Page 120 of Summer with the Single Dad

So Bennett needed to get back home.

He carefully peeled his arm out from beneath Justine, redressed and slipped out of the trailer. The morning warble and chirp of energetic birds was the soundtrack to his quick trek across the driveway to his front door.

The girls would probably still be in bed, but he was awake now and had a long to-do list.

Brooke and Clint planned to take all six kids to Humpback Beach, which meant he had all day to work on cabin five with Cameron and Jagger.

He entered the house quietly so as to not wake Jagger, but his phone pinging with a new email ransacked his efforts and Jagger stirred, grunted, and rolled over, opening his eyes, only to fix Bennett with a glare.

“Sorry,” he whispered, pulling out his phone.

“You don’t look like you went for a run,” Jagger said, his voice hoarse and growly like the bear he very much resembled.

“Justine slept through her alarm.”

Jagger snorted and a small smile tipped up his lips beneath his lumberjack beard. “So you still got a workout, just a different kind.”

Bennett was only half-listening to his brother as he read the email from Tweedle Awful and Tweedle Terrible.

“Fuck!” He shoved his fingers into his hair and tugged until the burn in his scalp eased the gnawing sensation in his gut.

Yawning, Jagger sat up, revealing his ridiculously ripped torso, chest hair, treasure trail and all. Bennett was used to seeing his brother with very little clothes on, but the fact that Jagger was the fittest, biggest, and cockiest of all five of them still grated Bennett from time to time. “What’s wrong now?”

“The couple who want to have the wedding here just emailed to ask if we could move the date up?”

Jagger scratched at his chest. “What? To when?”

“Next weekend,” Bennett said, collapsing into the chair opposite the couch Jagger sat on.

“Why?”

Hey Bennett,

Just wondering how possible it would be to move the wedding date up to next weekend? I had a dress fitting today and, OMG, the seamstress had to take it out A LOT. Like I don’t want to look pregnant in my photos. You know? And I’m worried that she’ll have to take it out even more if we wait. Or, the dress won’t hide my belly. This already feels like a shot-gun wedding. I don’t want the pictures to reflect that even more. So, how soon can we do this? Money is no object, remember? Tad is a neurosurgeon. The best on the West Coast. We can afford the extra fees. I just want my dream wedding before I’m too fat to look good. Please get back to me ASAP. Also, I LOVE the idea of the restaurant taking care of the guest favors. Wicked Sister Confections is my FAVORITE!

Thank you. Kisses.

- Ashli.

Jagger stuck his finger in his open mouth to indicate trying to make himself vomit. “Were you ad-libbing or is she really that shallow? Does she really sound like that?”

“No ad-libbing. That is the email verbatim. I just read it to you. And yeah, maybe I added the Valley girl tone a bit thick. But it’s not far off. She’s vapid, man.”

“So what are you going to do?” Jagger yawned again.

Bennett forwarded the email to all of his brothers. “Well, I’ll see what Wyatt and Dom say. If they can pull it off, then we’ll work like fucking dogs all week to get cabin five ready, and see if we can get this shitstorm over and done with sooner.”

“I’m gonna go home, get in a quick workout. Then I’ll meet you and Cam in cabin five around nine, if that works?” Jagger stood up, and stretched which just showcased all his fucking muscles.

Bennett rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Jagger caught it and smirked. “You, too, could have a body like this if you put in the work.”

“Fuck off,” Bennett said.

Jagger snorted. “All I’m saying is, lifting heavy is how you tone. Not just running. Cardio is important, but so is building muscle. I can order you a tub of creatine when I put in my next supplement order.” He made his way to the door.

“I lift weights.”

---