People are stepping out of the way, making a clear path for the three of them. My other two brothers follow behind, and to my horror, I see they are tracking mud and snow in from their boots. Niles will never let me live this down.
"No, no, no," I say, but no one is listening to me.
Kellan is ready to square off with all three of them. Again, my body heats up at the wrong time. I'm seeing now that everything Kellan does works for me, especially knowing now he wants to make me his wife. It really does change everything.
Kellan tries to move me behind him, but I keep a tight hold on to his shirt. “They’re my brothers!” I say loudly, and Kellan finally stops trying to step in front of me. “You three, stop it.” I point at my brothers but lock eyes with Nick. He’s in charge and can get the other two under control.
“Where did you get that dress?” John asks.
“What does that matter? Why are you here?”
“Because you’re a liar-face,” Nick throws back at me.
“Sister or not, you won’t speak to her that way in her own home,” Kellan says in a deadly voice.
Holy snowballs. As sweet as that is for Kellan to say, it’s not helping this situation.
"What the fuck he say?" Sam clips. He’s the youngest and most annoying of my brothers. He also might kind of be my favorite, but I'd never admit it.
"It's New Year's Eve. Don't you have other things to do?" I ask as Kellan's hand slides around my waist and to my stomach. He presses his front to my back, and it’s a silent action, letting them know I'm not going anywhere and I belong to him.
"You mean other than checking on my baby sister and whoever this loser is she’s dating?"
A bark of laughter leaves me at Nick’s ridiculous comment, and I quickly cover my mouth with my hand. No one else finds this funny, but come on. A loser? I bet Kellan could buy all of Cheerful if he wanted.
“Did you hit your head on the ice one too many times?" I ask Nick before I glance over my shoulder at Kellan. "I’m sorry. I’d say this isn’t typical, but they're always like this. And I can't claim it won't happen again, because it will.”
"What does that mean?" Sam mutters to himself under his breath.
"If you three will calm down, I’ll introduce you to my boyfriend."
"Fiancé,” Kellan corrects.
"You're engaged!" all three of my brothers shout at the same time. If we didn't have a crowd before, we surely do now.
“Does Dad know?” Sam asks. “He asked Dad, right?”
“I’m not asking anyone if I can marry her. It would be pointless to ask a question that I already know the answer to. We’re getting married.”
Kellan says this with a finality that leaves no room for argument… or so he thinks.
Chapter Sixteen
KELLAN
My words seem to have the opposite effect on Nova’s brothers, and instead of putting an end to the argument, it starts all over again. Her three brothers begin shouting over top of each other just as Edith appears.
“Might I suggest we take this private conversation to a more private location?” she says smoothly. “If you’ll follow me.”
As if being chided by a teacher, we all fall silent and do what Edith says. My hold on Nova tightens as we walk to the library. Once inside, Edith closes the door behind us and glances around the room.
“Nova, I think introductions are necessary.” Edith smiles calmly like this happens all the time. It definitely does not.
“These are my brothers, Nick, John, and Sam,” Nova says.
I can hear the defeat in Nova’s voice, and it nearly breaks my heart. The last thing I wanted was to create problems with her family. I’m not good at thinking in those terms because I’ve never had to before. But now I think about Aurora and what kind of life I’d want her to have. Immediately I know that I would want whoever she falls in love with to love her fiercely, but also for their loved ones to welcome her into their arms. Clearly, I’ve fucked that up with Nova, and they are important to her.
“Brothers,” Nova continues, “This is Edith. She works for Kellan, my fiancé.”
