“Ow! What the fuck, Cricket?”
“Sack tap for being rude,” Cricket hissed.
“I’m marrying Helena,” Cullen said. “And I’ve known her for less than two months.”
Hatch nodded. “I’m also gonna put a ring on Maisie’s finger and we’re barely at the six-month mark.”
“Might I point out, you connected with Navy barely six weeks ago,” Cricket said.
“I’ve known that woman since high school,”Cade said, his legs still crossed.
“You’re hardly reliable, Cam,” Cade said, and I felt Tess stiffen.
“How is he unreliable?” she asked. Her tone was quiet and gentle, but it also had a bit of an edge to it.
“Well, in case you weren’t aware, our brother fucks his way through the phonebook, so to speak.”
Another hit from Cricket had his knees hitting the floor but before I could say or do anything to address his insult, Hatch had wrapped a hand around the nape of his neck and dragged him out the front door.
“Give me a second,” I said to Tess, then jabbed a finger at my remaining siblings. “Be nice.” I faced Tess and squeezed her hands. “I’ll be right back. You good?”
She nodded and I stepped outside.
* * *
Tess
This wasn’t going well. At. All.
“Um, well, so…”
“Okay, look,” Cricket said. “Ignore Cade. He can be a dick. Seriously. I don’t know why because he’s actually squishy once you get to the heart of him, but I think he’s on his period.”
“He and Navy had a fight,” Cullen provided.
Cricket gasped. “Seriously?”
Cullen nodded. “Heard him arguing with her over the phone earlier.”
“Oh. My. God,” Cricket breathed out. “That explainseverything.” She faced me again. “Cade and Navy werehigh school sweethearts and she moved away, and then we moved up here and he lost his ever-blessed mind, then Mom died, and Dad, well, I’m sure Cameron has filled you in on all of that.”
I nodded.
“So, if Navy’s pissed at him, then he’s probably totally melting down and when he melts down, Cameron gets the brunt of it, because Cameron always gets the brunt of it.”
I cocked my head. “Why?”
“First of all, he’s the youngest boy. I mean, Cade’s afraid of Hatch, and he wouldn’t fucking dare do anything to the widower, and I’m the baby and the girl, and you’ve seen what happens when you fuck with me, so...”
I frowned. “I do not like that.”
“Oh, nobody likes it, especially Cam but he handles it.”
I crossed my arms and thought to myself,I wonder how Cade would react if he knew I could field strip, clean, and reassemble a Glock-9 while blindfolded in forty seconds, before using that very same weapon to get off eight center mass shots and three head shots on a target twenty-five meters away.
“Some things are going to change around here,” I bit out.
Cricket’s face lit up like a pinball machine. “Oh, I love you already.”
