Page 47 of Rough Daddy
More laughter echoes down the hallway, and I bury my face in my hands.
"Your brothers are terrible," I mumble.
"Yeah, well, they're your brothers now too." He helps me down from the counter, steadying me when my legs wobble. "Better get used to it."
After we've cleaned up and attempted to look presentable, we emerge to find the entire Boone clan assembled around Jack's massive dining room table. The wives are shooting us knowing looks while the brothers are barely containing their grins.
"There they are!" Cade announces. "The happy couple."
"Looking very... satisfied," Jack adds with a smirk.
"Can we please just eat?" I mutter, sliding into my chair.
Ethan looks up from his plate of waffles, syrup smeared on his chin. "Wherewereyou guys? I was helping make bacon."
"They were in the bathroom," Jack Jr. announces helpfully. "Beingloud."
The table erupts in laughter while I want to crawl under it and die.
"Alright, alright," Delaney intervenes, shooting her husband a warning look as he opens his mouth to comment. "Leave them alone. Young love."
"Young?" Beau raises an eyebrow. "I'm forty-four."
"Geriatric," Cade agrees. "Practically decrepit."
"It’s called romance," Beau shoots back. “You’re too young to understand.”
"What do you call what just happened in my bathroom?" Jack demands.
"Tuesday," Colt says dryly, earning a swat from his wife, Emery.
I'm mortified, but watching this chaos—the teasing, the laughter, the easy affection—I realize this is what family actuallylooks like. Not the sterile, performance-driven household I grew up in, but this messy, chaotic, loving circus.
Ethan's eyes are bright as he watches the brothers roast each other. I never should have kept him away from all this. It’s what he needs, what he’s been missing.
He's gained weight since coming to live with us, lost that hollow look around his eyes. Yesterday, Beau taught him how to rebuild a carburetor, and I've never seen my brother happier than when he was elbow-deep in engine grease.
"Speaking of romance," Delaney turns to me, "I saw your latest video. The one about rebuilding your brand after being canceled? Brilliant."
Heat crawls up my neck, but it's the good kind now. My YouTube channel about authenticity and reinvention after public failure has exploded beyond anything I ever imagined. Our little adult toy company is building into a fun little side adventure.
Beau especially enjoys the testing phase of the process, whenever we get a stolen moment to work on the business. He keeps immaculate records of reaction time, orgasm intensity and God knows what else.
We’ve changed our business model idea. Farming out our ideas to factories overseas and dealing with all the tariffs and paperwork involved in scaling up our little Designed for Her brand didn’t fit us.
So we’re going to do limited releases, custom colors and movements. It will stay small, keep us rooted here in Wildfire, and be fun and potentially lucrative.
"It's scary," I admit, "being that honest online. But it feels right."
"Scary's good," Beau's hand finds mine under the table. "Means you're doing something that matters."
"Plus, having a hot mechanic boyfriend doesn't hurt the views," Marley adds with a grin.
"Fiancé," Beau corrects firmly.
The possessive edge in him always makes me shiver and flutter down low. Even after a month together, he still gets that territorial look when other men so much as glance at me.
"When's the wedding?" Marley asks.
