Page 91 of Set Me On Fire

I was a mouthy little shit, and even that felt way too bold to me. Not so for Knox. His big hand reached out and then came to rest on my still flat stomach.

“Yeah, you are. Now come here and kiss me before I start getting jealous.”

“Can’t have that,” I said, stroking his cheek. “You all need equal face time.”

Sometime later weall walked downstairs to find my family sitting expectantly around the table. Mum was already dishing up vegetables while Dad carved the lamb into wafer-thin slices. My best friend, however, just smirked, her eyes sparkling, as if she was dying to say I told you so.

“Enough out of you,” I whispered, taking a seat. Mum had extended the table, adding another one to the dining table and covering it with one long tablecloth and bringing in extra chairs. The guys all sat down around me.

“You’ve got a little something here,” Jamie hissed, tapping her chin. I rubbed at it furiously, my fingers coming away black.

“Perils of dating a firefighter,” Knox said with a smile, accepting a beer with thanks when my brother handed one over.

“Perils of dating several of them,” Noah added.

“Grubs up!” Dad announced. “Help yourselves. Don’t be shy. Heather made enough meat to feed an army of hungry men. So, boys, tell us a bit about yourselves…”

Chapter 43

Noah

“So Noah…”

The women were inside, doing the dishes. I’d wanted to take over, not liking that the people that made the meal were doing the cleaning up, but Millie’s dad made clear that his offer for us to come outside was more an order than a request.

“Knox, Charlie.” Angus nodded at each one of us as his sons came to stand beside him. “Now that the ladies are busy in the kitchen, maybe we can have a real talk.”

“Anything you’ve got to say needs to be said in front of Millie.” My words came out before I could even think about it. I literally had no idea what I was doing. This was my first time dealing with any girl’s parents, but I knew what I said was true. “I’m not going behind her back about anything.”

“OK, he passed the first test,” Hunter said with a slow nod.

“Maybe so.” Angus’ brows drew down and he gave each one of us a hard look. It was like standing in front of Brent, waiting for a dressing down when we’d screwed up. I’d gotten through disciplinary sessions in one piece, so I could survive a disapproving father, because it wasn’t his good opinionI needed, but hers. My eyes strayed back to the glass door, watching Millie work with Jamie and Heather to clear away the mess, but a loud harrumph had me focussing back on Angus. “But you’ve gotta see what a difficult situation this is. Jamie and the boys, they’ve got this whole poly thing going, but that only works because there’s no kids involved.”

“Ouch…” Hayden muttered, then took a sip of his beer.

“This whole situation is messy,” Angus continued, his words picking up speed. “Three possible fathers? We need to get testing done ASAP to work out who’s going to marry my daughter.”

“Shotgun wedding?” Brock rolled his eyes. “Really, Dad?”

“This is your sister this is happening to, boys,” Angus huffed.

“Fairly sure that all women deserve to be treated with respect.” Knox stepped forward, staring the other man down. “And you can be assured that is how we’ll treat your daughter.”

“All three of you?” Angus spluttered. “And how’s that going to work? You’ll get all cosy with her, go to antenatal appointments, and then what? Find out one of you is the father and the others aren’t. Seems to me a good way to get everyone hurt.”

He let out a long sigh.

“I assume none of you have got any other kids?” We all shook our heads. “Well, that changes things. A lot.” Angus scanned the group of us, but it appeared he was the only one with relevant experience in that regard. “Fatherhood forces you to stop thinking about yourself for once and start thinking about them.”

We followed his gaze as it quested towards the house, and I wondered then about how it felt, to have an adult daughter walking around the world, vulnerable to all the shit that life could throw at her, along with a wife he loved more than anyoneelse. Would this be me one day? Would I be grilling some poor, unsuspecting bloke?

Or blokes?

I shook my head, straightening up, because I was pretty sure I knew what to do. I might not have any experience with meeting the parents of girlfriends, but I’d talked to state and federal ministers at work events. I could do this.

“You want to make sure Millie is looked after,” I said. That got his attention. Angus eyed me warily, the twins with amused interest. “You want a guarantee she will come out of this unhurt.”

“If we could give you that, we would,” Charlie told him.

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