“Just hug me, brat.”
I stepped forward and let him close his arms around me. It was brief, his hands brushing lightly against me like butterflies. Not at all like the sturdy back-slapping I got from Gray. But it meant so much more because touch was always an effort for Holden.
He stepped back and took a big breath. “You can’t make a habit of skipping classes, though.”
“There it is,” Gray said with a smirk.
Holden shook his head. “No lectures. That’s all I’ll say on the matter.”
“I’ll go back later today,” I promised. “I’ve got calc and engineering ethics tomorrow. Don’t want to missthat.”
Holden either missed my sarcasm or chose not to comment on it.
“Come sit down. Tell me what’s going on with you.” Holden looked past me. “You too, Flynn. Come join us.”
“Oh, uh, are you sure? I don’t want to interrupt family time.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gray said. “You’re part of the Forrester family now.”
Flynn’s cheeks pinked above his beard. Damn, this man didn’t have much of a poker face. Luckily, Flynn was always a little off-balance when my brothers said shit like that.
“You’re all too good to me,” he said softly.
“You need to stop selling yourself short,” I said. “My brothers don’t like just anyone. They like people who deserve it. So do I.”
Flynn swallowed. “You’re right. Sorry. I…”
“Oh, don’t fluster the poor guy,” Gray said with a chuckle. “Flynn hasn’t had enough practice at being appreciated. We’ll get him there.”
I smirked. “Damn right, we will.”
Flynn looked as if he wanted to disappear into the floor, but this kind of embarrassment was good for him. He needed to see that he had value to the people around him, even if he didn’t yet value himself properly.
We followed Holden into the office. He took a seat behind the metal desk, Gray and I took the two visitor chairs, and Flynn perched on a filing cabinet behind us.
“So?” Holden asked. “What’s new?”
I resisted the urge to look at Flynn. “Oh, nothing much,” I said airily. “Just playing with frat boys.”
Holden frowned. “Playing with, like…”
“Fucking!” Axel boomed as he came into the office behind us. “About time, Bailey. Although surely you can do better than frat boys.”
Flynn made a strangled noise, and I laughed to cover it.
“Playing pool, guys. I was talking about pool.”
“Of course you were,” Holden said dryly. “Let me guess, you’re hustling all those poor kids.”
“Nah, just a couple,” I said.
“Better be careful,” Axel said, poking my fading bruise as he passed me, making me hiss and jerk away. “You’ll end up with a broken jaw.”
“No lectures,” Holden said, shocking everyone. “Bailey’s a grown man. If he wants to get punched in the face, we can’t stop him.”
Axel froze, Zacos bag in his hand, and stared at Holden. “Who are you, and what have you done with my brother?”
Holden sighed. “I told Bailey we’d start treating him like an adult. It’s that or risk losing him. We can’t make him make better choices.” He met my eyes. “Bailey has to decide to do that for himself.”
