All Consuming (Brotherhood by Fire #3) -Jaci Burton Page 0,29

into the picture.

“It must have been great to grow up with siblings.”

His lips curved. “Depends on the day. Most times we got along, especially when we lived on the street. Then we depended on one another for survival, especially me since I was the youngest. After we got adopted and we adapted to family life? It didn’t take long for the fights to start.”

“Real fights?”

“Nah. Just how boys squabble. It meant we had gotten comfortable. Mom said it meant we were happy. And that we should knock it off before we ended up stuck in our room staring at the four walls.”

She laughed. “I can imagine that probably happened a time or two.”

“Damn straight it did. We were all hardheaded boys. And she was right—we were happy for the first time in our lives. Once we adjusted, we started knocking one another around like real siblings. And then Mom or Dad would step in and we knew we were in deep shit. We’d get sent to our room and have nothing to do but stare at one another. It wouldn’t take much time before we were all laughing and hanging out together again.”

She could feel the love that Kal had for Jackson and Rafe. She’d seen that herself when they had been dating. Kal had been close with his brothers even then. She could only imagine that bond had deepened over the years.

Their pizzas arrived, so Hannah gathered up the kids, who scrambled to the table like voracious velociraptors.

“I’m so hungry,” Oliver said.

“I’m hungrier than you are,” Jeff replied.

“Nuh-uh.”

Hannah looked over at Kal, who said, “I’m bigger and hungrier than both of you. And I’m gonna eat all the pizzas.”

Oliver gaped at Kal. “You could eat two pizzas?”

“Easy.”

“I wanna see you do that,” Jeff said.

“Not me,” Oliver said. “I’m too hungry.”

“Okay, fine.” Kal slid slices of pizza onto the plates. “Since you’re too hungry, I’ll share. This time.”

Oliver giggled, and it made Hannah’s heart squeeze. She had no idea why that moment hit her, and she didn’t want to analyze it.

After all, it was just pizza.

Kal handed her a plate. The pizza smelled delicious, and her stomach grumbled at her to get eating, so she dived in, watching happily as Oliver and Jeff stuffed their faces.

“What’s your favorite topping?” Kal asked the boys.

“Pepperoni,” Jeff said.

“Mine, too,” Oliver said. “And hamburger. And cheese. And mushrooms.”

“What?” Kal gave him a surprised look. “You like mushrooms? What else?”

Oliver lifted his gaze to the ceiling, something he always did when he was thinking hard.

“Um . . . broccoli.”

“No way. I like broccoli, too. But not on my pizza. How about onions?”

Oliver shrugged. “Sure.”

“Ew,” Jeff said, making a face. “Gross.”

“No, they’re good,” Oliver said.

“So you’d eat an everything pizza,” Kal said.

Oliver chewed and swallowed and nodded. “I guess. But no fishy things.”

“Yeah,” Kal said. “No fishy things. I’m with you on that one, buddy. But everything else.”

Oliver stared down at his slice. “Okay. Next time we’ll have an everything else pizza.”

Hannah was surprised at how easily Oliver said “next time,” as if Kal had already been accepted.

Kids. They made friends so easily, and obviously Kal was a friend now. Then again, if he’d been a jerk and had ignored him, Oliver wouldn’t have been so eager to invite Kal to a “next time” for pizza.

They finished eating, and their server cleared the table.

“Now,” Kal said, “let’s go play some games.”

Hannah went with them, laughing as she watched Kal play Skee-Ball with the boys, followed by pinball and a driving game. Hannah estimated he let them win at least half the games, which she appreciated.

Soon, Oliver had grabbed Kal’s hand and dragged him from game to game, and at no time did Kal say he was too tired or didn’t want to play. But Kal did pull Hannah into a few of the games, making sure she had some time to play with her son as well. She had to admit, she had a good time, even though she lost on several occasions.

They made it to the movie with plenty of time to get popcorn and soda. Kal sat on her left, and Oliver and Jeff on her right. The movie was cute, and the boys behaved themselves—all three of them. Kal didn’t even try to hold her hand, obviously respecting that they were there with her child.

On the way home, Kal and the boys discussed their favorite games at the pizza place, along with their favorite parts of the movie. Oliver had always been a