Ayda looked between the three of us and over our shoulders where I could only imagine Kenny was trying to drag something on. She tipped her head to the side in question, her frown easing.
“What did I miss?” she asked quietly.
Jedd squeaked as much as Jedd could squeak, given he sounded like Barry White on a light day. He cleared his throat, bowed his head and pressed his lips together. It didn’t take long for Slater to follow him in the exact same way, right down to the way their shoulders bounced with silent laughter.
“Hey, darlin’.” I grinned, my hands hanging by my sides as I curled my fingers into my palms and tried not to laugh. Sutton was going to have a shit fit, and I had no idea which way Ayda was going to go, too. She loved Sloane, in a way. She loved Kenny, too, and even I knew he’d overstepped the mark on this one. “You look fucking beautiful today,” I told her in that voice of mine I knew she loved so much.
Her eyes zeroed in on me, a shrewd gaze making the corner of her mouth twitch as she tried to get a read on the situation. It didn’t help that Slater and Jedd were still lost in silent laughter, or that Kenny could be heard bouncing around on one foot, the chain from his belt rattling as he hissed and cursed to himself. Ayda stepped forward, easing closer to me and stopping dead when, I assumed, she saw Sloane in the bed trying her best to look invisible.
“What the—?” Ayda looked around the room and shookher head again. “You know what? I don’t want to know. I just don’t remember my hormones being this fucked up at this age.” She looked in the room again. “You don’t have that excuse though, do you, Kenny? You should know better!”
I stepped closer to block her view, pressing one hand to her stomach while my other grabbed her waist. She tried to look around me, but where her head went, mine followed, until she was sighing and staring up at me, resigned.
“Take a breath,” I said softly, unable to stop the subtle smile playing on my lips. I didn’t give a shit whether she cut his balls off in front of us. I just didn’t like seeing her upset, and even if she was amused, I could see the worry in her eyes and the way her brows came together to create two lines that held all her questions and tension. “Let him get rid of his chubby before we throw shit his way.”
Glancing up at me, a small amount of the tension left her shoulders, but the concern was still there. “Where’s the fun in that?”
With a huff of laughter, I bowed my head and stepped to the side, letting her have the full view of the show behind us. I copied the pose of my two brothers until the three of us were standing in a line, our heads dipped, hands clasped together in front of us, and our faces creased with amusement.
There was a long moment of silence. I heard Ayda drag in a breath to speak and release it again three times before she leaned in closer to me, her voice a whisper. “Am I seeing this right? It’s not just Kenny’s eyebrows that are shaved in a stupid formation?”
I leaned in, too, keeping my head down and speaking through a small gap in my mouth. “He has a thing for razor blades and straight lines. Think he likes the feel of theregrowth.”
Ayda’s laughter came quickly, her hand covering her mouth as she tried to rein it in for Kenny and Sloane’s sake, but it was too late. Thoroughly amused, she rested her hand on my chest and shook her head. “He’s all yours.” Still chortling, she glanced around my shoulder to the bed. “Sloane, honey, why don’t you come with me and let the boys play?”
“I ain’t playing with shit in that room,” Slater mumbled.
“We could play pin the dick on the donkey,” Jedd offered.
“Motherfuckers, I swear, if you don’t…” Kenny’s anger was cut off by a low throaty growl followed by the harsh sound of his zip being tugged up… and then… a wince. A very painful, manly wince. His yelp of surprise seemed to make everyone look around at once, and even though Sloane was resting with her head in her hands looking distressed, the only thing any of us saw was Kenny turning purple, bending over as the end of his dick got caught in the one place every man never wants their dick to get caught.
Nobody said anything until Slater leaned in closer and whispered in my ear, “If this is a dream, I never want to wake up. I’m so happy right now.”
And just like that, the rest of us burst into laughter, pushing and shoving each other out of the doorway to escape the hysteria of it all, leaving Kenny rolling on the floor.
The moment we were out of the room, Ayda reached back inside and pulled the door closed behind us, her cheeks flushed with her laughter, her hand on her side. “I think we should leave them to deal with…that.”
“Get me the whiskey. I need to wash my eyes out,” Jedd said on a laugh.
I was wheezing, lost in the camaraderie with my brothersand fiancée. For just a few seconds, I let that feeling wrap itself around me before I held my hand out for Ayda and waited for her to entwine her fingers with mine.
“Hey, you,” I said, still snickering as Jedd and Slater began to walk back to the bar, one of them howling to alert the others they were back…with news.
Ayda wrapped her other hand around my arm and leaned into me playfully. “Hey yourself.”
“Good to see you home safe.”
Ayda made a small face, and the smile faded a little. Nothing significant, but it was there. “One of the boys was changing the oil in my truck for me. I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed a car. The school called. They wanted me to come in.”
“Uh oh. How much trouble’s Tate in now?”
She sighed. “Academic probation and suspension from the team for three games, which means homecoming next year. I’ve taken his keys from him for two weeks.”
My eyes creased together, feeling the sting for the boy, but he was his own fool, and I wasn’t going to argue with Ayda. I hated that she’d had this responsibility put on her shoulders so young. She deserved a lighter life. More freedom. Less hassle. I didn’t continue down that train of thought for long. I knew where that would lead if I did, so I gave her fingers a squeeze, looked up at my brothers at the bar and sighed softly.
“This place is turning into damn teenage daycare.”
“Hey, it was a daycare long before we got here,” she mused playfully. “Tate was caught fucking Libby in the gym showers. It’s not the end of the world, and I’m sure he’s neither the first or the last to do it. I’m just pissed that his attitude these days is making him fuck up at school. I askedLibby not to go there after the drama she caused last week. I’ve warned him he’s on his last strike, and she’s next on my list.” She rubbed her cheek on my shoulder and looked at the bar. “Is Rubin drunk?”