“Like a rent-a-cop? That’s nice.” The smirk that crossed Axel’s face had Xander’s fingers twitching. Leeway or not, the guy was a dick.
“Christ, Ax,” Oscar muttered as he placed serving utensils beside the trivets. “Give it a fucking rest.”
“What? She’s our sister. This guy—who we know nothing about—shows up for Thanksgiving, and what? We’re just supposed to be all fucking good with that?”
Holy shit, this guy. “Again, it doesn’t matter if you’re good with it or not. Frey and Iaretogether.”
“So what was it? You met my sister—a young, impressionable girl—and turned on the charm? You got her to be your little fuck buddy and inserted yourself in her life?”
His hackles rose, and he stepped toward Axel. “Let me be perfectly clear. I don’t care who you are. Brother or not, you talk about Freya like that again, I will lay you the fuck out.”
“Holy shit, ease up, Ax,” Oscar grumbled, forcibly inserting himself between them. “In case you forgot, Frey’s nearly thirty. She’s not agirl. She’s an actual adult with a job that pays her bills and shit.”
Axel scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, but you know her. She flits from job to job and?—”
“Say one more fucking word about her,” Xander growled, moving toward the fucker until both Oscar and Jasper stepped in front of him.
“Shut the fuck up, Ax,” Jasper seethed before turning to Xander. “Weknow Freya’s got a good job.” He shot a glare at his older brother. “He’sjust stupid and can’t see her as anything but a broken sixteen-year-old. He’s just pissed that she doesn’t tell him jack shit.”
“And why the hell do you think she doesn’t tell you anything?” Finn asked, sending his own glare to Axel. “Becauseyou’re an asshole. You stop being an asshole, then maybe she’ll actually talk to you.”
“Fuck you,” Axel grumbled, but the heat in his words was gone.
As he scrubbed his hands over his face, Xander saw regret cross his face. But fuck him for talking about Freya that way.
“How’d this get so fucked up?” Axel sighed.
“Because you’re an asshole,” the brothers replied in unison with varying degrees of frustration. They sure as hell weren’t wrong, and it was obvious this wasn’t their first rodeo with their oldest brother.
There was a pounding noise that sounded like a herd of elephants racing down the stairs. “Ready or not,” Freya called out from the top of the steps, “here they come!”
Despite the tension, Xander couldn’t help but smile as the little girls stormed into the kitchen—sparkles and glitter and poofy dresses twirling. How such an asshole could have such darling daughters was beyond him.
“Happy Thanksgiving!” they shouted, tossing orange and yellow confetti into the air.
Happy Thanksgiving, indeed. Weren’t arguments and fights part of everyone’s Thanksgiving family traditions?
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
She felt the tension the second she stepped into the kitchen.
“Everything okay?” She glanced at her brothers, but they were ignoring her. Axel was checking the ribs, Oscar was pulling the sides from the oven, and Jasper and Finn were twirling the girls in circles.
Xander was beside her in an instant. “We’re good.”
She didn’t believe him, not for one second. But since the girls were racing through the kitchen, she’d shelve her concerns for now. “Alright, girlies! Grab your plates and let me know what you want.” She glanced at Xander. “We do a buffet-style Thanksgiving.”
“Yup,” Finn said, picking up Josie and setting her on his hip. “Grab what you want, and we all eat in the living room and watch football.”
“And because it’s Thanksgiving, we don’t have to eat any vegetables!” Josie exclaimed, waving her princess wand in the air.
Twenty minutes later, Freya sighed. She was stuffed. Glancing around the room, it appeared as if everyone else was too. What was it about Thanksgiving? It’s not like they weren’t ever going to get to eat again.
She looked at Xander and let out a nervous breath. Seemingly being able to read her mind, he ran a soothing hand up and down her back. “If you want to tell them, I’ll be right next to you,” he murmured “If you need help, I’m here.”
“Thank you,” she whispered before glancing at her brothers once more. Their focus was on the football game, so she waited until a commercial break and then cleared her throat.
“Girls, why don’t you two go upstairs and watch a show in the playroom. I need to talk to the guys and then?—”
