12. Will
CHAPTER TWELVE
Will
“No,” Lyla screeches when I slide the bookmark into the book we’ve been reading. “We have to read another chapter.”
“It’s late, kid. We already read four chapters.”
“But it’s my turn to read next. Don’t you want me to be a good reader?” she says with her most innocent smile.
Nice try, kid. I swear she’s going to be a lawyer when she grows up with her negotiating tactics.
“It’s bedtime,” I say firmly, trying to keep from smiling.
She flops back dramatically onto her pillow, and I have to fight an eye roll.
“I’m not going to be able to think about anything else until I know what happens,” she groans, pulling her blanket up over her.
“I guess you’ll have some good dreams trying to figure it out, then,” I say, leaning in to kiss her forehead. “Love you, kid.”
She sighs and nestles her cheek against her purple pillowcase. “Love you, too.”
“Sleep well,” I say before closing her door.
The house is surprisingly quiet for eight o’clock at night. Miles went out for a late run and hasn’t gotten back yet, and Owen disappeared into his room shortly after dinner.
I walk by the main bedroom with an ensuite bathroom that still sits untouched, even though we’ve lived in this house for over two years.
When we moved in, none of us could decide who would take it. It’s a five-bedroom house, so there were enough other rooms for all of us.
I grab some clean clothes from my dresser. As I’m turning to go take a shower, something bright red catches my eye out the window.
Avery is wearing a bright red oversized hoodie. She’s hauling one of the chairs from her kitchen to the grass behind the guesthouse.
With her feet pulled up to her chest, she starts to read her book. The position doesn’t look that comfortable to me, but she seems content. Her dark hair is pulled back in a braid with several pieces blowing around her face in the breeze.
Every once in a while, she looks up from the device in her hand to the fading colors that are dusted across the sky over the mountains.
I blink back to reality, realizing I’ve been standing here staring at her for who knows how long. Quickly grabbing my pile of clothes from the bed, I book it into the bathroom and start the shower.
The hot water does little to divert my thoughts from her. If anything, it heightens my awareness. The urge to stroke my now-hard cock to filthy thoughts of her is strong, but I can’t do that.
She’s twelve years younger than me, for crying out loud.
I let my forehead fall against the cool tile, letting out a resigned sigh. I’m not the only male member of this household who’s taken an interest in Avery. That’s become very apparent over the last week.
Owen wasn’t entirely upfront about what happened between them years ago, but it’s obvious whatever it was isn’t entirely left in the past.
He seems a little lighter since she’s been here, though. There have been little glimpses of the brother I haven’t seen since the day Liv took her last breath.
Maybe she’s reminding him of who he was back then. Maybe she’s giving him a safe space to be that person again. I don’t know for sure, but whatever it is, I’m not going to fight it.
Then, there’s Miles. That idiot doesn’t go five minutes without flirting or messing with her—and unlike most the women I’ve seen him with, she gives it right back.
The fact that Avery is leaving in a few months doesn’t seem to faze my youngest brother at all. I feel like they’re a train barreling toward a crash, but…
I turn off the water, grabbing a towel.
It seems inevitable at this point that something is going to happen between Avery and one of my younger brothers. Hell, maybe even both of them.
A rush of unwanted feelings surge through me, jealousy being the heavy hitter.
Not my monkeys. Not my circus.
I pause, staring at my reflection in the mirror above the sink.
But they kind of are my monkeys, and it is my circus.
Fuck my life.