Page 78 of If You Were Mine
“A hammer no, that’s a wrench. I need a hammer.”
Lucky just tilted his head, expressive eyebrows saying far more than a bark could.
“Yes, I know I could reach it myself, but I thought we were learning something. We’re creating a bond.”
Again. A tilt of a head. This time I felt judgement.
“I’m sorry you saw me naked before, it was an accident. We’ll make sure you’re safe in the other room from now on.”
“Can you make this promise to all of your siblings?” a familiar voice said from a distance.
I froze, wondering why I was surprised he was here. Ford came around the side of the house. The sleeves of his Henley pushed up even though it was getting damn cold with the storm rolling in later that evening.
Then again, knowing how Cage Lake weather worked, the storm could wait a couple of days. It’s just what it did.
My youngest brother, or at least the youngest brother I had grown up with, moved closer and leaned against the side of the house.
“You don’t call, you don’t write, you don’t answer the damn doorbell,” Ford muttered.
“Shouldn’t you be with your husband and pregnant wife?” I asked.
At that, Ford’s smile grew wide and his entire expression brightened. “I have sonogram photos. Do you want to see?” Lucky moved past me to Ford and my brother leaned down, running his hands up and down Lucky’s body. “I’ll show you, not Mr. Grumpy Gus.”
“Why do people call me grumpy? I thought that was Hudson.”
“You are out grumping me. That’s got to say something,” Hudson snarled as he walked around the house.
I sighed as nearly all of my brothers came forward. The only one not here was Kyler, but from what I remembered of his schedule, since I was keeping up with him on social media, he was in New York right now.
I looked over at my six brothers and frowned. “You leave the girls at home?” I asked, wondering why it felt like we were missing so many siblings.
It wasn’t as if we had all grown up together. It hadn’t been that long since I’d even found out that Isabella, Sophia, Kyler, Emily, and Phoebe existed. And yet not having them here when there were so many of us felt off—like we were hiding something. At least one good thing had come from Loren Cage’s infidelity and the other Cage mom’s secrets. We’d made our own family. Even if sometimes I didn’t feel like I could be part of it or even that I should be part of it.
“They’ll be along soon.” Aston said as he studied me. “Kyler would’ve been here as well, but he has a sold out show tonight.” A small smile played over his face. “When he and his band come to Red Rocks, I’ve made sure to get us the space we need to attend.”
My lips twitched. Of course he did. He was the big brother who always fixed things, but I didn’t think he was going to be able to fix this.
“How is your leg doing?” Flynn asked softly, and it surprised me. He wasn’t as bouncy as usual, but maybe again, none of us were acting the way we were supposed to these days.
I shrugged. “Better than before I did my physical therapy, and working on the house here has helped.”
“And you’re not doing a piss poor job of it,” Hudson said.
I stared between the two and wondered when they had decided to be the exact opposite of twins. Flynn’s hair was getting slightly longer, but Hudson’s was down to his shoulders. Flynn also tended to shave, but he’d let his beard grow slightly.
My lips curled. “Thank you, I live to serve.”
James cleared his throat. “I hear that you’ve been saying something like that to a certain Ms. Wellesley.”
“If you’re going to dig into my personal life, I’m going to need a beer.” I stomped off, Lucky at my side.
“Even the dog loves him more, that’s the Dorian I know,” Theo teased.
I sighed and let the familiar sound of my brothers piling in after me fill my ears. When we had been kids, we’d been together always. Yes, I had Joshua, and each of my siblings had had their own best friends. Hell, Ford even married his best friend, but we were a tight crew as Cages. No matter that our parents tried to split us apart.
Hell, my mom loved me but hated Flynn and now Aston. My dad could barely stand me but also hated Hudson. It never made any sense to me, and it wasn’t like we told each other those things. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe it was time to just tell them.
Theo leaned forward. “Oh, the good stuff. I love Ashford Brews.”
