Page 77 of Inked Persuasion

Clay, their cousin/dad/caretaker, ran after them, giving us all an apologetic gaze. “Sorry, they decided to play tag. In the house. Because this is my life.”

I laughed, and then Benjamin pulled away to join in on the fun, surprising me.

“Well, it’s good to see Benjamin out and about and smiling.”

I frowned, looking up at Beckett. “What do you mean by that?” I asked.

Beckett shook his head. “Not right now. We’ll talk about it later.”

“Well, that’s not ominous at all.”

“What’s ominous?” Brenna asked, pulling up to Beckett’s side. She only had eyes for him, even though I was her best friend, but I let it be. It was fine that my best friend was in love with my brother. He had no idea, though maybe one day things would change, and something would happen. Still, Beckett was a little bit obtuse.

Beckett patted Brenna on the head, and I groaned.

Okay, he was a lot dense.

“You cut your hair. I like it.”

“Did you just pat me on the head like a dog?” Brenna asked, huffing.

“What? It’s cute.”

She rolled her eyes, glared at me instead of him, and stomped away.

“What? What did I do?” Beckett looked honestly confused, and I wasn’t going to enlighten him. It wasn’t my place.

“I think you should probably go get a drink and just forget it.”

“Fine,” Beckett said and made his way towards where Brenna was, probably to either apologize or ask what he did wrong.

“Your family is loud,” Eliza said, Lee at her side. My other best friend and Beckett’s best friend had joined us as well and were mostly staying out of the way. I didn’t blame them. We got loud when we were together, and it only got worse when Clay and the kids came. I loved the kids, though, and considering I knew for a fact that my father had egged them on for the game of tag, I didn’t mind the noise.

“Hey, I’m glad you’re okay,” Lee said before kissing the top of my head.

I could feel a glare on me, and I knew Jacob was watching, but I ignored it. There was no reason for him to be jealous. Lee was a longtime friend, and I knew he’d never had eyes for me.

“Anyway, I need to head home soon,” Eliza said quickly.

I looked up at her, frowning.

“Oh? We haven’t even eaten.”

“Marshall has a scheduled call soon, thankfully. I want to make sure I’m home for that.”

Lee frowned. “Do you need a ride?”

She shook her head and smiled. “No, I’m fine. I drove here. And I made sure I was a little farther down the block so no one blocked me in. But I’m glad you’re safe. Never do that again. You scared the life out of me.” Eliza kissed me on the cheek, and I hugged her tight, and then Lee wrapped his arms around us both and lifted us up.

“What was that for?” I called out.

“I just felt like it,” Lee said, gave us a wicked grin, and then went over to where the others were.

I shook my head, alone for a moment before Jacob came over and brushed my hair from my face before kissing me softly.

“I was about to beat up Beckett’s little friend,” he growled against my lips.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and sighed. “It’s just Lee. You don’t have to be jealous of him.”

---