Chapter 28
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
After Daisy’s party, Xander had to hit the gym extra hard.
Aside from the burgers and cake and ice cream, outside movie night had included a copious amount of junk food.
Popcorn, M&M’s, Junior Mints, Whoppers .
. . Hell, he may have even eaten his body weight in some caramel-chocolate-peanut-butter concoction.
He didn’t have a lot of experience with children’s birthday parties—Daisy was their group’s first kid—but it had been a lot of fun.
The way Freya had fit so seamlessly in amongst his friends, Daisy’s excitement about visiting the sloth sanctuary .
. . It had been great. He grinned as he recalled rubbing his number-one status in his buddies’ faces.
Immature? Absolutely. Did he care? Nope.
“What are you smiling about?” Freya asked from the passenger seat.
He glanced at her, and his smile grew. Damn, she was beautiful. “Just thinking about Daisy’s party. It was fun.”
“Uh, yeah. When you’d mentioned an outdoor movie night, I hadn’t expected a twinkle-light canopy with heaters. The twins would love something like that. Just maybe . . . a little less fancy.”
“In fairness to Alvarez and Scar, that wasn’t their idea. They’d planned on watching a movie in the living room, but Esme got wind of it and . . .” He shrugged. “Her title is director of logistics.”
“Well, if she ever gets tired of working for Hudson Security, she’d make a killing at party planning.” After a moment, Freya’s brow furrowed. “Those clouds are pretty ominous looking.”
Glancing at the sky, he frowned. The forecasters had predicted another snowstorm, and for once, they may be right.
The days following Daisy’s party were more of the same. He drove Freya to work each morning, and since he didn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone at his place in the mornings even though he knew it was secure, he’d moved his gym time to his lunch hour.
Work was still busy. They had a number of assignments coming up, and their teams were going to be stretched thin. But on a positive note, he and Gavin had made formal employment offers to the two final candidates they’d interviewed.
Nothing more threatening had happened to Freya. His frustration was building, and he still had that gut feeling that something was off. That whoever was behind the photos wasn’t done. He wasn’t the only one either. Wilson and Tash were both antsy about it, as well.
It didn’t ease his worry, but it reassured him that he wasn’t being overly paranoid.
The highlight of each day was Freya. He looked forward to picking her up from work so they could spend their evenings together.
Whether it was dinner at home or getting together with her work friends or his, he simply enjoyed every minute with her.
But his favorite part was holding her, kissing her, filling her, falling asleep and waking up with her in his arms.
He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment it had happened, but sometime over the last few weeks, he’d fallen hard. The woman was his everything.
Now, as he stared at the dark clouds through his windshield, he winced.
They were on hour four of what was supposed to have been a two-hour trip.
But a delayed ferry, plus several car accidents on I-5, along with Thanksgiving-morning traffic, had them rolling into Blanchard Bay later than planned.
Food was being served at noon, and thankfully, they’d left Hudson Island extra early, so they were still on track.
However, they were still about half an hour out, and the last thing they needed was for the sky to start dumping snow on them.
Freya had been fielding numerous texts from her brothers, reassuring them that she’d remembered to bring both the mac and cheese and three Thanksgiving pies.
As they entered Blanchard Bay’s city limits, he said, “Run everyone’s names by me again.”
“Axel’s the oldest. He can be kind of an ass, though I’ve been told he means well.
He’s a detective with the Blanchard Bay PD.
He’s a single dad, and his twin daughters—Andie and Josie—are five, in kindergarten, and are freaking adorable.
Then there’s the twins, Oscar and Jasper.
Oscar’s super tidy and regimented, while Jasper’s basically a slob.
But they’re both really nice and surprisingly work well together. ”
“They run the construction company your dad started, right?”
“Correct. They’ve done well for themselves.
Then there’s Finn, the youngest.” Xander glanced over at Freya just as her nose scrunched.
“He’s going through his man-whore phase right now, but he’s a good guy.
Of all my brothers, he’s probably the funniest and most laid-back of the bunch. Oh, you’ll take a right at the light.”
He followed Freya’s directions the rest of the way, listening to her commentary—her high school, the elementary school her nieces attended, the pizza joint Finn got banned from.
Finally, they pulled into the driveway of a large, two-story craftsman with a wraparound porch.
All the spaces in front of the three-car garage were full, so he pulled his SUV in behind a Chevy Tahoe and cut the engine.
“Ready?” he asked.
She let out a breath but kept staring straight ahead, her hands twisting in her lap.
“Baby,” he murmured, taking her hands in his. “No need to be nervous. It’ll be fun.”
She glanced at him, and the worry in her eyes had his chest squeezing. “What if they’re jerks to you? I don’t want any of them giving you a hard time. They’ll try to interrogate you and—”
“Freya, baby, relax.” He brought her hands up and kissed her knuckles.
“They can ask me whatever they want. Whether I answer will depend on their question. It’ll be fine.
I promise.” His eyes darted to the house, and he grinned.
“Now, unless I’m mistaken, there are two little faces pressed against the window waiting for you. ”
Seeing her nieces, she smiled and squeezed his hands. “If any of my brothers give you a hard time or are rude in any way, you let me know. It’s Thanksgiving, and if they do anything, I’ll pull them aside and kick their asses.”
His heart warmed. If he wasn’t already in love with her, that ferocity would have done him in. He snaked a hand into her hair and pulled her in for a quick kiss. “You’re super hot when you’re feisty, you know that?”
She grinned against his lips. “Don’t distract me. I need to get my little-sister glare going.”
He dropped another quick kiss on her lips. “Sorry, I promise to not get in the way of your sibling glare.”
They got out of the car, and he stretched his back. The body wasn’t meant to sit for four and a half hours straight. He handed her the gift bags for her nieces, grabbed all their bags of food, and followed her up the porch steps to the front door. It swung open as they approached.
“Auntie Freya!” The girls swarmed her with squeals of excitement.
He hung back as each of her brothers hovered in the entryway, waiting for their turns to hug her.
Xander’s eyes widened in surprise. Her brothers weren’t what he’d imagined.
Freya was a petite little thing, and he imagined her brothers would follow suit.
He hadn’t expected them all to be nearly as tall as him.
They were all fit and had varying shades of dark hair, and they all had the same ice-blue eyes like Freya, leaving no doubt they were related.
After her last brother hugged her, she turned to him.
“You guys, this is my boyfriend, Xander.” He loved the way the pink in her cheeks deepened.
“These two beauties,” she said as her nieces attached themselves to her sides, “are Andie and Josie.” Then she pointed at each of her brothers and introduced them.
For a moment, they all stared at him with varying degrees of wariness before Jasper cleared his throat and stepped forward, reaching for some of the bags. “Here, let me help you with those.”
Xander gave the man one of the pie bags, and the group moved into the large open kitchen. Axel veered off and went out the back sliding door toward a large black smoker.
Placing the remaining bags on the island, he gestured to the deck. “Smoked turkey? Nice.”
“Nah,” Oscar said, pulling out the pies and placing them on the side counter. “None of us really like turkey—”
“More like none of us can cook one to save our lives,” Jasper interrupted.
Oscar shrugged. “Fair. So instead of turkey, we do baby back ribs.”
“Sorry.” Freya grimaced as she moved to stand beside him. “I think I may have forgotten to mention we don’t do a traditional Thanksgiving. I hope that’s okay. I mean, we still have all the traditional . . . well, mostly traditional sides.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and dropped a kiss to the top of her hair. “Uh, ribs and pie? You won’t hear me complaining, baby.”
Finn gagged. “Today’s about food and ribs. No PDA. And for the love of God, please don’t call her baby or anything like that within earshot.” He made another gagging sound before winking at his sister.
“You’re an idiot,” she grumbled, but Xander heard the humor in her tone.
“If anything, it’s payback,” Jasper said, slapping Finn on the shoulder. “How many times have we been out to the bars while you suck face with some random chick.”
“At least he just kissed her head,” Oscar said and then met his gaze. “But please keep it to the top of her head. She’s still our baby sister, and that’s just . . . gross.”
Xander held up his hands in innocence.
“Knock it off, you guys,” she murmured, leaning into his side.
The sliding door opened, and Axel peeked in. “Ribs are coming off. Jas, grab me that sheet pan.”
As Jasper did his brother’s bidding, Oscar checked the dishes warming in the oven. Finn stepped into the hallway and shouted up the stairs, “Girls! Food will be ready soon. Wash up.”
“Auntie Freya, we need you!” a muffled voice called out.
“Josie, you’re gonna spill the makeup!” another little voice cried out.
“That sounds like my cue.” Freya chuckled, making her way to the stairs. She glanced over her shoulder. “Ax is letting them play with makeup?”
Finn snorted. “That’d be a big fat no. And probably one of the reasons the girls no longer have a nanny.”
“Yikes,” Freya said with a wince before heading up the stairs and calling out, “What trouble are you girls getting into up here?”
“Holy shit,” Oscar said, placing trivets and hot pads on the island. “For once, we may get all the food out at once.”
“Don’t fucking jinx it, dude,” Finn mumbled, pulling open the sliding door for his brothers.
The smoky, sweet aroma of the ribs had Xander’s mouth watering.
“Ax can’t cook a turkey for shit,” Jasper said, grabbing the foil and handing it to his brother. “But he’s a damn magician with ribs.”
“It smells great,” Xander said. From the glare Axel was sending his way, he wouldn’t be surprised if the guy had poisoned his portion.
Finn grabbed two beers from the fridge and handed one to Xander. “So how long have you been seeing Frey?”
“Thanks.” He twisted the cap off his beer. “For a few weeks.”
“Funny,” Axel said, putting some foil over the ribs to let them rest. “She’s never mentioned you.”
He shrugged, taking a pull of his beer. “Doesn’t negate the fact that she and I are together.” Probably wouldn’t be the best time to mention she’d been living with him for the last two weeks, but holy shit, did he want to.
Axel shot a glare his way, but he was going to give the guy some leeway. Freya was his little sister, after all. “And what is it you do for a living, Xander?”
“I work in security.”
“Like a rent-a-cop? That’s nice.” The smirk that crossed Axel’s face had Xander’s fingers twitching. Leeway or not, the guy was a dick.
“Christ, Ax,” Oscar muttered as he placed serving utensils beside the trivets. “Give it a fucking rest.”
“What? She’s our sister. This guy—who we know nothing about—shows up for Thanksgiving, and what? We’re just supposed to be all fucking good with that?”
Holy shit, this guy. “Again, it doesn’t matter if you’re good with it or not. Frey and I are together.”
“So what was it? You met my sister—a young, impressionable girl—and turned on the charm? You got her to be your little fuck buddy and inserted yourself in her life?”
His hackles rose, and he stepped toward Axel. “Let me be perfectly clear. I don’t care who you are. Brother or not, you talk about Freya like that again, I will lay you the fuck out.”
“Holy shit, ease up, Ax,” Oscar grumbled, forcibly inserting himself between them. “In case you forgot, Frey’s nearly thirty. She’s not a girl. She’s an actual adult with a job that pays her bills and shit.”
Axel scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, but you know her. She flits from job to job and—”
“Say one more fucking word about her,” Xander growled, moving toward the fucker until both Oscar and Jasper stepped in front of him.
“Shut the fuck up, Ax,” Jasper seethed before turning to Xander. “We know Freya’s got a good job.” He shot a glare at his older brother. “He’s just stupid and can’t see her as anything but a broken sixteen-year-old. He’s just pissed that she doesn’t tell him jack shit.”
“And why the hell do you think she doesn’t tell you anything?” Finn asked, sending his own glare to Axel. “Because you’re an asshole. You stop being an asshole, then maybe she’ll actually talk to you.”
“Fuck you,” Axel grumbled, but the heat in his words was gone.
As he scrubbed his hands over his face, Xander saw regret cross his face. But fuck him for talking about Freya that way.
“How’d this get so fucked up?” Axel sighed.
“Because you’re an asshole,” the brothers replied in unison with varying degrees of frustration. They sure as hell weren’t wrong, and it was obvious this wasn’t their first rodeo with their oldest brother.
There was a pounding noise that sounded like a herd of elephants racing down the stairs. “Ready or not,” Freya called out from the top of the steps, “here they come!”
Despite the tension, Xander couldn’t help but smile as the little girls stormed into the kitchen—sparkles and glitter and poofy dresses twirling. How such an asshole could have such darling daughters was beyond him.
“Happy Thanksgiving!” they shouted, tossing orange and yellow confetti into the air.
Happy Thanksgiving, indeed. Weren’t arguments and fights part of everyone’s Thanksgiving family traditions?