Page 95 of My Brother’s Best Friends Entanglement

I don't bother answering. It's the first thing we've said to each other since the other morning, and if he wants to be weird, so be it. I face Zachary. "You don't have work?"

He shrugs. "Day off."

"You don't take day offs.” I wait for him to correct me, that it’s actually “days off”, but he just shrugs. First red flag. The guys usually love putting me in my place given the opportunity, that’s one thing that hasn’t changed in the years apart. I poke him a little further for a response. “Leon told me you went to work after you broke a rib play-wrestling with"—I point at Marcus—"him."

"And I probably should've." Zachary rubs his chest. "So I'm taking one today. Rest and recovery are very important."

"That happened eight months ago, Zachary."

He stops rubbing. "Sometimes injuries can take a long time to present."

Ooookay. Well, they've all clearly gone crazy.

I wave a hand. "Okay, have a good time doing whatever it is you're doing. I'm going out."

Rhys leans back, arms still folded. "You're not going to ask what I'm doing here?"

Six eyes turn to him. Rhys speaking up has me almost stumbling, but I recover.

I look at him pointedly. "You're pretending to read the news, but really you're listening to everything everyone else is saying and filing it away to use against us later."

Marcus snorts, then bites the reaction down and slides his nonchalant mask back on, eyes still sparkling. "I mean, she's not wrong."

The doorbell goes before anyone else says anything, and I make it half a step before Rhys is already up off the couch. He gets there first, opening the door before I can stop him.

Craig stands on the front step, a little taken aback by who's opened the door, eyes flicking to me as I wave from behind Rhys.

"Craig," Rhys says. "Come in."

Craig steps into the hallway holding a small bunch of flowers he clearly wasn't expecting to present to an extra audience of three, and I watch his usual easy charm falter as he clocks the scene behind me. But he recovers fast.

"Hi, I'm Craig," he says to the room.

Marcus gets up, throwing the TV remote in the air like a baton. "Hi, Craig. I'm Marcus. That's Zachary. And you know Rhys."

Craig nods to them all before turning to me. “These are for you."

I take them with a smile. "They're lovely, thank you. I love fresh flowers."

"She really does," Marcus says, "but apparently not hydrangeas, those she likes to squish as she's running away. Keep an eye on her, she likes to take off when you least expect it."

Right. Mission: get Craig out of here as fast as possible.

I put the flowers on the hallway table. "Thanks for coming to pick me up. Shall we go⁠—"

"Yeah, thanks for that," Marcus cuts in. "We could've dropped her off if we'd known where you were going. Speaking of which, where are you going?"

Craig blinks. “A bar down south. I heard great reviews. Highwater?" The guys share a look, which Craig catches. "Oh, have you heard of it?"

I give him a tight smile. "Zachary is the bartender there."

Craig tries to hide his surprise. "Will we see you there tonight?"

Zachary shakes his head. "No, I'm taking the night off. I do that. My right as the owner, actually." He gestures at the others. "We're all part owners."

"That's amazing. Don't worry, I'll pay for all the drinks tonight, we won't take advantage of being friends with the owners." Craig lets out a laugh, sounding more nervous than I've ever heard him.

"Oh, don't worry. I'll let them know you're coming. My guys know better than to take money from Alexia," Zachary says.