Page 3 of Ours

He looked into flashing dark brown eyes and took a deep a breath in of her honey-and-strawberry scent. “No, you didn’t apologize.”

She rolled her eyes at him and huffed. “Well, I’m not going to now.”

She pushed at his chest.

“What’s your name, Little Red?”

“None of your business. Now let me go.” She wriggled around in his arms, rubbing herself against him.

“Little Red, I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

She stopped her wiggling and gasped. He smiled as her eyes drew up to his when she noticed the bulge in his pants was growing bigger and bigger. “I’m going to get up. Stay where you are, please. These pants are too small for what I have now.”

She pushed at his chest. “And that’s my problem because…”

He raised his eyebrow and cleared his throat. “Really, you want me to answer that in front of everyone.”

She let out a groan and shook her head. After sitting up, he stood with his mate in his arms and looked around the almost empty room. He turned to Zack who stared at him with a glare that made him glad looks couldn’t kill.

“You can let go of my mate now, Jake. I took over while you pawed her. You’re lucky there were twenty-something women in here because if there hadn’t been, you would be dead, favorite cousin or not.”

Jake looked down at the bewildered look on Little Red’s face as he took a deep breath of her scent and listened to his bear.Mate. Take. Yummy. Eat her. Take her home. Mine. Mine.No mistaking that she was his mate. “You must be mistaken, Zack, because she ismymate.”

Zack stalked toward him and gave a bitter laugh. “This sucks. Fate is fucking with our family because I’m one hundred percent sure she’s mine.”

A small foot kicked him. “Put me down now. This is not very professional. I knew there was a good reason why I didn’t want to come here tonight, and I found out why.” He slowly slid her down his body as she continued, “Your whole family is friggin’ crazy. What the hell is all this crap about mates? I wouldn’t be mates with either one of you lugheads if you were the last males on earth, and after tonight I pity the women who end up with you. Now let go of me and pray my friends haven’t left without me.”

Jake let her go and watched her stomp out of the room. She was a feisty little thing. He was about to go after her when Zack chuckled.

“Wow, she is a feisty one, our Sandy. It explains why she needs two of us. One just isn’t enough.”

Glancing over at Zack, he nodded. “You’re right, cous’, and I’m glad it’s you. I don’t think I could tolerate anyone else.”

“Right back at you, Jake. Let’s pack up, and go find our mate.”

Chapter Two

Men were idiots, Sandy thought as she rushed into the locker room and breathed a sigh of relief to see Susie arguing with Blake and Brian. Jane was in the corner chatting with some of the woman from the class.

Going straight to her locker, she grabbed everything out, not even bothering to shower. She just wanted to get away from all the mayhem. She thanked God that she had driven here then met up with the girls.

Sandy wandered over to Jane and tapped her on the shoulder. “Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to say I’m beat, so I’m heading home. Talk later, and say bye to Susie for me.”

God bless her friend when she only nodded and shooed her away.

Rushing out of the locker room, Sandy walked quickly out of the gym and ran to her car. She sped away to get as far from the craziness as possible. She had enough of that in her life, thanks to her brothers and father. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her family. They were just way too overprotective. She’d only moved out last year, and it was into a house three doors down from her father’s and next door to one of her brothers. She’d tried to move further, but for some reason, --her father and brothers had way too much pull in the town they lived-- she never got to put an offer any other house. She knew how to fight thanks to her family, because if they didn’t scare away any man that showed interest in her, her father and brothers always insisted she be able to defend herself, so she stayed safe.

Thinking on the oddity of the night, she sighed to herself. It was such a pity those men were not all there in the head because the two instructors she’d had were smoking hot. Well, if she went for tall, dark, muscle-clad, handsome men. The problem was she couldn’t stop thinking about them. And when she did think of them her body came alive and wanted things Sandy knew she couldn’t have. Their images flashed before her eyes then the images of her family. Nope, wasn’t going to happen.

Sandy would never submit to going out with anyone even close to her brothers and dad. They were all well over six feet, muscular, and the bossiest, most irritating men in the world. When she thought of her family, she always wondered what it would have been like if her mother had survived the car crash. But thoughts like that just made her sad so she shrugged them off and focused on the road.

After arriving home, she opened her garage and drove in. Once out of the car, she opened her door and heard the sound of her television blasting. Sandy dumped her things on the kitchen table and went to see which brother had come over and invaded her space.

The sight that greeted her made her see red. Her two brothers sat on her lounge eating the lasagna she’d cooked last night for her dinner tonight.

Growling, she stormed in front of them and switched the TV off. “What the hell are you two doing in my house? For Christ’s sake, Philip, you live next door, and, John, can’t Dad feed you?” They looked anywhere but at her. “You two better not have eaten all my dinner.”

She groaned when two sets of puppy dog eyes fell on her, and Philip whined out, “Oh come on, sis, I could smell the lasagna last night when you were cooking it, and you know it’s one of my favorite dishes that you do.”

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