Page 88 of Messing With My Brother's Best Friends

“Sure.” She let out a long-suffering sigh which had me plating up two finger buns, one with sprinkles for Kate and one with chocolate icing for Benny, before I set them down at a table over on the edge of the bakery. “How about a muffin and a mugaccino for mum?”

“Thanks, Kendall,” Cheryl said with a smile. It wasn’t until I pushed both of them over that she finally told me why she was here. “Did you have time for a chat?”

I liked my sister-in-law. Not only was she brave enough to put up with Finn’s shit, but she was always unfailingly patient with the kids and kind to our side of the family. So when she asked that question, I nodded, right as a timer went off.

“Yes, but I can’t right now.” I frowned slightly. “I’m so sorry. I’m both cooking and serving at the moment and not doing either thing especially well.”

“You cook now?” She blinked at that, having come into our lives after I’d lost the apprenticeship.

“I do.” I popped a hip. “You’re looking at a brand-new first-year bakery apprentice.” The alarm kept blaring, and I caught the subtle scent of bread getting a little too overdone. “And I’ve gotta grab something out of the oven right now. Come by the guys’ place…” I stopped myself. “Our place after work. You know where, right?”

“You’ve moved into Connor and the boys’ place?” Her question was perfectly innocent, but reading between the lines, I could tell she knew in exactly what capacity.

“Finn filled you in?” I asked.

She shrugged, then shook her head, glancing back when she heard the kids giggling. They had icing all over their faces.

“As much as he can. You know your brother.” Did I ever. “He tells me his side of the story, but…” She turned back to me. “I’m just trying to put two and two together. The change to the business, everything.”

“We’ll talk this arvo,” I assured her, backing up towards the kitchen. “I should be home around three. That work for you?”

“You got it,” she said, grabbing her mug and raising it.

“Hey, baby…”

I’d managed to get away a little early, having time to grab a big haul of snacks I knew the kids liked on the way home and I was setting them up in bowls now as I felt a pair of arms go around me and lips press against my neck. One kiss, then another had me shivering before I turned around to find Van standing there. That lazy smile, the way all the golden pretty hair had been messed up by a long day at work had me wanting to move closer, clean him up, right before I got him dirty again.

“Mm… that look.” Another kiss and another. “I love it when you get that sparkle in your eyes.” More kisses. “Means you’re thinking something dirty, and I wanna find out exactly what.”

“Shit, we can’t.” I jerked away and turned to the snacks. “Cheryl and the kids are—” My explanation was cut off by the sound of the doorbell. “I said they could come by and use the pool.”

“Treating this place like it’s your home. That’s what I want to see,” he said as he pulled away and moved towards the front door. “As well as enough sugar to send two little kids into a diabetic coma.”

“Van!”

I heard Benny’s shriek all the way down the hall as the kids came stampeding in. Well, Kate did. Van had slung Benny up on his shoulders, giving him a horsey ride into the kitchen as his sister trailed behind him. Both Kate and Cheryl eyed the gap between Benny’s head and the light fittings, but when it looked like Benny was gonna get a forehead full of glass, Van dropped down with a chuckle then kept on going.

“So, how was work…” Cheryl looked down at the snacks as Kate drew closer, the little girl’s eyes like saucers. “Oh, you didn’t have to.”

“Kinda did. I apologise for the bad behaviour that is about to result, but it’s an auntie’s sacred duty to feed her niblings full of junk.”

“Mum, can I have some M&M’s, pleeease?” Kate asked.

“Well, say thank you,” Cheryl said.

“M&M’s!” Benny shouted, instantly letting go of Van’s shoulders, forcing my boyfriend to scramble to slow his slide down Van’s back. “I want M&M’s!” And with all the selfishness of a small child, he pushed forward, shoving his sister out the way.

Benny was just a little kid. Academically, I knew that the part of his brain that would contain capacity for empathy just wasn’t developed yet, but there was a strange kind of pain that came from watching Kate get pushed out of the way. Her eyes went wide, her hands threatening to lose their cache of chocolate buttons as pain, then outrage, flashed across her face.

“Muuum…!” Kate said in that high-pitched way only young children seem to master.

“Benny—!”

Cheryl snatched the bowl out of her son’s grip and held it up, trying to ensure he listened to what she had to say, but right as his face began to crease up, Van swept in.

“Hey, little buddy.” Was there anything more masculine than a man’s biceps popping as he held a child? “That’s not how we treat our sister. Look. Ben. Ben.” But the little boy was squirming determinedly, his face getting redder and redder by the minute. “Benny, Auntie Kendall bought all these snacks just for the two of you.” Van grabbed a Cheezel and crunched it. “Damn, that’s good.”

Benny watched Van chew his snack, eyes wide, and my guy just grinned.

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