Page 281 of The Winslow Brothers

“Winnie, stop it,” our mother chastises. “I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Dude, what are you doing?” Remy asks from right next to me, startling me so much with his presence that my back bumps into the hallway wall. He doesn’t dally, instead bypassing me completely and heading straight for the door I was supposed to answer.

I sigh. Lord knows that bastard will tell all the Winslow women about this, and I’ll have to deal with more whispered worry.Great.With a shake of my head, I start walking again, just as Remy opens the door.

“Uh, hey… Can I help you?” Rem asks, and I step up behind him just as the door swings the rest of the way open in the wind.

Standing at the threshold is a beautiful woman with a wild mane of light-brown curls. Her gaze moves from Rem to me as I study her, and then our eyes meet. And I don’t miss the instant recognition that appears on her pretty face.

Shit. Did I invite her here tonight? And if I did, when the fuck did I secure this date? I know I haven’t been on my A game mentally, but this is—

“Oh. She’s with you.” Rem glances back at me. “I should have fucking known.”

Without another word or even a hello, my eldest brother retreats back down the hallway, smacking me on the shoulder as he goes.

I look back at the gorgeous woman on the threshold, studying her closer, and eventually, I decide to just go with it. I mean, it’s pretty damn obvious she knows who I am. It’s written all over her face. And there’s something about her that seems familiar to me too. Fuck it. “Well, you certainlyaremy type. Did I ask you to come here tonight?”

Dude. Way to make her feel awkward.

She mutters something I can’t hear or understand, nerves obviously getting the better of her, and I know I have to right the situation and try to make her feel less like a woman who was invited to dinner by a man who doesn’t remember and more like a woman who came to family dinner with a man she barely knows. I’m not sure either of those is a great option, but the latter has to be better than the first. “Come on. Let’s head to the kitchen and get a drink. We’re about to start dinner soon.”

Upon my return to the kitchen, I note that everyone is back in the house, chatting and laughing around the center island.

“Well, dang!” Jude shouts with a slap to the quartz counter, wrapping his arm around Sophie. “I thought that was gonna be Flynn at the door. For once, I can actually attend family dinner because we’re not working around Winnie’s schedule and doing it on nights I’m at work. I’m ready to enjoy this feast!”

“Stop whining, Jude,” Sophie retorts with a wry grin. “You know Flynn will be here any minute. He’s reliable.”

That makes me laugh. “Unlike the rest of us, right, Sophie?”

She shrugs. “You said it. Not me.”

Everyone in my family moves their eyes toward me and the woman I’ve nearly forgotten about again who is standing beside me. They move their gazes in other directions quickly, just like they always do, and I take a minute to evaluate how their prolonged indifference to all my dates makes me feel.

I come to a conclusion pretty easily. If I had any moral high ground to stand on, I should be offended. But I’m the man whocompletely forgot he invited her to dinner, so…yeah…it’s safe to say I have no room to feel snubbed from my place in the center of this metaphorical crater.

Oh well.

A few minutes later, my mom announces we’re ready to eat, and I gently guide my date to the table. We’ve not spoken in all that time, and it occurs to me that I don’t know even the first thing about her.

You think you should try to figure out her name, you douchebag, and stop being such a dick?

I pull out her chair, helping her into the seat beside mine, and try to find an opening to figure out who the hell she is, but my brother Flynn’s arrival pulls my attention toward the other end of the room. Everyone greets him as he steps inside the dining room, and my mind struggles to remind me of the priority at hand—get it together, man, and try to figure out your date’s name.

I attempt to meet her eyes, but she’s too busy looking at something else. And it only takes one tap to my shoulder to realize she was watching Flynn walk toward us.

“You mind moving so I can sit beside my wife?” he says without preamble, and I blink what must be one thousand times.

Did he just saywife? As in, bless the bride, lady in white, till death do us part, husband and fuckingwife? I can be kind of a scumbag, but how the hell did I manage this one?

Flynn is going tokillme.

“I’m sorry…” Winnie speaks up over the audible silence that has taken over the whole room. “Did you just saywife?”

It’s only then that it registers that I’m not the only one surprised, and the fact that I’m accidentally trying to date her is the least of my concerns.When in the fuck did Flynn get married?

I turn to look at the woman in question again. Her cheeks are now flushed, and her mouth is parted in shock. “You’re here withFlynn?” I ask, trying to make sense of a shred of something.

“I-I… Well, I tried to…um…say something, but—” Her voice shakes, and Flynn puts a steady hand to her shoulder and meets my confused eyes.

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