“Women who carry such an important part of your son don’t get to have anything from the grill.”
“Your quinoa dish is in the oven next to the rhubarb crisp,” Luke called as he headed back outside.
I’m pretty sure out of the corner of my eye I saw Jess flip him the bird.
CAGE
Tom Jones.I’d gone almost two years without a drop of alcohol, and with one are-you-seriously-not-going-to-have-a-beer-with-me look, I had a cool bottle in my hand, the smooth lager coating my throat. The men in Lake’s family were the opposite of her: they loved football. Even Luke, who Lake described as ‘stuffy in a suit,’ knew stats and players’ names.
Red meat was also on the list of things I hadn’t had in a long time, yet one of the burgers Tom flipped on the charcoal grill was mine. How did I become the schoolboy who wanted to fit in? It was crazy because I’d never been in that role, but I wanted every one of the men in Lake’s life to like me.
After a good twenty minutes of discussing football with theguys huddled around the grill, and just when I started to get that fitting-in feeling, Tom asked me the question that made me choke on my beer.
“So how long have you been sleeping with my daughter?”
I looked at Luke, but he kept his head down, beer bottle to his lips, as did Lane and Liam.
Drake held up a finger. “I’m going to see if they need help with the kids.”
Had Tom asked him the same question about Lara when they first met?
Either Tom had the world’s best poker face or he was dead serious. Even his eyes narrowed a fraction.
“I love your daughter.”
Luke peeked up and winked at me.
“Did you love her when you took her virginity?”
My eyes ping-ponged between Tom and her brothers who continued to keep their eyes trained to the grill.
My brow pulled tight. Lake told me her father caught her in bed with Ben. Didn’t she? I began to doubt everything as the silence dragged on. I had no other choice, so I went with the best answer, the one that I liked too. It was the one where I was the only man who had ever been with Lake.
“Yes. I loved your daughter when I took her virginity.” I took a long swig of beer, praying for the buzz to kick in, but one beer could never give me a buzz.
My answer elicited all three of her brothers to glance up with their own confused faces. Just as I figured—she wasn’t a virgin and everyone knew it.
“Did youlovetaking her virginity?”
The Jones men lasted all of two seconds before every single one of them busted into laughter. I smirked while shaking myhead. I never expected the initiation to be quite so brutal. If I’d had a daughter would I have been able to joke about her sex life? Probably not. In all fairness, Lake warned me that her family was the complete opposite of normal.
“Fifty bucks if you answer him?” Liam laughed, still bending over to catch his breath.
“One hundred if you don’t.” Luke shook his head. The prospect of Liam’s offer bringing a bit of worry to Luke’s face as his smile faded.
I cocked an eye at Tom. He rested his hand on my shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze.
“You passed. No need to say anymore.” He chuckled.
I pulled my T-shirt away from my chest. “Shit. I’m sweating. That was just…”
“Fucking cruel.” Liam winked. “Drake bailed because he went through the same torture over Lara. I think watching your hazing was too much for him.”
“The psychiatry degree was more personal therapy from growing up in this family than a true dream job.” Luke grinned before taking a pull of his beer.
“Mmm…” I bit my lips together and nodded. “No comment.”
“Tom?” Felicity called. “Luke said the hamburgers were about done. What’s taking you guys so long?”
