Page 27 of Ten Hammers

I laugh, trying to clear away my emotion, “They wanted everyone in America to root for their favorite Hammer brother to be eliminated, not chosen. Save their favorite for themselves, of course. But then PLOT TWIST! The brother I choose will turn me down in the end, leaving me brokenhearted and humiliated!”

Even as I laugh, I’m crossing my arms over my chest defensively again.

“Win, with all due respect, what the actual fucking fuck are you talking about?” Gavin cuts in.

The semicircle of brothers around me has lost some of its order as I rant. They’re all wearing matching expressions of disbelief, as though they truly have no clue what the fucking fuck I’m talking about.

“Come on, guys. They were looking for trash TV and ratings, not for me to have a happily ever after with one of you, because no one—least of all me—would buy that.”

“Buy what?” Cruz genuinely looks confused.

They are the smartest guys I know, my boys, and yet they still need me to spell it out for them?

“That not one, but all of the Hammer brothers were genuinely competing for my love.”

They’re all staring at me like I’ve just sprouted wings and told them I’m a fairy princess.

“WHAT?” I demand.

Theo breaks away from the row of brothers, and comes over to me. I probably shouldn’t let him get too close. His green eyes are a trap I fall into all too often. They make me forget what I’m doing. How to think rationally.

“First,” Theo says. “Do you seriously not know how much everyone who has ever had anything to do with 1 Girl, 10 Hammers adores you?” He touches my cheek. “Angel.” His eyes ensnare mine and I fall. “Trust me, they absolutely want to see you get your happily ever after. You’ve helped so many people get theirs.”

I shake my head, still not buying it.

His hand drops from my cheeks but he’s not defeated yet. “You were the soul of our show, Win. Yeah, it was about us showing off our bodies, but it was so much more than that. Because of you.”

I can’t deny that what he is saying is true. Yeah, the original idea for the show was all about them making America drool as they renovated houses. But once I was brought on board and the concept morphed from 10 Hammers into 1 Girl, 10 Hammers, it became so much more. I handpicked every family whose house we renovated. Those I chose were kindred spirits, people like myself, who’d never had a home that was truly a sanctuary. I wanted to give them not only safe spaces, but beautiful spaces. So, yeah, the show had a lot of skin, but it had a lot of heart.

“Still,” I say. “Look at yourselves. You each put so much time and work into keeping your bodies perfect. Why would you possibly want someone who looks like me?”

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think I’m some kind of Sasquatch or anything like that. It’s not like I don’t take care of myself. I make sure to exercise. I try to eat right. I care about being healthy. But I am never going to have visible abs. I was built with big boobs and thick thighs. My ass has always filled my jeans, and I’m never going to have the type of physique you’d expect a lady on any Hammer brother’s arm to have.

“At the risk of being unoriginal, what the fucking fuck are you talking about?” Diesel asks. “We would want someone who looks like you because each and every one of us think you’re hot as hell.”

“And,” Axel adds, “we’d never compete for anything else with the same intensity and determination that we’d compete with if the prize was your love.”

Gram used to watch old episodes of the Twilight Zone like that show held the secret to world peace and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised at, if this moment, Rod Serling rose from the dead and walked in to narrate.

What the fucking fuck indeed.

I laugh. “Sorry. I just… What you’re asking me to believe is… kind of… farfetched.”

“Then let us help make it a bit more realistic.” Jack says it with a flirty smile, but I know behind his teasing, a part of him is very, very serious.

I swallow hard. “What do you mean?”

“You aren’t interested in Winnie’s Favorite Hammer–televised or not–and we all respect that,” he says. “But I can’t let you leave this room until you believe, with your whole heart, that if you were in, every damn one of us would be in.”

“You can all talk ‘til you’re blue in the face, Jack Hammer, but you’re never going to–”

“Oh, none of us will be talking, baby, because I firmly believe that actions speak louder than words,” he says, his piercing blue eyes pinning me in place. “Give us each five minutes to persuade you?”

My heart hammers–no pun intended–in my chest.

“What about your pact?” I stammer.

“Well, Big Max obviously made that null and void,” Mason says. “If you give us the same opportunity he had, we’ll show you just how much we all want you.”

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