Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Briar

G illian squeals as Ben picks her up and swings her around the room.

"That's amazing!"

She beams. "I know. I mean, I never thought it'd happen this fast. I figured we'd have it for a while longer."

Gillian's small bungalow in downtown Willowbrook isn't my childhood home. Gillian moved there once Koa and I were old enough to take care of ourselves. After Dad died, she moved us in. Koa had to share a bedroom with Clayton and I had my own. After I went off to school, Koa moved into my old bedroom. It was small but hers.

So while I have no significant attachment to the house, I'm surprised she's so excited. I just drove by my childhood home the other day, remembering the day we moved out after it sold. The feeling of not having anything of my own, a place where I belonged. And here I am in the same situation again. All I have to blame is myself.

Bruce comes in off the porch. "What's going on?"

Ben lowers Gillian's feet to the floor. "Gill sold her house. Cash buyer."

Bruce's eyes widen. A cash buyer is surprising, but maybe the housing market is as crazy here as it was in Chicago. "That's great news."

Everyone else comes in from outside, probably having overheard what's going on. Sadie rushes over and hugs Gillian. Jude nods and gives his congratulations, then Gillian quietly talks to Clayton, and I see him nod a lot. God, she's such a good mom. How did she turn out to be so great when she had no role model?

Bruce turns in my direction and gives me a tight smile.

Oh, fucking hell. I hate that pitying look.

"Shit." Emmett rushes toward me in the kitchen. There's fear in his eyes. His hand lands on my hip, and he shoves me aside.

I stumble, almost falling to the floor, but I catch myself on the edge of the counter. "Excuse me is a word."

"Two actually," he says, snatching the oven mitt off the counter and opening the oven.

A billow of smoke flows from the oven, and my mouth hangs open, watching Emmett take out a tray of burned garlic bread. He sets it next to the lasagna. The bread is black. Great, my first meal after my return, and I ruin the part of dinner I was in charge of.

"Oh no," Gillian says.

A moment later, the smoke alarm rings and everyone scrambles into action. Emmett shuts the oven door, turning off the oven while Ben reaches up to press the button to get the alarm to stop. Gillian grabs a dishcloth and waves the smoke out the screen door while Bruce and Jude open every window that isn't already open.

Sadie is reaching up to turn on the fan when Jude grabs her hips and pulls her away.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"The baby," he says, turning the fan on himself. "Emmett should've done it."

Emmett scoffs and shakes his head but says nothing.

Ben gets the smoke alarm to stop shrieking, and everyone calms down, but their brand-new house still has a haze of smoke through it.

"I'm so sorry," I say past the lump in my throat.

"It's fine. The excitement." Gillian puts her arm around my shoulders.

"Yeah, ask Emmett about the time he almost burned down our entire house," Jude says.

"I still remember Dad running down in his underwear, swearing and yelling. He picked up Emmett and threw him out of the house." Ben laughs.

"I didn't want him to catch on fire." Bruce shakes his head.

"Sure. That's the reason." Jude and Ben laugh some more.

My gaze goes to Emmett, who isn't laughing. His hands are shoved into his pockets, and he's looking at the floor. The pit in my stomach grows uncomfortably bigger, and I hate that I feel sorry for him.

"You guys were the older brothers. He shouldn't have been cooking anyway," Sadie says.

The three of them banter, but Emmett says nothing.

"The poor guy was just trying to get some attention." Jude swings his arm around Emmett's neck and his knuckles go to his hair.

Emmett squirms out of his hold and pushes Jude away. "Fuck off."

"Want me to go out and get some bread?" I ask, looking for any reason to get out of this uncomfortable situation.

"No, no. We don't need the bread. Come on, guys. Let's eat." Gillian takes the plates over to their giant dining room table and sets them out.

Sadie follows her with the forks and knives.

"I was looking forward to this famous garlic bread." Emmett eyes me, obviously recovered from his brothers' razzing. "All the butter melting down my fingers, me licking it off."

He runs his fingers over his bottom lip, and he gets to me because my mind is now on his fingers. His hands are so big compared to mine, and his fingers are long and thick, and damn it, I wonder what they'd feel like inside me before he licked my juices off them.

"Is everything related to sex for you?" I grab the salad bowl and slide past him.

"I'm not the one who keeps bringing up sex. That's on you." He taps my nose with his finger, then winks again.

"You're so annoying." I turn away from him and take the salad to the table. I hate the fact I didn't have a better comeback. The fact that I'm homeless and just ruined my perfect sister's dinner has me frazzled, plus I'm starting a new job tomorrow.

"Come on. You can do better than that," he whispers in my ear and rounds the table.

I smack my neck where his warm breath hit me as though a mosquito just bit me, when in reality, goose bumps flutter across my flesh.

We all take our seats at the table. Emmett is directly across from me, and I have a feeling he picked that seat on purpose. Why does he get off on trading insults back and forth?

"When will you close?" Bruce asks Gillian once everyone has their lasagna and salads on their plates. No garlic bread, though, thanks to me.

"Brian said probably three weeks or less, since it's a cash offer." She blinks a few times as if she's still surprised.

"And what will you do now, Briar?" Bruce's question throws me.

"She can move in here," Gillian says. "You can have the bedroom next to Clayton's."

I glance at Ben, and he smiles at me, clearly not caring that I'll be imposing. But they've just gotten back together after years apart. They moved in here as a family. Gillian told me about Ben's proposal and how it was all about the three of them starting their new life here. I don't feel right pushing my way into the middle of that, especially with the state of my life.

"I'll just get an apartment." I pick up my water and gulp down a few swigs.

Money will be tight at first, but I'll pick myself up off the floor as I always do.

"Why would you do that? No way. You're staying here." Gillian's eyes dig into mine as if she's trying to see why I'd fight her on this.

Sure, staying at her old house while she was living here was easy and nice, but moving in with them is a whole different story.

"You're welcome here, Briar," Ben says.

I put my fork down and wipe my mouth with the cloth napkin. "Thank you, but I just…" Everyone's eyes are on me, and I shift in the wooden chair. "I'll be fine in an apartment."

"Not when we have all this room here." Bruce leans back in his seat, staring at me. "You're family. Don't waste money on an apartment."

"What about the girls' house?" Sadie says.

"That could work," Jude says and looks at me. "Our female cousins have their own house."

"But there's only four bedrooms," Bruce says, shaking his head.

"Really. I'll be fine," I say.

"You could move in with us," Sadie says, but Jude's side-eyes her.

"I'm sure she doesn't want to hear you banging all night." Emmett leans back with his beer in hand. He tilts his head with a smirk as if I owe him one for getting me out of that jam.

"Why don't you want to move in here?" Gillian asks with hurt in her voice.

"I know what we'll do," Bruce interrupts. Thank goodness. All the attention around the table shifts to Bruce, who bears a wide smile. "You'll move in with Emmett."

Oh no, he didn't. I must have heard him wrong. "I'm sorry?"

"Emmett. He's got that big house, and it's only him." Bruce looks around as though he's Newton and just discovered gravity.

"He doesn't even shit there," Ben says, and Gillian elbows him.

"Oh, I'm fine." I give Bruce a wan smile, not daring to look Emmett's way.

"You're practically brother and sister now," Jude says, laughing right after as though he's been waiting to get that out this whole dinner.

"Stop it, both of you," Bruce says with a stern voice. "You let us know when you need your stuff moved and Emmett will get you situated at his place." He picks up his fork and piles a heaping bite of lasagna into his mouth, not seeming to notice everyone trading glances over the table. "I'm glad that's settled."

They can't be serious. Surely they don't expect me to move in with Emmett. As if my life isn't upside down enough right now, it somehow got worse.