Page 82 of Messing With My Brother's Best Friends

His free hand covered her breast, sinking into the soft flesh.

“Because I can’t focus on a fucking thing but you. Tell me you’re gonna come.”

“Yes…!”

A sharp cry, a stiffening of her back and that was when I watched it. The way Kendall looked when she came was a goddamn work of art, and I could sit and stare at it for hours, just to catch that look of surprise on her face. Like she never expected this to happen and was shocked at how good it felt when it did. I surged forward, kissing her continuously, trying to mutely communicate how good it would be, in bed and out, if she just agreed to share her life with us. But not yet. We’d all agreed we needed to spend some time letting Kendall adjust—

“C’mere.” Van slid in between me and Kendall when Gage laid down heavily on the bed. “Now I get cuddles.” He was like a goddamn puppy, nestling into her, but she just chuckled, pressing a kiss to his forehead before closing her eyes with a sigh. “See, I told you it would be perfect.” Van kissed her then, just a light, sweet thing. “We’ll always put the seat down and never make you sleep in the wet spot.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Make that wet spots. Maybe we should invest in one of those waterproof blankets.”

“Maybe you should shut up,” Gage grumbled. “We’ve all got work tomorrow.” He cracked one eye open to glance at her. “Unless you want to call in sick.”

“Can’t.” I lived and died for the sight of that smile, because when it came, something lit up inside me. Kendall looked so damn smug right then. “I’ve got an apprenticeship to start.”

“What?”

I felt like I’d been plunged into a pool of ice water and red-hot lava all at the same time.

“Kendall decorated a cake to help Chris out, and of course, when he saw my baby in action, he tried to snap her up right away,” Van said. “He offered her an apprenticeship and she’s gonna say yes.” He kissed her again. “To all of the things, right, baby?”

“Maybe…” Her eyes fluttered open as she smiled at him, brushing a lock of his hair out of the way. “I mean you’d have to ask me formally.”

“What?” Sound distorted, the fan’s whirr echoing around in my head. “What did you say?”

But they didn’t seem to hear me, focussing only on each other.

“Yeah?” Van propped himself up onto one elbow, glancing down at her. “Well, Kendall Kennedy.” He grabbed her hand and held it close, despite his amused tone. “Would you be my girlfriend?”

We’d talked about this, just this fucking thing. They’d told me it was too soon to buy flowers, that Kendall would run out the door if we pulled this shit, and he was… Asking her out like they were still kids in the schoolyard. I felt the sheets ball up tightly in my fists as I moved, ready to go into damage control, to make Van take it back, to stop Kendall from leaving when she…

Smiled. She fucking smiled.

Our girl was having a chuckle at the whole thing, but there was also something a little shy in it. She nestled her face into his chest and he held her so gently, and my hands ached to do the same.

“And my girlfriend.” Gage trailed a hand down her shoulder so she turned to face him. But his focus shifted to me and so did hers. “Something you want to say, Connor?”

Don’t leave, the words shrieked inside my head. Don’t walk out the damn door. Stay here, even if it scares you, and work this out with us. Commit to us, to whatever insane relationship dynamic this was. Commit to the idea of us being together forever. But all of that would destroy the light-hearted mood in the room right now, so I just moved closer.

“Be mine, Kendall.” I took her hand and she gripped mine tightly. “That’s all I want. I’ll move heaven and earth if that’s what you need, but… Just gimme that.”

That same smile felt different when it was turned on me, like the sun was warming my skin on a winter’s day.

“Yes,” she said, with a slow nod. “Of course I want that, but…” She yawned so hard her jaw cracked. “Right now, I need to sleep.”

“Your wish is my command.”

I picked her up and dragged her away from the others, rolling us to the end of the bed and then snuggling her under the blankets.

“Hey, no fair!” Van yelped.

“Your turn to sleep in the wet spot, numbnuts,” I replied, right as I pressed a kiss to Kendall’s forehead.

Chapter 43

Kendall

I woke up before the lot of them the next morning, thought not to sneak out undetected. Instead, I walked into the massive kitchen, looking at it with fresh eyes. Gas hobs but a fan forced electric oven, shining bench tops, and at least one decent knife in the knife block. Yeah, I could work with that. I started pulling ingredients out of the fridge, remembering what Sunday breakfasts were always like.

Dad, before the doctor put him on cholesterol tablets, used to love a big, cooked breakfast on a lazy Sunday morning. And while we couldn’t spend a long time grazing on bacon and sausages, there were enough ingredients to make something nice. I hadn’t done this for a long time, but… Setting the heat on, preheating the frypans, finding cooking utensils, it all came back to me as easily as breathing, so when they woke up, they did so to a feast.

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