smiling Reaver and Hayden.

“Hey! Ready to go?” Reaver asked.

“Yeah, let me just run upstairs and grab my backpack.”

“Hi, Maren!” Hayden greeted me.

“Hey, where’s Connor?” I asked looking around them and seeing empty air.

“On our way to get him, your place came before his mom’s when it came to plotting a course,” Reaver said.

“Ah, I see. You guys are absolutely sure this isn’t any trouble?”

“Nah, no trouble at all. I think it’ll be good for the both of them.”

Sage came running down the stairs at full elephant tilt and hugged me quick.

“Bye, Maren!” he quipped and I smiled, both for him and the rumble of Nox’s motorcycle as he pulled up to the curb. Reaver ruffled Sage’s hair and rolled his eyes over my brother’s head.

“Yeah, bye, sis!” he said and Hayden laughed as they both stepped off the porch and went for Hayden’s SUV in the driveway.

“Try to have fun tonight!” she called over her shoulder and I waved.

“I’m sure I will!”

“Oh, you will,” Nox promised, coming down the path through the yard, another longer and wider box tucked under his arm. He stopped in front of me and I turned my face up to his, smiling about to say something funny when his lips crashed into mine and he very nearly devoured me from the mouth down.

I made a surprised noise, my arms twining around his leather clad shoulders as I arched into his chest. The box was set aside on the railing, his arms curving around my back as he hauled my body up tight, fitted perfectly into the curve of his own while our mouths wrought magic.

“Get me out of here,” I heard my brother exclaim, and justhearinghis eyes roll in the tone of his voice made me laugh. Nox pulled back from the kiss and laughed with me.

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