Page 96

Jax turns toward me, features hard as stone, reading my anxiety with one look. “Fuck them if they don’t like it.”

“Yeah.” I straighten my shoulders and lift my chin. If they don’t care, neither should I. “Fuck them if they don’t like it.” Besides, the four of us being together isn’t anything new. The four of us having sex is definitely a big change, but honestly, more people should try it.

Knox catches my gaze in the rearview mirror. He nods once, sharp and decisive, before cutting the engine. Brax opens his door and slides out, then turns to offer me his hand. “Come on, Callie. Let’s show this town what they’ve been missing.”

Warmth floods through me as I take his hand and let him help me out. His light blue eyes crinkle at the corners when he smiles, and I remember why I used to steal glances at him during algebra.

The diner smells like fried chicken, gravy, and freshly made buns. Pure comfort and nostalgia. Red vinyl booths line the windows, and the worn black and white checkered floor squeaks under our feet as we follow the hostess to a table with chairs in the center of the restaurant.

This is so different from all those pretentious restaurants Theo dragged me to in the city. Places with cloth napkins, dishes that left you hungry, and waiters who looked down their noses if you didn’t know which fork to use first. The one time I suggested we grab burgers instead, he actually laughed at me.

“That’s what passes for food in Big Ridge?” he said, his voice dripping with disdain.

Theo can shove his tiny-portioned dishes up his ass. I shove that memory down deep where it belongs and focus on the here and now. Jax takes the chair beside me while Brax takes the seat across from us. Knox settles next to his twin brother, his broad shoulders filling out his flannel shirt in a way that makes my throat go dry.

Which is crazy. I’ve had so much sex in the last few weeks there’s no reason for me to be this horny.

“So tell me about getting ready for school.” I turn toward Brax, shutting down my thirsty thoughts. Food first. Sex later. “What’s it like prepping for a classroom full of second graders?”

Summer school comes to an end in two short weeks, and the full school year starts three weeks later. The halls have been buzzing with teachers panicking about getting ready for a new set of kids in their classroom. I’m a little sad my temporary employment is coming to an end. I really loved making art with those kids.

Brax’s face lights up as he thinks about the year to come. “Controlled chaos, mostly. I’ve been working on bulletin boards and lesson plans for weeks. I have twenty-three kids incoming. The hardest part is remembering their names that first week.”

“Twenty-three tiny humans who probably think you hung the moon.” I smile at the image of Brax surrounded by gap-toothed kids hanging on his every word.

“They’re good kids. Most of them, anyway.” He grins and steals a small cinnamon roll from the basket the waitress just set down. The country diner stuffs you full of pastries before serving you up a meal that would make most doctors frown. “There’s always one who thinks glue is a food group.”

Knox snorts. “Remember when Jax ate some in kindergarten?”

“That was one time,” Jax mutters.

The waitress approaches our table with a practiced smile, doing a quick sweep of our group. When her gaze lands on me flanked by all three Williams brothers, something like envy flickers across her face. But it’s not mean-spirited. More like the look you give someone who won the lottery.

“What can I get you folks tonight?”

I hide my smile behind the menu. The best part of all is that I don’t have to choose. I don’t have to cut pieces of my heart away to fit into someone else’s idea of what love should look like. I get to keep them all to myself.

We order burgers and fries all around because sometimes the simple things are exactly what you need, and we all fall back into easy conversation about everything and nothing. Knox tells us about the ’67 Mustang he’s restoring, and Jax shares a story about rescuing a cat that got stuck on a roof.

The food arrives steaming hot, and I’m reaching for the ketchup when the front door chimes. My hand freezes, ice shooting through my veins.

Theo. Penelope hangs on his arm. My mouth turns acidic. It doesn’t take a genius to guess why they’re here. Theo immediately bumps into a passing waiter, sending a tray of food crashing to the floor. He doesn’t even glance at the mess he’s made, his calculating eyes sweeping the restaurant until they lock onto me.

All three guys go rigid beside me. Testosterone crackles in the air like live electrical wires. Impending dick measuring contest in three, two, one.

Penelope tips her head like some kind of psychotic Barbie doll, her eyes twinkling with malicious glee as they make their way over to our table.

Theo peers down his nose at us. “Callie Mae, slumming it at the local grease trap. How fitting.”

Penelope stiffens slightly beside him. This is her great-aunt’s restaurant, after all. I hope she regrets whatever decision drove her into his arms.

Knox’s voice is deadly calm when he speaks. “You need to leave.”

Theo tsks. “I heard folks like you were nice to tourists, but I guess you’re worried I’ll steal your girl again.”

Jax’s laugh is low and dangerous, the kind of sound that sinks into your bones and makes smart people run in the opposite direction. “I suggest you get out of town while you still can.”

“What’s your problem?” Penelope’s shrill voice cuts through the tension. “Pissed you’re the only Williams brother with no future?”