Chapter 37

Jamie

This wasn't normal.

Most people didn't scan the roads on the drive over to their brother's place with a growing sense of trepidation. They didn't cling to the ‘oh shit' handle the whole way there, despite Hayden driving at a sedate pace. He glanced my way, taking in the muscle tension thrumming through my body, but didn't say a thing. That observation had my fingers uncurling, forcing me to take longer breaths in an attempt to calm myself, because this all felt like an overreaction.

It was just my family, I thought as we pulled up. I stared at my brother, Steve's, house, and then forced myself to open the door. They were annoying, sure, but everyone's family were. Hayden took my hand as we walked up the driveway, the sounds of music and kids having fun getting louder as we approached. I'd walk into the back yard, say hello to my brothers and my sisters-in-law, hug my niblings and?—

"Jamie!"

Mum appeared in front of us with a frown on her face, her eyes narrowing as she took me in. As I stiffened, Hayden's arm tightened around my waist. He stepped forward slightly, almost putting himself in between me and my mother and that had my heart clenching.

But it didn't stop her.

"Where have you been? You were supposed to be here early to help set up, and where's Brock?" Her eyes narrowed as she took Hayden in. "I rang him and told him about today."

"I know you did," I replied in a tight voice. "Just like a mother organising a playdate for her toddler. Mum, this is Hayden. Brock was busy with something at work and you said you wanted to meet the other guys I was dating, so I brought him along. Hayden, this is my mother, Majorie."

"Lovely to meet you," he said, offering her my hand.

"And you." Mum's response was automatic, but she shook his hand, however briefly, before performing a thorough inspection. Thank god he wore more formal clothes. "So what do you do… Hayden, was it?"

"I'm a carpenter by trade," he replied.

"And a model!" Steve's wife, Amber, came rushing over and checked Hayden out quite blatantly. People did it all the time, but for some reason this made me bristle. "Damn, Jamie, where did you get this one from?" She looked him over like he was a side of meat. "Did you hire one of the Billabong boys?"

Bloody hell, Amber, I thought silently.

"What's a Billabong boy?" Mum asked, looking both irritated and flustered.

"I did a modelling campaign with a surfwear company called Billabong," Hayden informed her. "It was printed on billboards all over Australia and featured in international surf mags."

"Oh." Mum blinked. Her shift in demeanour was almost comical. "Oh! Is that well paid?"

"Mum—" I groaned.

"Well, it's important to know these sorts of things before the relationship gets serious." Mum turned back to Hayden. "Are you serious about my daughter?'

Shut up , I thought. Shut up, shut up, shut up!

I was almost scared to look up and check his expression, but I needn't have been. He met her gaze head on without flinching for a second.

"Deadly." He was the perfect fake date, because right now no one would have doubted him for a second. "And yeah, modelling can be a pretty lucrative gig."

That gleam in Mum's eyes, along with the more affronted expression Amber was wearing, was enough to prompt me to keep things moving.

"You can go over Hayden's financials another time," I said, shooting the two women a dark look. "This is my sister-in-law, Amber."

"Hi."

The woman wiggled her fingers at Hayden and smiled.

"I'm going to introduce Hayden to everyone else and then I'll come and help with whatever needs doing in the kitchen."

I didn't wait for them to agree to that, dragging him towards the barbecue.

"Yeah, you are not leaving me," he said as we got closer. "I'm happy to chop, dice, make potato salad, ‘whatever needs doing,' but you are not walking into that lioness' den on your own."

"No soldier left behind?" I said. "Now you're getting it. OK, well, you're going to get the third degree from Dad as well, so here's some tips. He's really, really focussed on financial security. Not as snooty about working with your hands as Mum is. For him, it's more about you being able to support me through a nuclear winter or something."

"A man that plans ahead for a nuclear holocaust. I like it," he said, giving my hand a squeeze. "Thanks for the heads up, but I've got this."

He didn't.

"JJ!" Steve looked up from the grill as I got closer. "Haven't seen you in bloody ages. Still pretending to fix cars for a living?"

That loose smile, the casual way he dismissed my job, my passion, would be why I hadn't bothered to come around lately.

"Work's fine," I replied shortly.

"Do you use those pink tools we bought you?" Dave, one of my other brothers, said, ruffling my hair, forcing me to jerk out of his way. The tools were utterly useless pieces of shit made in China from cheap alloy, then sprayed with a pink floral finish, and they were my Christmas present from the guys last year. I shook my head slowly. If any of the guys at work talked to me like this, I would've nut punched them in seconds, but my brothers? Any reaction would just encourage them.

"What about those pink overalls?" Millie didn't know how good she had it, because Steve and Dave were on a roll, chortling like idiots now. "Do you prance around the workshop in them, getting the real mechanics coffee or something?"

Hayden stepped forward then, seeming to sense he needed to deflect their attention.

"Jamie's a damn good mechanic," he said, which was exactly the wrong thing to say. The two of them were like sharks, scenting blood in the water. They glanced at each other and then grinned before turning back to me, ready to go in for the kill.

"Yeah?" Steve asked, straightening up, but I was forced to smile when my brother had to look up slightly to meet Hayden's eyes. "And who the hell are you, mate?"

"Hayden McDonald," Dave answered for him, then nodded before stepping forward to offer him his hand. Hayden shook it and his small wince told me Dave was playing stupid dominance games. Hayden smiled, twisting his grip slightly, his knuckles going white as his fingers bit down into Dave's. My brother smiled, then flicked his fingers as he released his grip.

"You know him?" Steve asked, looking Hayden over.

"He's Brock's McDonald's brother," Dave said, crossing his arms and making clear what he thought about this. He couldn't have given off worse piss-the-fuck-off vibes. Steve and Dave were older than me and so remembered Brock from school.

"Brother?" We turned around to see that Dad had appeared, several beers in his hands. "What's going on, Jamie?"

Hayden wrapped his arm around my shoulders, as if that would save us from the firing squad.

"We've been trying to get your daughter's attention for some time, and finally she's decided to give us all a chance. Jamie's currently dating all three of us McDonald boys."

Shit.

Shit, shit, shit, shit.

I watched my dad's eyes narrow as his nostrils began to flare.

"That right? Pretty sure the girls need some help in the kitchen, Jamie."

"Dad—"

"Now, love."

That last little term of endearment was tacked on at the end, as if that could soften his tone. I shook my head, trying to remember that I was an adult, an independent woman, but none of that mattered here. Not what I did or what I'd achieved, nothing, because as soon as I walked into this backyard, I was shoved back into an old role. Daughter, sister, child, I shook my head again, wanting to reject that, but Dad and my brothers just stared me down.

"It's alright, babe." Hayden's pet name felt weird, like a brand new pair of shoes or something. Not necessarily bad or ill fitting, but… different. "I've got this."

He stared into my eyes and that confidence there? It felt misplaced and ill informed, but this is why I'd brought Hayden here. I nodded and then leaned in, doing something I'd never dared before. I kissed him first, just a closed mouth, chaste thing, but his eyes widened and then his hands slapped down on my hips, drawing me closer to string it out. When we finally pulled away, we both blinked. The best lies were ones that were mainly true and that made this situation easier to sell to my family, because right now I wanted to go back for another kiss.

But I couldn't.

"Go easy," I ordered my family, stabbing a finger in their direction.

"Hey, as long as he's not as big a dickhead as the last one, there'll be no problems here," Steve said. "What was his name? Rohan?"

"Rohan, Martin, Greg…" Dave looked at Hayden with a smirk. "None of them last long."

"I know exactly who Jamie's exes are," Hayden replied with steely calm. "I also know none of them were the right guy for her."

"But you are?" Steve's eyebrow rose slowly.

"That's to be established." Dad's voice cut through all conversation, silencing everyone. "Jamie?—"

"Go and help in the kitchen," I sighed, giving Hayden's hand one more squeeze before I pulled away. "If they get too full on?—"

"There's nothing your family can throw at me that'd have me running."

Hayden said that with such complete confidence, but I barely resisted the urge to shake my head. He thought he knew what he was getting himself into, using his own family as a map to guide him forward.

But my family?

There was no blueprint of a happy, healthy family that would help him navigate these obstacles, something he was about to find out.