Page 75 of Michael: The Hawthornes

“Guilty.” Rumi stretched his arms above his head, and tattoos peeked from the edges of his sleeves. “Shouldn’t have have bumped into me.”

Charlie rolled her eyes. “Where’s Rhett?” she asked me.

“Casper took him to meet all the kids,” I said, curling my fingers together in my lap. I couldn’t see him anywhere outside, so he must’ve still been in the building. I knew that there were at least twenty adults keeping an eye on the pack of kids but it still felt weird not to know exactly where he was and what he was doing.

“Oh, cool,” Charlie said, nodding. “My pop will make sure he’s good before he leaves him to it. Don’t worry, he’ll fit right in.”

I nodded, my eyes unintentionally straying back to where Michael was standing. I hadn’t really had time to look at him properly before we’d left the house, and it probably wasn’t the most intelligent idea to let my eyes roam over him in a crowd full of people, but I didn’t let that stop me. He was wearing jeans that hung low on his hips but were somehow still tight enough to show off his muscular ass and thighs, and a dark gray hoodie that he’d pushed up his forearms. I wasn’t sure why that part of his body made my mouth water the way it did, but I wasn’t sad about it. Something about the muscles there, tapering into thick wrists and big hands… yeah, I needed to think of something else. On top of his hoodie was the leather vest that he never left the house without.

“That’s my brother,” Rumi said, jabbing me in the side. “Could you not?”

“What?” I snapped, looking back at the table.

“It’s like ten degrees warmer out here,” Charlie joked, pulling at the neck of her sweater. “Damn.”

“So,” Olive teased. “Living together must be going pretty well.”

“I don’t wanna be a part of this conversation,” Charlie said, getting up from the table. “Call me and we’ll figure out some shifts for you.”

“Thank you so much,” I said as she waved me off.

“You’re going to work for Aunt Charlie, too?” Olive asked, drumming her hands on the table. “Maybe we’ll have the same shift.”

“You work there?”

“Yep,” she grinned. “I’ll ask if I can train you. It’ll be fun.”

“Where’s our boy?” Michael asked, coming up behind me. He set his hands on my shoulders and I couldn’t help the way my body instinctively leaned into him.

“Playing with the kids,” I said, looking up at him.

“Cool. You ready to eat?”

I nodded and let him pull me to my feet.

“What, no hello for us?” Nova joked.

I tried and failed to keep the tension from my shoulders.

“Hey, Nova,” Michael replied. “Hello, Olive Oil. Gray.”

“You’re hilarious,” Olive replied, getting to her feet.

“Brother,” Rumi greeted with a grin.

“I already said hi to you, jackass,” Michael laughed, swinging at Rumi’s head.

The group of us all ended up heading for the bar inside, and the noise level was so high that I could barely hear myself think. I scanned the room for Rhett but didn’t see him anywhere.

“I’ll go find him,” Michael said, leaning down until his breath tickled my ear. “You hold our place in line.”

As he strode away, weaving through the group of people waiting to get their food, I forced myself to look away from his ass.

“When we were kids,” Rumi practically yelled from behind me. “We used to get to load up our plates first.”

“Yeah,” Nova replied. “When the hell did that stop happening?”

“When you became adults?” Olive asked dryly.

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