Chapter 2
Callum
“Seriously, is there a reason we’re at your house and not the Summit Grill?” Teagan asked as she leaned against my kitchen island.
I rolled my eyes at my younger sister but couldn’t help the twitch of my lips.
“Just because you have a crush on Rune doesn’t mean we should be spending all our time at his place.
” Beer sprayed over the edge of the counter, and I glared.
“Seriously? You’re an adult. In your thirties. Clean up after yourself.”
My sister snarled. “Fuck you, I’m thirty. And what the hell? I do not have a crush on Rune.”
“Wait, who has a crush on Rune?” Finnian asked as he strolled into the kitchen, his twin Sterling at his side.
“Teagan,” I said as if it were true. It wasn’t, but I enjoyed fucking with my sister. If I could continue to keep the light on a fake crush when it came to my sister and my best friend, I could ignore the actual feelings going on deep inside me.
Very deep. So deep, I was going to suppress them slightly more so I wouldn’t have to think about them again.
See? Perfection. I wasn’t thinking about Rune’s little sister’s curvy body and the fact that she could fit against me perfectly. And the way that she giggled and pressed her finger to my chest, batting her eyelashes.
That was little Felicity Carter. Yes, she was twenty-one now. Yes, the last time I had really hung out with her at any point, we had both been children, but I was still too damn old for her.
I’d lived lifetimes since then, and I was an old bastard for even thinking about her that way.
It hadn’t stopped me from fucking my soaked-up fist in the shower after I had come home from the bar that night, but that was my own problem. I was going to hell, but at least I could get myself off before I got there.
“Excuse me,” Teagan said, snapping her fingers in front of me. “Listen to me.”
“What?” I snapped. My lips still twitched, however, thinking of Rune and Teagan and the fact that there would be zero chance of anything happening between them.
“I do not have a crush on Rune. And if you tell him I do, and he tries to give me a wedgie again like we’re kids, I’m going to kick your ass. You may be the Ashford Creek NFL legend, but I can still kick your ass.”
My younger brothers just laughed, Finnian full-out body quaking, as Sterling just shook his head, his rough chuckle filling the kitchen.
Bodhi finally walked in at that moment, looked at the group of us, and sighed before going to the fridge and pulling out a beer. “Do I want to know?”
“Callum has something up his ass and is fucking with Teagan by saying she wants Rune,” Sterling explained.
“What’s new?” Bodhi growled before he leaned against the counter. He folded his arms over his chest and glared.
It was a nice glare compared to his normal death one, so I figured he was in a better mood than usual. The fact that he’d even shown up to family dinner was proof that maybe he wasn’t such a badger afraid to leave is den.
Although maybe I was just like him.
No, I wasn’t. I was worse. I was like the other one. The other man that I saw whenever I looked down at my hands. Because they weren’t my hands. They were my father’s hands.
And maybe that was enough beer for me. Even though it was damn good beer.
“I’m just fucking with you,” I said after a moment, having ignored the way that my siblings—minus Bodhi—snapped at each other good-naturedly.
Teagan tilted her head as she studied my face as if trying to figure out why I kept fucking with her. I probably should be more careful since she always saw far too much. “I feel like I need to punch Rune in the stomach just in case.”
I rolled my eyes. “Maybe. But I do know that you could take Rune.”
“Damn straight.” Teagan beamed. “And with the way that Briar is being all mama bear, our baby sister could probably take him too.”
That made me grin as the others tried to decide who could kick Rune’s ass. To be honest, none of us could. Well, maybe a few friends who were out of town and still playing in their professional sports. I was long since retired and couldn’t take a beating like I used to.
Which was why it was probably a good thing that I was staying away from Felicity.
Because Rune could kick my ass. He ran the bar and grill in town, the only place that stayed open until two o’clock these days.
Every once in a while, another bar would open, but it wouldn’t last long against Rune’s clientele.
Because it wasn’t as if he let any shadowy figures walk through the doors. No, he took care of his people, and that was why he was my best friend. But that also meant that Rune had to kick out anybody who fucked with him. Hence, the guy who probably had to walk sideways through the doorway.
“How is Briar? All she does is text me back. Somebody’s too busy to answer an actual phone call,” Finnian said as he grinned.
“Well, it’s because you keep bothering her.” Sterling stole a chip from the bowl in front of him, and I pushed it toward him.
“Everybody start helping with dinner. We’re having fajitas, and I’ve sliced most of the veggies. Bodhi, you want to go check the grill?”
“On it.” He looked over his shoulder before he walked out to the deck. “And I talked with Briar this morning. She, the husband, and the most precious baby girl out there are staying in Texas for a bit. We’ll get her to family dinner soon.”
I met Teagan’s gaze, and she was the one who shook her head.
“No, we’ll go down there. It would be easier than her coming up to Ashford Creek.”
Bodhi nodded tightly, a knowing look on his face. Because Bodhi wouldn’t be leaving town. He either came to my place or hid up in his cabin in the woods. There were good reasons for that, and frankly, I didn’t blame him.
But Briar wouldn’t be coming up to Ashford Creek anytime soon if she was staying and being super careful.
She was not only a Grammy Award-winning songwriter; she was married to one of the hottest rock stars on the planet at the moment.
They were new parents, newlyweds, and out on a world tour.
They didn’t need to come back to a town full of shadows and secrets.
Secrets I was going to fucking uncover if it was the last thing I did.
Though the rest of my family didn’t need to know that.
However, as soon as Briar stepped foot into Ashford Creek, not only would the town jump on her, wanting to know more about her life, about why she had run away from town, but the one person that I continually tried to protect her from would show up.
And I’d be damned if that man ruined anything else in our lives.
“Are the kids with Promise?” Sterling asked, taking a sip of his beer.
Finnian nodded. “It’s her night,” he answered, speaking of his ex-girlfriend.
Finnian and Promise had been high school sweethearts and ended up with twin daughters. They weren’t together anymore and were figuring out co-parenting better than I thought they could.
I wasn’t sure how they had ended up being nearly best friends out of it all, but maybe when you loved somebody, that’s what you did. You found out that maybe you didn’t love somebody the right way, and you wanted to protect your kids.
Both Promise and Finnian were finishing their college degrees, parenting the twins, and each living with family. Promise with her parents, and Finnian with me for now. There was no way that we’d ever let the twins near their grandfather. I suppressed a shudder at that.
No, the world would do better if Matthew Ashford never stepped foot in Ashford Creek or in this world again. But he was the town drunk for a reason. And he would find a way to embarrass us all at any moment now.
No wonder Briar never wanted to come back.
Finnian pulled out his phone and, instead of helping cook, showed off the latest pictures he’d taken of the girls.
I rolled my eyes and went back to chopping, knowing that I was damn lucky to have all of my kids under my roof.
I might be their eldest brother, but I pretty much raised the twins and Briar. It wasn’t as if my father was doing it.
After Mom had died, leaving seven kids behind, Teagan had stepped in, taking over that mothering role even though she had been far too young.
It had killed me trying to help out, knowing that Teagan was putting her own feelings and future aside to make sure that the youngest could survive.
I had put all of my effort into not only helping the younger kids but getting that scholarship.
And when I’d gotten into college on a full-ride and ended up in the NFL—albeit a late-round draft pick, I had made enough money to buy the house we stood in, start my own business, and ensure that the rest of the family never had to go into debt to pay for school and could get out of Matthew Ashford’s home.
“You know, I think this is the best IPA you’ve made,” Sterling said, and I nodded tightly.
“I’m just glad that you’re old enough to drink it now,” I said dryly.
“I prefer the Pilsner.” Teagan shrugged. “I’m not an IPA person, sorry. I don’t like to chew my beer.”
“Please do not get her started on IPAs,” Finnian said with a dramatic sigh. “Do you know what your yearly special is going to be yet?”
I did, but I wasn’t about to tell them. They wouldn’t mean to, but they would tell one person, and then they would tell another, and suddenly Ashford Brews would make not only the local paper but the next town over, and my secrets would be out.
We were a decent business for the town, and my two years in the NFL had made sure that I at least had an entryway into this random life of mine. Maybe if I hadn’t gotten hurt, things would’ve been different, but I was home, making this work.
I might surround myself with shadows and secrets in Ashford Creek, but I knew I was running away from them too.
For a damn reason.
But it wasn’t as if I was going to let my family deal with those problems. They dealt with enough as it was.
“Here, I’ll finish up the guacamole,” Teagan said as she rubbed her shoulder against my upper arm.