Page 4 of Until It Was Real

“Is Kai in yet?”

“I am not Kai’s keeper.”

I sigh. I don’t know why I bothered to ask. Jaxon lives in his own world as the master distiller. I’d complain about him being anti-social but this is just the way he is. His concentration skills are legendary. Anyone who can manage to study for a physics test while his three younger brothers wrestle on the ground in front of him has my admiration.

I don’t bother to say goodbye as I leave and go in search of Kai. Kai is the operations manager forBuccaneer’s Whiskeyand should be here to manage the logistical and organizational aspects of the distillery.

I fought Eli long and hard when he appointed Kai as the operations manager. Kai is the youngest of the Raider brothers and he believes being on time is for boring old men.

But my oldest brother wouldn’t change his mind. He wanted all of the management roles for the distillery –ourdistillery, according to him – to be filled by his brothers. And since Zane is a marketing whizz, Jaxon is a scientific genius, and I’m the numbers guy, there was no one left.

Except Miles. But he flat out refused to accept the position. He told Eli he didn’t want any part of the distillery. He’s the sales managerwhenhe deigns to come into the office. He can usually be found in the ocean on his surfboard.

I’m not surprised when I can’t locate Kai anywhere in the distillery. I return to the offices and nearly bump into Zane.

“You’re here.”

“Where else would I be?”

Who knows? Zane could literally be up to anything from hitchhiking across South America to holed up in a kibbutz in Israel when he’s not at work. He’s a free spirit who’s determined to try everything at least once in his life.

“I need your help.”

He holds up his hands. “Dude. If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you twice, I am not checking your junk for signs of an STD.”

I glare at him. “I do not have an STD.”

Zane snorts. “What about the time you got dots on your junk and were convinced you had genital measles?”

“Genital measles isn’t a thing.”

“Which is what we told you at the time.”

“You shouldn’t have crept into my room and drawn dots all over me.”

“It wasn’t me. Kai did it.”

“I deny all responsibility,” Kai says as he strolls into the building. “Unless it was awesome, in which case, it was probably me.”

“Good. You’re here. I need your help.”

Kai rolls back on his heels. “It’s good you finally recognize your limitations, old man. But I am not helping you go to the toilet.”

“I am not an old man,” I grumble. “And I don’t need any fucking help going to the toilet.”

“Good. I should probably get to work.”

I shackle his wrist before he can escape. “I need your help bringing some furniture inside.”

From the corner of my eye, I catch Zane trying to sneak off. “You too,” I bark at him.

His shoulders slump. “Moving furniture is boring.”

“Boring is not being able to travel because your car doesn’t work.”

He narrows his eyes on me. “You wouldn’t dare pour sugar in my gas tank again. I’ll tell Mom.”

I shrug. “Tell Mom what you want. Let’s find out who she believes.” Since Zane thinks telling lies is fun, Mom hardly ever believes him – even when he’s telling the truth. “Or you can help me move some furniture and we can get back to work.”

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