“Fantastic,” Hannah mumbled, her gaze still glued to her cell. “All these snowboarders are making me jumpy.”
I exchanged a look with Wendy and she shrugged with an exasperated sigh. Lately, Hannah was on edge whenever we were around snowboarders.
My brother slowly turned around, and it surprised me to see his blue eyes burning with fury and a brittle smile on his face. “And why is that, Hannah?”
Hannah jolted, and her head flew up, mouth forming a little O as her eyes met Jake’s.
“Afraid you’re going to run into the man you’re hiding from?”
“What?” I sputtered, my gaze bounding between Hannah and my brother. Confused, I asked, “Do you two know each other?”
“Yes,” Jake growled.
Hannah squeaked, “No.”
“Well, that didn’t clear things up,” Raven quipped, and I nodded in agreement.
“You don’t think being married qualifies as us knowing each other?”
I gasped, along with the rest of the women in the room—including Hannah, and Colin pressed his lips together while Caleb buried his face in my sister’s neck to muffle his laughter.
Then Colin jumped in. “How about Cara and I take the girls to the playroom?” He didn’t wait for an answer. He just gathered up Hailey, Rachel, Molly, and Lucy, then disappeared to find his wife and kids and take them to the new kids’ play area they’d built last year.
My attention remained riveted on the scene playing out before me.
“A drunken wedding on Christmas Eve in Vegas might not be enough for us to claim we know each other.” Jake took a step closer to Hannah and lowered his voice even further. Not enough that we didn’t hear what he said next, though. “But what we did that night and for the next two days straight sure as fuck does.”
What. The. Hell.
I heard the jingle of keys and Caleb calling out, “Jake.”
My brother glanced back at him, then lifted a hand and caught a set of keys that went whizzing by Raven’s head. “Master key. First cabin on Holly Lane is vacant.”
With a devious smile, Jake pivoted around again.
“Let’s go, Hannah,” he demanded, holding out his hand.
She shook her head and backed up, but Jake followed.
“I’ll carry you there over my shoulder like a naughty child, but then you better be prepared for the consequences.”
My nose scrunched in disgust at the image. Ew…
Obviously, everyone else was stunned speechless because the room was so silent you could hear a snowflake hit the ground.
Suddenly, the quiet was broken when Wendy blurted, “You’re the Vegas hookup?”
Vegas hookup? I was incredibly confused about what was happening.
Jake practically snarled as he lunged for Hannah and tossed her over his shoulder. “Husband, not a fucking hookup!” he shouted as he rushed toward the back door with Hannah whispering furiously.
Again, there was silence as we all stared at the door in shock.
“Hot chocolate, anyone?” Caleb offered, making us all jump.
Raven was staring after our brother and his…wife? This was surreal.
“Maybe we should—” she started, but Caleb cut her off.