Can't Fight It - Kaylee Ryan Page 0,74

down on my shoulder and grins.

Together the three of us head toward the room where I hold my classes. Harrison thought it would be a good idea to have all the staff trained in the basics of self-defense. You can never be too careful. So, we chose today as a mandatory training day. Chase volunteered to help out, and since Harrison is following us to the room, it looks like he is going to help as well. Good. The sooner we finish this class, the sooner we can get home to our families.

Damn, do I love the sound of that.

Chapter 14

Hollis

This is what I’ve been missing.

It was me, my mom, and sometimes my grandma for the longest time. Small gatherings, intimate meals, no big celebrations, even though we always celebrated our accomplishments. But I’ve never had this. I’ve missed the big, boisterous family that’s too loud and too nosey, but that’s what I’m dealing with as I sit around the Callahans’ dining room table and listen to them share stories of when Chase and Colton were younger.

“Of course it was about a girl!” Chase hollers. “He knew she liked me!”

“She thought you were cute, like a puppy. Ellie Jacobs was interested in a man, not a boy,” Colton boasts proudly, rubbing his chest.

“Man? You were sixteen. The other one hadn’t even dropped yet,” Chase argues, making everyone laugh.

Colton leans back, his arm extended over the backrest of my chair. His thumb lazily draws circles below my shoulder blade, spreading awareness through my blood. Although, I’m always aware of Colton. “But you were fourteen. What were you going to do, give her a ride on the handlebars of your bike?” he teases.

“You’re a dick,” Chase mumbles, taking a drink of his iced tea, and again, drawing laughter from everyone at the table.

“You boys were always fighting over girls back then,” Connie says, shaking her head.

“It’s not my fault they all wanted the younger Callahan,” Chase tells his mom.

“They wanted you like they wanted a rash,” Colton mumbles.

“Speaking of rashes,” Harrison says, glancing over at Colton with an evil gleam in his eyes.

“Uh, no. We’re not going there,” Colton states, drawing a line on the table.

Harrison and Chase burst out laughing. “How did you get the chickenpox again?” Harrison asks, ignoring that invisible line Colton just laid down.

“Fuck you,” he whispers, making everyone giggle.

“I don’t think I’ve heard this one,” Gabby says, her hand rubbing circles on her belly.

“And you’re not going to,” Colton replies, turning and looking at me. “You ready to go?”

I glance over at his younger brother and have to admit, I’m really curious. “Actually…”

Chase and Harrison laugh, while Colton just closes his eyes and groans. “I’m not getting out of this, am I?”

“Nope. Just tell the story, big brother. Tell your girlfriend all about how you got chickenpox in high school.”

“What was her name again? Cori? Candy? Clarissa?” Harrison asks.

Colton is silent for a second before he confirms, “Calena.”

“Ahh, yes, that’s it. Calena,” Harrison says, proudly bouncing his daughter on his knee.

“Calena gave my brother the chickenpox,” Chase tells me, a wide smile on his face. “Tell her where, Colt.”

“Yeah, Colt, tell her where,” Harrison chimes in as if they’re a comedic duo telling a big joke.

“Mom doesn’t want to hear this,” Colton insists.

Connie laughs. “Mom’s already figured this out, Colton.”

Colton’s dad, Wes, sets his tea glass down and adds, “Besides, it wasn’t that hard to figure out. I mean, you had chickenpox on your peter….”

I gasp and glance at a mortified Colton. “Seriously?”

Gabby giggles. “She gave you chickenpox down under?”

Colton holds up his hands. “I can’t believe we’re talking about this at the dinner table. And in front of my son,” he argues, glancing over at Milo, who’s sitting in the high chair, happily gnawing on a cold teether.

“Leave him out of it,” Chase contends, “and just tell your girlfriend about your itchy peter.”

“You have to tell the story now, Colt. These two will never let it go. Or worse, they’ll tell the story how they want to,” Gwen says, a knowing grin on her face. She knows her husband and his best friend well. Even I know they’ll tell the story with tons of embellishments, all not very flattering to Colton. That’s what little brothers do, right?

“Fine,” he grumbles, looking down at his empty glass—anywhere but at us around the table. “I was seventeen and dating a girl name Calena. She didn’t know yet she had chickenpox,” he says, glancing my way.

“And I take it, she