Chapter 24
When you have five brothers, there is no such thing as quiet time.
Miles
I stride out of the water carrying my surfboard. I’ve been out here surfing for hours. Trying to find some peace and calm. Wondering how I could screw up so thoroughly with Hazel within a week of her giving me a second chance.
Should I walk away now? Let Hazel go find a man who isn’t a screw-up. A man who has more experience with relationships.
I don’t want to walk away. I know in my heart that Hazel is the one for me. I’ve always known it. From the first time she laughed at me in biology class freshman year.
But if I can’t make her happy, maybe I should let her go. I want to throw up at the thought. If Hazel isn’t in my life, I’ll have a big hole in my chest until my last moment on earth.
I start toward my shack. I need to put away my board and get showered before I go into the office.
I slow when I realize there are five men sitting on the sand in front of my shack. Damnit. I was hoping to avoid this. And by this, I mean my brothers being all up in my business.
I prop my board in the sand and sit down. “Let’s get this over with.”
“Over with?” Jaxon pushes his glasses up his face. “We’re here to offer our support. Not interrogate you.”
“Speak for yourself,” Kai mutters. “I’m here to give him a piece of my mind. My fiancé is pissed. She wants Hazel for a sister, but you screwed it all up.”
I scowl at him. “Hazel and I aren’t broken up.”
Zane raises his eyebrow. “You aren’t?”
“No. Two people can fight without breaking up. We’ll fix this.”
“Good.” Eli nods. “You’re maturing. This makes me feel better about including you on the trip to visit the Velvet Blossom headquarters. The restaurant chain is one of our biggest accounts.”
“And, congrats, on the extra-large purchase order from Hudson,” Rhett adds.
Despite how shitty I’m feeling, I can’t help but smile at the pride in Eli and Rhett’s voices. Those two gave up their teenage years to take care of us younger brothers. It feels good to make them proud.
“I should have visited Hudson earlier. We tweaked his bar menu. Now all of the popular cocktails include spirits from Buccaneer’s.”
Kai holds up his hand. “Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Is Miles seriously discussing work when he doesn’t have to? Jaxon, you’re closest. Check if he has a fever.”
Jaxon wrinkles his nose. “You do realize placing a hand over someone’s forehead is not an accurate means to check their temperature?”
“Hold on. I might have a thermometer with me.” Zane digs through his bag. “It’s probably a rectal one.”
Kai chuckles. “How do we decide who gets to stick it up Miles’s ass?”
I growl. “No one is sticking a thermometer up my ass.”
He motions to Jaxon. “But he said we needed a thermometer.”
“I did not…” Jaxon sighs. “Whatever. Can we get this meeting over with? Some of us have jobs to do.”
“Does it bother you how Jaxon thinks he’s busier than you?” I ask Eli. “You’re the CEO of the distillery and you’re also the CFO of Apparoo.”
Apparoo is the company Eli founded with his college roommate, Jeremy. Its success is why he’s a billionaire. And now the company is relocating to Smuggler’s Hideaway since Jeremy fell in love with the local bakery owner, Parker.
Eli smirks. “Your lame attempt to change the subject is what bothers me.”
I blow out a breath. “What’s the subject? How awesome I am at my job? I’m willing to spend some time discussing this.”
Zane’s jaw drops open. “Is Miles talking about working in an office? A place he professes to hate?”
I wag a finger at him. “You’re one to talk. Until baby Adele came into your life, you skipped out on work more often than I did.”
Zane was actually packing for a motorcycle trip through South America when Adele was dropped on his doorstep. Literally, a woman stopped by, said the baby was his, dropped her on his porch, and left.
He points to Kai. “He was just as bad about missing work.”
Kai waggles his eyebrows. “I needed the love of a good woman to settle me down.”
I snort. “And Harper won’t put up with your childish ways.”
“You say…”
I ignore him when I feel something scuttle up my leg. I jump to my feet and a sand crab falls out of my board shorts before scurrying away.
“Who put the animal up my leg?”
“Congrats, brother. Even the wildlife’s running from your love life.”
I dive at Kai, but before I can pummel him, Rhett pushes us apart.
“Epic prank!”
I glare at Kai. “Pranks aren’t supposed cause bodily harm.”
“Sand crabs don’t bite.”
I motion to the small, red bumps on my ankle. “It wasn’t a sand crab, you idiot. It was a sand flea.”
“Oops!”
I dive for Kai again but Rhett shoves me. “Knock it off. It’s not as if you’ve never pulled a prank that resulted in bodily harm before.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “Name one time.”
“When Ms. Milton broke her ankle.”
“It’s not my fault she ran away when the skeleton appeared.”
“When Weston crashed his car.”
“Again, not my fault. He thought he saw an animal in the road.”
“Because you planted a fake shark in the middle of the road.
I shrug. “He should be more careful.”
Rhett throws his arms in the air. “I can’t with you and the pranks.”
Jaxon stands and brushes the sand off his clothes. He’s wearing his standard uniform of jeans and a dorky t-shirt. This one says Never trust an atom. They make up everything.
“If we’re not discussing Miles’s problem, I’m returning to the distillery.”
Kai rubs his hands together. “Are you mixing flavors? Do you have samples?”
Zane shakes his head. “Once you get Harper pregnant, it’ll be the end of day drinking for you.”
“Goodbye.” Jaxon walks off but Eli calls him back. “Time to discuss Miles’s problem.”
“I don’t have a problem.”
Rhett smirks. “You arranged a job for Hazel.”
Zane chuckles. “Who’s even more stubborn than Sloane.”
“She got a job offer at a VA hospital. She was thinking about moving. I panicked.”
“And took things into your own hands without discussing it with her?” Eli asks.
“You make it sound bad.”
“Because it is. She thinks you’re trying to control her.”
I scowl. “I don’t want to control her. Her fire is one of the things I adore about her.”
I love how Hazel doesn’t take shit from me. She would never let me control her. Witness yesterday’s display of how she responds when she thinks I am controlling her. Not a pretty sight.
“You need to explain all of this to her before she leaves the island.”
Leaves the island? I clutch my chest as my heart rams against my ribcage. Is Hazel leaving already? Without saying goodbye?
“When is she leaving?” I ask Kai.
He shrugs. “No idea but Harper said she was selling her furniture.”
Selling her furniture? This is serious.
I set off for the parking lot.
“You left your board out!” Eli shouts after me.
“You have keys to the shack.”
All of my brothers have keys to the shack. Although, none of them surf. I should be so lucky. But they enjoy using the shower after a day on the beach. Or stealing my beer from the refrigerator on a hot summer’s day.
“Does this mean I have permission to raid your supply?” Kai yells.
I flick my hand. He can do whatever he wants. I don’t care about some chocolate bars and potato chips now. I have more important things to do.
As in stop the woman I love from leaving before we straighten things out. And, maybe, just maybe, stop her from leaving altogether. A man can hope.