Page 43 of Inked Devotion

I raised a brow.

“It’s not,” she said with a laugh. “It’s more that I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do to make sure everybody knows that I’m okay.”

“I think you just did.”

“Maybe. Or maybe people are going to continually worry that little Paige is always the maid of honor and never the bride.”

“You’re my baby sister. Excuse me. I’m not in a relationship either.”

“You’re a guy.”

“Well, that’s just sexist of you.”

She snorted, reached up to kiss my chin. “I love you, you doofus.”

“I love you too, you dork. As forthat boy.”

“That boy is a man.”

I didn’t like the way that she said man, so I breezed over it. “As forthat boy, as long as he’s treating you right, I’m fine. And he is treating you right?”

She smiled, her face going all sappy, and I honestly did not want to think about exactly why. “He’s treating me perfectly. I promise you.”

“Good then. We don’t have a problem. As long as you’re happy.”

She smiled at me, and there was genuine happiness in that look. “I am happy. Colton makes me happy. I like what I’m doing. I like that we’re figuring it out and taking our time to avoid making a mistake. Would I like to start thinking about children and having a future? Of course. I’m human. I want babies. Yes, my favorite sister and only sister is having twins, and it’s making me all giddy and warm inside, but that just means I’m happy for her. Not too jealous of her.”

“Good,” I said, hoping she was telling the truth. Because I loved my sister, and I didn’t want her to be in pain.

“You know, Eliza and Beckett are looking into adoption, right?” I whispered.

“I do. And if they need family letters of recommendation or wherever that goes, I’m here for them. And you’re out there about to father a child, but you’re not going to be a dad, but I’m so freaking excited for you. You’re going to make that family so happy.”

“Well, thanks.” I could feel my ears redden, and I ducked my head. “That part is already done.”

“She’s pregnant?”

“No, my part’s done. I won’t hear for a couple of weeks about, you know, the other thing.”

She clapped her hands. “I’m so excited. I don’t want to think about exactly why I’m excited with this part of this whole process.”

I snorted and picked up my tea. “You know what? You’re right. I am going to dig into some dirt and see how my team’s doing. Maybe I’ll go down to the site and look at it in person. I can’t figure out what I want to do to fix it.”

“You will. It’s what you’re good at. You look at what’s in front of you, and you find a plan. That’s why I love you.” She kissed my cheek again and then tapped the earpiece in her ear before she answered the phone. “Mongomery Builders, Paige Montgomery speaking. How can I help you?”

I picked up my things and waved past Paige as her fingers moved like lightning over the keyboard, and I picked up my phone to call my team to let them know I was on my way, not to check on them, but because I needed a break.

By the endof the day, my back ached, I had dirt under my fingernails, but I had a plan. Paige was right. I had needed to get out of my head and just get to work. The sky had been blue, the clouds fluffy and not full of rain to drench us, though I was glad that there was going to be a short storm later tonight to water what we had planted. I hadn’t been needed other than as a strong back and willing arms. I had gotten things done. We were ahead of schedule on one site. On schedule on another. I had an idea for the project that had been plaguing me for the past week.

And I knew it wasn’t exactly all because of work that I had been doing my best not to focus on outside elements. I was worried about Laura and Michelle. I wanted them to have that baby. And it was going to be weird. There was no lie about that. It was going to be unconventional for me. But perfectly conventional for them. At least that’s how I thought about it. Family was what you made it, and they were making a family. My part of the process was technically done. It was just something I was going to have to reconcile with and work towards this new normal. Of course, that also made me think of Brenna, and Brenna and I weren’t speaking.

Oh yes, we had met at Riggs’ with everybody else, but we hadn’t danced, we hadn’t locked eyes or done anything normal. If it wasn’t for the fact that the rest of my family was dealing with their shit, I’m pretty sure that they would have figured it out on their own. I was surprised nobody had come to me and asked me what the weird undercurrent between Brenna and I was, because I sure as hell felt it.

Nobody had asked. Nobody wanted to know what happened on our road trip because it was as if they never would’ve thought Brenna and I would’ve slept together.

Yet, the thing was, I wasn’t even sure how it had happened. Hell, between my dreams and the way that my cock kept pressing against my zipper? I wanted to do it again, and that was going to be a problem.

I pulled into my garage and got out, knowing I needed to shower, and I just wanted a beer. I thought about calling up Beckett and heading down to Riggs’, but I knew tonight was date night with Eliza. Clay was dealing with a parent-teacher conference for the evening, so he was out. And Lee was out of town at a work function, so I was running out of people to hang out with. Archer rarely came out these days anymore, because he liked staying at home with his boyfriend, and while I didn’t mind that, I did miss seeing my brother. Even if Colton’s parents weren’t in town, I didn’t know Colton well enough as a friend to just hang out with him without Paige and the rest of the family.

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