Page 71 of Whips and Chains
Levi and I both jerked, twisting at the crash.
A soccer ball, followed by a small boy, flew into the room. Madden scooped up his ball, and then paused, finally noticing the two of us staring at him in horror.
“Mom!” he called back into the hallway. “Why is Uncle Reaper in Aunt Violet’s bed?”
“Oh shit,” Levi muttered. “I’m so fucking dead.”
Madden shoved his hand on his hips. “Mom says we aren’t supposed to say fucking.”
I widened my eyes, but I was also biting back laughter.
Levi clutched me close to him, holding down the sheet which was the only thing keeping us from being completely indecent. He hissed at the little boy, “Madden! Don’t say that.”
The boy gave him a cheeky grin. “Say what? Fucking? Fucking, fucking!” He singsonged.
I hid my laughter. “Oh my God.”
Fast footsteps came from the hallway, and then Rebel’s head appeared around the doorframe, Fang behind her.
Rebel grabbed the shoulders of her wayward son. “I’m so sorry, I’ve been trying to keep them downstairs so you could sleep—”
Her gaze strayed to Levi beneath me.
Then she looked back up at Fang.
My gaze followed her, so I saw the moment Fang realized I was in bed with his best friend.
Rebel clapped her hand over Madden’s eyes, but there was laughter in her voice. “Come on, sweetie. I don’t think you need to see the massacre that’s about to go down here.” She picked him up and jogged down the hallway with him over her shoulder, him still singsonging variations of fuck all the way down the stairs.
I stifled a laugh, but it fell away when I realized Fang was really not happy.
He was all red in the face, and I could practically see the steam building in his chest so thick and fast it came out of his ears. It was just a matter of time before he’d explode.
“What the fuck, Levi!”
And there it was.
Levi kissed my cheek. “Well, we had a good run, right? Shame it had to end so soon. Bury me with my bike.”
I couldn’t hold in a laugh that time.
I clutched the sheet to my chest. “Fang. Stop.”
The big man did nothing of the sort. He glowered at Levi like a bull about to launch out of the gate and ram a sharpened horn right through the matador. I was almost surprised when he didn’t paw the ground and snort.
Levi let out a sigh. “I love her, bro. I’m sorry, I know she’s your sister, but I’m not just fucking her. I love her.”
The warmest of glows spread around me, and I grinned at my brother.
He squinted like he suddenly had a migraine, his face all tensed up, lines deep between his eyebrows. He pinched the bridge of his nose to ease them. “No. No. No.” He pointed at me. “You are five years old.” He pointed at Levi. “And you are way too old for her.”
I hid a laugh. “Haven’t been five in a long time, big brother.”
“I don’t think it helps when you call him that,” Levi whispered.
He shook his head at Levi. “There’s fucking codes about this shit, Reaper! You know that! We don’t mess around with each other’s family!”
“To be fair,” I interrupted. “We started ‘messing around’ before any of us even knew you and I were family, so I really don’t think that rule applies.”
