Page 89 of Set Me On Fire

“Brock—”

“You’re his baby girl.”

All three boys stared at me, willing me to understand. The little girl that couldn’t work out why I was treated differently to the boys threatened to raise her head, but I knew. Part of that was due to the situation I found myself in right now. If the boys had a drunken romp with a girl, the worst they could end up with was a STI.

“Who can look after herself,” I insisted. “I used that trick you guys taught me the other day and downed a guy ten times bigger than me.”

“You what?”

I smirked at Brock’s sharp reply, resisting his attempts to get answers. Instead, I walked faster and faster, the guys trying to outrace me as we reached the door.

“Muum,” I called out once we got inside. “Where are you at?”

“In the kitchen.” But she dropped her knife the minute we walked in. “How are you, darling? Did you get into the doctor’s yet? You need to start antenatal care straight away to ensure your baby is healthy. Now, where are those boys of yours?”

“What’re we, chopped liver?” Hunter asked, moving forward to sneak a chunk of cheese from her chopping board. This earned him a hand slap, followed by a kiss and a hug. “I remember when you used to be excited when we came by for dinner.”

“Enough.” Mum fixed my brothers with a steely eye. “You all need to be on your best behaviour for when Millie’s men arrive.”

“Millie’s men.” Dad came in with a beer in hand, his brows jerked down in a frown. “How about we meet them once we know which one is the father? What’re we going to do tonight? Say welcome to the family if you make the cut?”

He was right. Of course he was, but that didn’t stop his words from stinging. They reminded me of just how ridiculous this situation was. I’d tried to address it with the guys last night, but they just brushed over it.

“We’re all in until we know,”Noah had said, looking around the table for confirmation. Knox and Charlie had nodded in response. “You’re not going through this alone.”

“Be nice.” I replied in a small voice, not the same as my usual one. Most of the time I needed to make my intentions known loud and clear to be heard at all. “Invite them into your home. What’s the worst thing that can happen? You get to meet three guys and end up getting to know them over a meal?” I shook my head. “I invited them around for dinner because you said you wanted to be part of the process.”

“We do.” Mum took my hand and squeezed it before shooting Dad a dark look. “And you can stop being so bloody grumpy. If any of you try to scare these men away, well…” Watching Mum suck in a breath was a bit like observing a house cat decide it was a lion. I couldn’t help but smile. “You can cook your own damn roast.” She stepped away from the kitchen bench and Dad’s eyes widened. “And don’t go thinking you’ll be snuggling up to me tonight.”

“Alright, alright.” Dad sidled closer, holding Mum in his arms before giving her a long hug. “Just for you, love.” He winked at me, making clear he saw sense. You could say a lot about my family, but when they said they’d do something, they did.

It was everyone else that was the problem.

Hourslater we were all sitting at the table, waiting. The roast was done, the meat and vegetables waiting in a warm oven for the guests of honour. But they weren’t here. My legs were crossed, my heel kicking up and down, up and down, and Jamie was watching it in alarm.

“Maybe—” Dad started to say.

“Let’s just eat.”

My stomach growled obnoxiously, making clear what it thought. We’d chewed through all of Mum’s crudité and dip and eaten slice after slice of bread, all while I’d looked at my phone. Knox had insisted we set up a group chat to share news in, and I’d put the address and the time of dinner down and followed that up with a message letting them know tonight wasn’t compulsory. No one had even replied. Not to blow me off or say they were tired, just no response at all.

Was this how it felt when I ghosted them the morning after? If it was, I regretted it. Nothing worse than going into a situationbuoyed up by assumptions only to find out how wrong you were. Trouble is, I knew what it was like to be on the receiving end, and I didn’t like it at all. The only thing to do was move on and fast.

“Let’s just wait…”

Mum was going to specify a window of time, but a knock at the door had her jumping up and moving.

“Mum…” I said. “Mum!”

Fuck ‘em, that’s what I wanted to say. They couldn’t even be bothered to get here on time, but any shitty thing I might have to say died the moment they clumped into the house. Still dressed in their work uniforms, the three of them were a complete mess.

And all the more perfect for it.

I soaked in every line on their faces, the red rimmed eyes, the sooty hands. Charlie was a brunette right now, his hair stiff with soot. They stank of fire and smoke, and yet it was better than the most expensive aftershave, because of the story it told. They’d been out all day fighting a fire in the industrial sector of town, someone had said, and hadn’t stopped home for a shower or anything, coming right here. I got to my feet, feeling a little wobbly from the shock and then moved closer.

“Guys, this is my mum, Heather and my dad, Angus.” I introduced each member of my family. “Fam, this is Noah, Knox, and Charlie.”

“Jeez, you’ve had a bloody day of it, haven’t you?”

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