While I usually liked a little downtime immediately following a shift, I wasn’t going to bail on my entire family celebrating Beck and Everly as they broke ground today on the section of the resort property that would eventually house their forever home and the brand-new vet clinic.
It wasn’t often all six of us were together, and close to never for something not involving the resort. Even then, it was usually only once a month because Addison refused to allow Levi to skip that mandatory budget meeting, no matter how much he complained. My youngest brother preferred solitude, even from us. It hadn’t always been that way, but as he’d gotten older, he’d withdrawn more and more. And God knew solitude was a far cry from whatever the hell this was.
“Oh! I forgot to tell you guys that Harper’s gonna be back soon,” Addison said before sticking out her tongue in a failed search to find her drink straw, completely oblivious to how everyone’s attention swiveled to Levi to gauge his reaction.
Years ago, when Harper had spent her summers here, she, Levi, and his best friend, Chase, had been thick as thieves, but something had happened in the past ten years, because we couldn’t even say her name without him scowling a hole in the ground. And he sure as shit wasn’t interested in talking about it.
“I need another drink,” Levi mumbled and stood, turning toward the bar without hesitation.
“One for me too, please!” Addison called after him.
“Let me know when she’s going to be here, so I can clear some space on my calendar,” Luna said from where she sat in Brady’s lap. “The girl loves my massages.”
“Who doesn’t?” Brady asked.
“That reminds me—I wanted to book one with you,” Everly said, shifting in Beck’s lap to face Luna. Everly and Beck had been so sickeningly sweet in the past couple weeks, and if I didn’t love my twin so goddamn much, I’d need to be drunk just to witness it.
“You just let me know,” Luna said, tipping her drink toward Everly. “First one’s on the house.”
“You’re sweet, but I don’t want to take advantage. And after witnessing what I did the other week at the farmers market, Ireallydon’t want Brady to bite my head off for undervaluing you.”
“Brady wouldn’t fucking dare,” Beck said—growled, really.
“Relax, Beck.” Brady curled an arm around Luna’s waist, tugging her back into his chest. “She doesn’t do that anymore, because she knows what’s waiting for her at home if she does.”
“Ew…that sounds like sex stuff.” Addison scrunched up her nose. “I thought we talked about that. If I have to hear it from you, you have to hear it from me. Is that what you want?”
“Fuck no,” Beck, Brady, Aiden, and I said in unison. As far as I was concerned, our baby sister was a virgin and would forever stay one, and I was sure my brothers felt the same.
With a laugh, Everly asked, “When will Harper be here?”
Levi was nearly to the table and stopped dead in his tracks at the mention of Harper’s name, a muttered curse leaving his lips. No one else seemed to be aware, but I watched as his jaw ticked twice before he finally seemed to steel himself and continue toward us. He set Addison’s drink down harder than necessary before dropping into his seat with his own glass.
She shot him a bright smile and turned back to Everly. “Sometime in the next couple weeks to do a follow-up on her last article. She’s not sure the timing yet, because she’s going to tack it on to another assignment, so it may be last minute.”
Everly’s gaze flitted between Addison and Levi. “Do we not like Harper?”
“Of course we like Harper!” Addison said, her voice cranked to ten. The girl got loud as hell when she was tipsy. “She’s part of the reason the resort’s not in the red for the first time in a decade.”
Everly tipped her chin toward Levi. “Then what’s with the scowl?”
I was well versed in avoiding topics I didn’t want to discuss with my family. Hell, all of us were. And there was no denying Levi absolutely did not want to go down this path. He never did, and believe me, I’d tried.
So I played the nice brother and threw him a bone—probably not one he would have chosen, but beggars can’t be choosers. “That’s probably because he’s still feeling a little tender, thanks to his most recent lost bet.”
He shot me a look that wavered between gratitude and irritation, but he and I both knew discussing whatever body jewelry he was currently rocking was the lesser of two evils.
“Um, I need more details, please,” Luna said, dividing a look between Levi and me.
“We had a bet going over who would get the highest bid at the bachelor auction. Loser had to get a body modification.”
“What, like a tattoo?” she asked.
“Not what he chose,” I said, unable to hide my smirk.
“Oh my God!” Addison hissed. “Did you get your nipples pierced?”
“Not sure you want to know this, sis,” he said.
