Epilogue #2
My oldest brother was so strict about some things, but he had a major soft spot for Banshee. Maybe because she was the only source of physical connection to him when he wasn’t up to touch with a person. And for years, he’d gone without any contact at all.
I was glad to see him holding hands with Shiloh, though. It must be a good day for him.
Axel opened the door ahead of me, and we walked into an empty kitchen. There was a completed salad on the kitchen counter, but no sign of our brother.
“Gray?” Axel called, venturing out to the living room.
He stopped short and snorted. “Holy shit.”
I looked around him and had to muffle a laugh. Gray was sacked out in a recliner, dead asleep and snoring softly.
Taz, the little Chihuahua who’d terrorized Gray for years, was curled up on his chest fast asleep too.
“Quick, get a picture,” Axel muttered. “We need evidence.”
I whipped out my phone and snapped a pic just as Gray opened his eyes.
“Wha—” He glanced down, jerked in surprise, and his eyes just about bugged out. “Taz…is…on me.” His gaze flicked to Axel, and he whispered like a man in a horror film, “Get him off me!”
I bent over laughing, and Tax opened his eyes and growled a little.
Gray went rigid with fear, and I laughed harder. He’d been so damn scared of this dog for so long, and now he looked as if he were on the verge of a heart attack.
“Relax,” Axel said, chortling. “He got up there because he trusts you now.”
“Well, I don’t trust him!” Gray hissed.
The door opened behind us, and Flynn called out, “Dinner’s ready! Guys?”
He came into the living room and spotted the tableau. My boyfriend was a better man than Axel or me. He immediately stepped forward and scooped up Taz. “Oh, who’s my pretty boy? Let’s leave Gray alone and get some dinner, huh?”
Taz’s tail thumped happily, and Gray exhaled noisily and dragged his hands over his face. “Thank fuck. Thought I was about to die. I bet that little demon could rip out my jugular.”
“You could try petting him,” I suggested as we made our way back to the door in the kitchen. “I think he’s over his trust issues. Now, you just gotta get over yours.”
Gray looked skeptical as he picked up the salad bowl. “Maybe I could start with dropping him a few bites of steak?”
“A solid plan,” Axel agreed, pausing by the fridge to pull out more beers. Flynn and I both took a couple off his hands. “Bribery is the best way to any dog’s heart.”
“Works on most men too,” I joked. “I give Flynn all my broccoli.”
“Only because you don’t like it,” he rumbled. “What about all my fries you steal when we go out?”
I shrugged. “Sharing fries is a rite of passage for any couple, right?”
“Seems legit,” Gray said with a quick grin. “And if he takes too many, you just give him a good spanking later. Right, brat?”
“Don’t tempt me with a good time.”
Flynn put down Taz at the open door, then reached back to cop a feel of my ass while my brothers went out the door. “You’re getting it now. Gonna redden this ass before I fuck it.”
I shuddered and sent him a dark look. “Do not make me hard during dinner, or you’ll be the one kneeling at my feet. Got it?”
He pulled his hand back. “Sorry, baby. I’ll save it for later.”
“Good plan.” I winked. “Unless you want to be naughty. That can always be arranged.”
He smirked. “Good to know.”
Everyone else sat at the picnic table when we got there, the steaks distributed to all the plates. Gray set the salad bowl in the center of the table with a pair of tongs in it.
Flynn, Axel, and I passed out beer bottles, then took our seats at the table to dig in. The steak was grilled a perfect medium because Dalton had the magic touch.
While we ate, we talked about our day. Inevitably, it included shop talk, but Axel also told us about a new tattoo he was scheduled to get, a set of cuffs with Dalton’s name and the words life sentence underneath.
Dalton leaned in to kiss him. “You’re such a sap for me, darlin’.”
“Guilty, Sheriff,” he said.
Holden and Shiloh exchanged a smile. Emory traced the outline of a tree on his forearm, two small figures playing beneath it, a remembrance for his brother, who’d died in childhood.
I had only one tattoo. Bro Code scripted inside an infinity symbol made of barbed wire. The pact my brothers and I had made to always be there for each other, to make our own family and remain loyal.
We’d had ups and downs like any family. We’d had arguments, kept secrets, and made mistakes.
But at the end of the day, we always ended up back here. Together.
Us and our loved ones.
Our family had grown from four lonely, lost boys trying to play pretend at being brothers, to eight men, all connected by something even stronger than blood or genetics.
I leaned in against Flynn, my heart full.
We had love.
Foster Bro Code is at an end, but it’s not the last you’ve seen of these guys or Riverton!