Page 169 of Mr. Infuriating

“I doubt if you even know how to change your oil.”

I gripped his shoulder with a grin. “That’s what I’ve got you for.”

Now that we’d exchanged the required amount of sibling barbs, he looked around again with a thoughtful expression.

“But seriously, this is really coming together nicely. I bet we can finish everything today.”

The thought was bittersweet. Fortunately, I still had a few more days since she still didn’t have water.

“Well, not everything. We’ll need to leave the sink cabinet” I shot him a dirty look as I continued, “until Henry repairs her pipes. But once that’s done, she should be ready to come back home.”

“When’s Henry supposed to get that done?”

“He’s waiting on a part, but he thinks Wednesday or Thursday.”

His face split into a grin.

“So, she’s been at your house almost a week. How’s it going? You engaged yet?”

“I think your plan may have backfired, little brother.”

He wrinkled his brow.

“Backfired? How?”

“She’s staying at her parents tonight, so her son doesn’t get too attached to me and the kids. And Britt has liked playing big sister. It’s become a whole clusterfuck. We should have just kept it a weekend fling between us and not gotten our families involved.”

“It’s too late for woulda shoulda couldas. I think it’s a good thing.”

“How do you figure that?”

“You’ve learned your families are compatible, so you could blend them together.”

“It’s a nice fantasy, Beau, but she wants another baby.”

“So, give her a baby. Do I need to explain how that works? When a daddy and a mommy love each other very much, they go to bed without any clothes on, and nine months later, they have a baby.”

“You’re such a dick.”

“We already know that. But that doesn’t explain why you’re making this so complicated.”

“I closed that door a long time ago.”

“So, open it back up. Or go through a window. Or a wall.”

He then broke out in Lil John’sGet Lowsong, complete with choreography.

Watching my little brother grab his balls while dancing around the kitchen, I thought,maybe being alone with my thoughts would have been the better option, after all.

Chapter Seventy-One

Gretchen

It was bad enough I’d gone and fallen in love with Gabe Mitchell and his kids, I’d let my son do it, too.

He’d talked about “Bandit,” Brittany, and even Brayden the entire car ride to my parents’ house.

Fortunately, seeing hisdaideóandmamó,had been a distraction. But it was only temporary because my mom came into the kitchen where I was grading papers and asked, “So, who are Bandit, Bit-nee, and Bwaydon?”

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