Chapter 57

Jamie

"Are you sure this is a good idea?"

I looked up through the windshield of my car at his parents' house as if I hadn't been coming here for dinner once a week for nearly twenty years.

"Mum's roast beef? It's always a good idea," he replied in a remarkably chipper tone. Brock was in a great mood all day, something the guys had commented on. Old Jamie would've blushed, felt embarrassed, but now? I just grinned and moved onto the next job. "C'mon."

I clambered out of the car because he was coming around to my door to open it for me. His brow rose up in response, as if he knew exactly what I was doing. Trying to pretend like things were the same as they always were.

But they weren't.

It wasn't just the beard rash and sweet ache between my legs, because that was nothing compared to the hot glow in my chest. It just got brighter as he stared at me, a slow smile forming. That flared hotter when the guys pulled up in their vans.

"Ready to face the firing squad?" Hayden asked, holding out an arm for me to take but Hunter pushed in front of him, grinning when I took it.

"Firing squad?"

My steps slowed, but the guys didn't allow for that, Hayden taking my other arm. Brock just shook his head at the sight of me being frog marched into their parents' house, and when we walked inside, we found we weren't the only ones who were amused by all of this.

"Well, you've got that whole post-coital glow," Millie said, slipping off her stool to look me over. "Though you're not walking bowlegged." Her wicked grin had me frowning. "Did I do the wrong thing? Are my brothers not up to the job?"

"I was ‘up' most of the night," Hunter spluttered.

"So you really want me to answer that question?" I said. "Because I can. I can tell you all about your brothers'—"

"Brothers' what?" Heather walked in holding a basket of vegetables. "Hello darlings." She moved forward and each of the boys leant down to kiss her cheek. "So what have these little buggers been up to this time?"

Heather was trying really hard to play it cool, keep her tone light, but we all saw the keen gleam in her eyes. She inspected every single one of us, as if that would allow her to determine what had been going down between us. Thank god her psychic abilities were limited, because I'm not sure anyone's mother-in-law needed to see what we got up to.

Mother-in-law.

I blinked, that realisation only just coming to me. I'd loved Heather from afar, the woman the mother I'd always wanted, so when she came close, I sank into her arms.

"And how are you, sweetheart? Those boys have been treating you right? And how are things going with your mum?"

"Can't answer that." Millie muscled in, wrenching me away from her mother. "I've sacrificed bestie time all week for these idiots." She scanned the room. "I want my service to brotherkind recognised here, but we've got catching up together."

"Amelia!"

Heather made clear that she would've liked a bit more time to do some digging, but perhaps it was a relief to be tugged away. Millie snatched up a bottle of wine and a few glasses, just like she had when all this insanity began.

"I'll have your girl back to you at some point!" she announced.

"Your girl…?" Heather's frown was like a knife made of ice, sliding into my heart, but she didn't stare at me, but her sons. Her hands went to her hips. "What've you three been up to?"

"So what's been happening with my brothers?" Millie asked when she flopped down in the outdoor chair on the balcony. She poured herself a wine and then handed me one. "Minus the fucky fucky bits, of course."

"Um…" I took a sip of the drink, my mouth suddenly dry.

"Um? Um? That's it? Are you doing anything other than bam bam in the ham?"

"I'm sorry, but what?" I asked.

"This is not just some kind of sex thing, right?" she asked, eyes glittering as she observed me over the rim of her glass.

"It's…" I let out a sigh. "It's more than a sex thing. It'd be a whole lot easier if it was just scratching an itch, but…" Millie leaned forward in increments as the silence stretched on so I was forced to answer. "Ithinki'minlovewithyourbrothers."

"Whaaat?" Her eyes flicked upwards, a frown forming as she strove to decode what I'd said, and I knew when she'd worked it out. A look of shock, then one of triumph, followed by a smug grin. "I knew it." She waved a finger at me. "I knew it! You just had to meet the right guy. Guys," she corrected herself. "Oh my god, part of me wants to put together a twenty point slideshow outlining why each one of them is a complete idiot and not worth your time, but…"

"But?" I prompted, hoping like hell there was no ex locked up in the attic or something.

"But who knows the boys better than you? You know that Hunter is a vain little shit and Hayden is allergic to smiling, Brock too. You've heard the twins burp out their names and seen them light their farts."

"And burn their bum hair." I chuckled then, remembering that incident. Hunter hadn't been able to sit right for weeks after that.

"You know them." She nodded slowly. "And you chose them anyway. I'm glad."

"You didn't ask if they were into me too," I prompted.

"Didn't need to. Those idiots have been in love with you for ages. I think that's why I warned them off you. I knew…" She swallowed hard and my hand shot out, grabbing hers. "I knew they'd sweep you off your feet and then I'd never get to hang out with you on our own again."

"We will. I'll make them sign a contract. Brock's already talking about a schedule…"

I swallowed, remembering the usual kind of blunt conversation we had wouldn't work right now. Before, it was talking about the randos I decided to go out with, their anonymity making them fair game in our discussions, but not now.

"Schedule for what?" Her eyebrow jerked upwards. "Schedule for what, Jamie?" Sensing blood in the water, Millie became a shark, seeking its prey. "Do you have a boinking schedule?"

"Orgasm…" I croaked out, then drank down the rest of my drink in a hurry.

Heather opened Millie's old bedroom door, appearing just in time to save me from having to explain further. That was OK, my big-mouth best friend did it for me.

"Mum, do you know the boys are working out a schedule for Jamie's orgasms…?"

Fuck. You could've heard a pin drop in that moment, as I sank down in my chair and Millie realised she'd gobbed off at exactly the wrong moment. She blinked, started to say something to deflect her mother's attention, but that just came out as a choked off sound, because how did she excuse that.

"Sorry," Millie told me, flushing about as red as my cheeks were right now.

"The boys filled your father and me in. Well, not that far." Heather blinked. "Come out and have some nibbles. This affects the family so we need to talk it through as one."

Did people facing a firing squad feel the same way I did? Dragging their feet, feeling a growing sense of trepidation as they approached their executioners. I had to remind myself that that's not what this was. The guys were all seated around the table, Heather and Angus at the head, watching us approach.

"Hello, love," Angus said, but there was a tightening around his eyes that was never there before. He walked around the table and then placed his hands on my shoulders, the weight feeling so heavy. "How are you?"

He asked me the same thing, but it was usually in a light-hearted way, the man giving me his entire attention. That focus was usually a gift, but right now it felt like a liability. What would he think about this? I was kicking myself for not thinking about it before, my eyes seeking the guys' on instinct. Each one looked concerned, which wasn't helping me at all.

If Angus was my dad, if Heather was my mother, I'd have been concocting a lie as fast as I could. Creating a story they'd find palatable to explain the situation, anything to stop the axe from falling down on my bare neck. But Mum had none of Heather's gentleness, and if Dad felt concern for me, he hid it well, so I reassured myself that I could do the one thing here I dared not in front of my own family.

Tell the truth.

"I'm good, Angus." I covered his hand with mine and gave it a squeeze. "More than good. I'm happier than I've ever been." Saying that made clear that it was true, a pleasure flushing through me as intense as we managed to conjure when we were naked, but somehow more because we weren't. I faced my best friend's father, my future father-in-law, down and tried to make that clear. "I don't know how long that will last. I can't make promises, but…"

My words were choked off as he dragged me closer, grabbing me in a rough hug.

"You were always my second daughter." I heard the waver in his voice and that had me hugging him right back. "I can't say I understand how this kind of relationship works, but…" He held me at arm's length now. "You were always a part of this family, Jamie, and now that's getting formalised."

Tears filled my eyes. I couldn't keep them back, because out of all the sweet things people said to me, somehow that was the sweetest. Heather rose then, grabbing me a paper serviette.

"We just worry," she said in a soft voice. "That's what parents do, but if you're all fine with this, well… We'll work out a way to understand this." Her eyes narrowed as she took in her sons. "You better treat Jamie right, though."

"I can and will infest your bedding with pubic lice," Millie growled. "Slash your tyres?—"

"No need." Brock pulled me down onto his lap and my arm went around his shoulders on automatic. "We'd never do anything to hurt Jamie." His golden eyes met mine, staring for what felt like a second or eternity, I couldn't work out which. "We love her."

"I…" It was always hard for me to say, and in front of an audience? I wanted to hide my face in his chest, but that would never do. "I love you too." I turned to face the twins. "All of you."

"Of course you do, we're awesome," Hunter said, reaching over to pluck me from Brock's grip. He grinned as his brother scowled at us.

"You are not fighting over Jamie like a pack of dogs and one bone," Heather said. "I remember what you lot were like with LEGO."

"I nut punched Hunter when he tried to take my Batman LEGO," Millie said with a grin.

"That was me," Hayden said, shifting uncomfortably.

"No squabbling." Heather ticked off one finger. "No pushing, shoving?—"

"You don't have to worry, Mum." Hayden stared at me as Hunter's arms wrapped tighter around me. "I didn't love Batman LEGO, but Jamie…" He nodded slowly. "I'd never do a thing to hurt her."

"Well, thank god for that," Angus sighed. "I thought I was gonna have to get my belt out."

"You never smacked us, Dad," Millie said.

"No, but I could start." Angus winked at me. "They mess you around, you just come and talk to me."

"Or me." Millie scratched at her hair, then her pubic area dramatically. "I know people."

"With crabs?" Hunter said. "Why am I not surprised?" He turned to his parents. "Maybe you should be worried less about who I'm with and more about your daughter's taste in men."

I smiled, the friendly bickering of the McDonald family washing over me. This was the sound of a healthy, happy family.

I just wish I could say the same of my own.