Page 63 of Clap Back (Carter Brothers)

He watched me wince, and then reached for my hand. “Let’s get you inside.”

My belly churned with butterflies as we walked down the path to his front door.

“This is beautiful,” I said to him. “The cedar beams and the cedar in the planters really complement each other.”

He flashed me a grin. “Are you trying to get me to ask you to marry me?”

“He’s stupidly obsessed,” Quaid admitted. “When Mamasauce built her house, she and Auden stayed in the yard for a solid three weeks when they were both off. Just wait until you see the inside of their house. They had more money to play with.”

“I can’t wait,” I said as we pushed through the door of Auden’s house.

We stopped in the foyer just as a car door slammed outside and Athena came barreling up the front walk, not bothering to stop and smell the roses. Literally.

She walked right into the house and stated, “I think the disappointment has a camera set up at your place. Or, maybe, your dad does. I walked up to hear him talking to who I assumed was your brother on the phone. First, your dad said that he saw your mother pull up earlier and leave with you. Then, he was talking about how he was at the hospital, and you were there, but the doctors and nurses wouldn’t tell him anything about you. How else would he know that unless he was either there, watching, or had a way to watch you?”

I felt the man who’d been standing at my side stiffen.

I looked over to him and watched a silent communication pass between his brother and him.

A short nod from Quaid had me guessing that they’d just made some super secretive plan to have my house checked over before I went back home.

If I went back home.

Maybe I’d just rent an apartment somewhere, pay in cash, and have movers go box all my stuff up and move it for me.

I could sell my house, then put the money straight into a savings account for my next place, wherever I ended up.

What I did know was that I wanted to test the waters with the man at my side before I did anything drastic.

I looked away, once again taking in the room surrounding me.

I was so lost in thought, thinking about a few touches he could add to make this place feel like home—an ottoman next to a chair by the fireplace, and a throw that was soft as sin over the arm of the couch for impromptu naps—when the door burst open, and all kinds of Carters poured in.

Children.

Babies on hips.

Excited squeals in the wake of their entering.

Moms chattering.

Garnett and her boys. Their dad.

And food.

So. Much. Food.

“I have cookies!” Garnett cried.

A woman after my own heart.

Don’t talk to her when she’s overstimulated. She’ll hurt your feelings.

—Athena to Auden

AUDEN

“Did you know that if you hold your closed fist out to a girl, she’s automatically going to think it’s a bug?”

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