“Yes.”
“Is that project talk for me being interrogated by five brothers?”
“Probably.”
“Should I wear a wire?”
I laughed. “No. But if my brother Knox asks if you’ve ever made a girl cry, lie.”
Cade glanced over his shoulder. “I am pretty confident that is one thing I have never done.”
I froze for half a beat, and his expression sharpened immediately like he had heard something in the silence. I covered it by grabbing a towel and tossing it at him.
“Don’t get cocky. You probably have a campus support group.”
He caught the towel against his chest, eyes still on me. “Noted.”
The softness in his voice made my stomach twist, so I moved fast, pulling a cutting board from the cabinet and setting it between us. “Sunday dinner rules. One, do not take anythingmy brothers say seriously unless they’re holding tools. Two, if my dad tells you the grill is fine, it is not fine. Three, if someone tells you to try the hot sauce, ask which one because Lyon thinks pain builds character. Four, never sit in Knox’s chair.”
“Knox has a chair?”
“Knox has a chair, a look, and a firearm.”
Cade’s mouth lifted. “Cop brother?”
“Yes.”
“And the academy brother?”
“Emmitt.”
“Firefighters?”
“Ryker and Kellen. Construction and single-dad chaos is Lyon.”
He nodded like he was filing them away. “And you?”
“What about me?”
“Where do you fit?”
The question landed softer than I expected.
I looked down at the cutting board. “I’m the baby.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only answer they accept.”
Cade turned the water off and set the washed potatoes beside me, his voice quiet enough that it forced me to listen. “What answer do you accept?”
I hated how easily he did that. Took a normal conversation and found the place under it with no warning.
I picked up a potato and reached for a knife. “I’m the only girl, the youngest, the professional over-explainer, and the one everybody still treats like I might break if they squeeze too hard, which is hilarious considering Bennett family love is basically being tackled emotionally and occasionally physically.”
Cade watched me for a second. “Do you break?”
My grip tightened slightly around the knife.
