Page 5 of Careless
And maybe that was enough beer for me. Even though it was damn good beer.
“I’m just fucking with you,” I said after a moment, having ignored the way that my siblings—minus Bodhi—snapped at each other good-naturedly.
Teagan tilted her head as she studied my face as if trying to figure out why I kept fucking with her. I probably should be more careful since she always saw far too much. “I feel like I need to punch Rune in the stomach just in case.”
I rolled my eyes. “Maybe. But I do know that you could take Rune.”
“Damn straight.” Teagan beamed. “And with the way that Briar is being all mama bear, our baby sister could probably take him too.”
That made me grin as the others tried to decide who could kick Rune’s ass. To be honest, none of us could. Well, maybe a few friends who were out of town and still playing in their professional sports. I was long since retired and couldn’t take a beating like I used to.
Which was why it was probably a good thing that I was staying away from Felicity. Because Rune could kick my ass. He ran the bar and grill in town, the only place that stayed open until two o’clock these days. Every once in a while, another bar would open, but it wouldn’t last long against Rune’s clientele.
Because it wasn’t as if he let any shadowy figures walk through the doors. No, he took care of his people, and that was why he was my best friend. But that also meant that Rune had to kick out anybody who fucked with him. Hence, the guy who probably had to walk sideways through the doorway.
“How is Briar? All she does is text me back. Somebody’s too busy to answer an actual phone call,” Finnian said as he grinned.
“Well, it’s because you keep bothering her.” Sterling stole a chip from the bowl in front of him, and I pushed it toward him.
“Everybody start helping with dinner. We’re having fajitas, and I’ve sliced most of the veggies. Bodhi, you want to go check the grill?”
“On it.” He looked over his shoulder before he walked out to the deck. “And I talked with Briar this morning. She, the husband, and the most precious baby girl out there are staying in Texas for a bit. We’ll get her to family dinner soon.”
I met Teagan’s gaze, and she was the one who shook her head.
“No, we’ll go down there. It would be easier than her coming up to Ashford Creek.”
Bodhi nodded tightly, a knowing look on his face. Because Bodhi wouldn’t be leaving town. He either came to my place or hid up in his cabin in the woods. There were good reasons for that, and frankly, I didn’t blame him.
But Briar wouldn’t be coming up to Ashford Creek anytime soon if she was staying and being super careful.
She was not only a Grammy Award-winning songwriter; she was married to one of the hottest rock stars on the planet at the moment. They were new parents, newlyweds, and out on a world tour. They didn’t need to come back to a town full of shadows and secrets. Secrets I was going to fucking uncover if it was the last thing I did.
Though the rest of my family didn’t need to know that.
However, as soon as Briar stepped foot into Ashford Creek, not only would the town jump on her, wanting to know more about her life, about why she had run away from town, but the one person that I continually tried to protect her from would show up.
And I’d be damned if that man ruined anything else in our lives.
“Are the kids with Promise?” Sterling asked, taking a sip of his beer.
Finnian nodded. “It’s her night,” he answered, speaking of his ex-girlfriend.
Finnian and Promise had been high school sweethearts and ended up with twin daughters. They weren’t together anymore and were figuring out co-parenting better than I thought they could.
I wasn’t sure how they had ended up being nearly best friends out of it all, but maybe when you loved somebody, that’s what you did. You found out that maybe you didn’t love somebody the right way, and you wanted to protect your kids.
Both Promise and Finnian were finishing their college degrees, parenting the twins, and each living with family. Promise with her parents, and Finnian with me for now. There was no way that we’d ever let the twins near their grandfather. I suppressed a shudder at that.
No, the world would do better if Matthew Ashford never stepped foot in Ashford Creek or in this world again. But he was the town drunk for a reason. And he would find a way to embarrass us all at any moment now.
No wonder Briar never wanted to come back.
Finnian pulled out his phone and, instead of helping cook, showed off the latest pictures he’d taken of the girls.
I rolled my eyes and went back to chopping, knowing that I was damn lucky to have all of my kids under my roof.
I might be their eldest brother, but I pretty much raised the twins and Briar. It wasn’t as if my father was doing it.
