All Consuming (Brotherhood by Fire #3) -Jaci Burton Page 0,56
asked.
“In my defense, it was a long shift the day before and I hadn’t gotten any sleep. I was really tired.”
“He has been known to be talking one minute, asleep the next,” Kal said.
“I’ve never known anyone who could fall asleep mid-sentence,” Hannah said.
Becks held her hands out toward Jackson. “And now you do.”
“Whereas my brother here will just disappear in the middle of a party and go to bed.” Jackson shot a wry grin at Kal.
“Not true. I threw up first. Then I went to bed. That was one wild party.”
“You were the first to leave.”
“You kept feeding me shots of Fireball followed by tequila shooters.”
Hannah looked over at Becks, who shrugged. “Clearly before my time. And mixing those two sounds awful.”
“It was,” Kal said. “Group of firefighters went out one night, and we all decided to do shots.”
“Only the rest of us were smart enough not to mix our alcohol.”
Kal glared at Jackson. “Hey. I was the youngest in the group.”
“And the dumbest,” Jackson added. “When we came back to our house, we kept drinking. Only the rest of us switched to beer. Not my brother, though.”
Kal shrugged. “I was wasted by then. What did I know?”
Hannah grasped his arm. “Fireball and tequila, Kal?”
“Let’s just say it was a painful lesson learned, and one I never repeated.”
Hannah’s stomach rolled just thinking about it.
“I only overindulged once,” Becks said. “Up all night sick was enough for me. I’ve never done it again.”
“Same,” Hannah said. “There’s nothing like waking up in the morning, sick and still drunk, to cure you of ever wanting to do it again.”
Becks’s eyes widened and she nodded. “Right? It’s such an awful feeling.”
Suddenly, Hannah wasn’t in the mood to drink wine any longer. Maybe it was the memory of overindulging, or maybe the way the weather had warmed up today. Either way, she finished her glass, then went to get herself some water, along with some for Oliver and Jeff.
When the boys finished playing, they headed over to the pumpkin patch, wandered around in there, then each boy chose a pumpkin to take home.
“Do you want to come over for dinner?” Becks asked. “I think we’re going to toss some skewers of chicken on the grill, along with some veggies.”
That did sound good. “I have to take Oliver and Jeff home, and I’m not sure if my mom is back yet. Let me check with her.”
“Sure.”
She texted her mother, who was home and fixing dinner. Hannah asked if it would be all right if she dropped Oliver with her and went out for dinner. Her mother said it was fine with her.
“What would you like us to pick up?” Hannah asked as they made their way to the parking lot.
“I think we have everything we need at the house already, Hannah, but thanks.”
Hannah thought this would just be a one-off at the festival with the kids, but now her day with Kal was going to go longer.
She had to admit, she was excited about that, because now she’d get some more time with him.
Alone. Without kids. And that sounded fun.
CHAPTER 18
THEY SAID THEIR GOODBYES, AND KAL DROVE HANNAH and the boys home. She thought maybe Oliver would be upset about not being able to go with her to Kal’s house, but he said goodbye to Jeff outside, then dashed into the house with his pumpkin and started talking all about his day to Hannah’s mom.
“When can we decorate the pumpkin, Momma?” Oliver asked.
“We’ll do that tomorrow after school. Right now you need to go wash your hands because they’re filthy.”
“I got dirty today, Grandma,” he said with a wide grin.
“You definitely did.”
“We’ll be leaving, but I’ll be back later,” Hannah said.
Oliver waved as he headed down the hall. “Bye, Momma. Bye, Kal. Today was so much fun! Thanks!”
“See ya, buddy,” Kal said.
Her mother looked at her and Kal. “Seems like he had a good time.”
“He did. Are you sure you don’t mind watching him?”
“He lives here, Hannah, so get over it and quit worrying about asking me to watch him. He’s my grandson. I love every minute I spend with him.”
“Okay. Thanks, Mom.” She started to turn away, then stopped. “Oh. How was brunch today?”
Her mother gave her a half smile. “Brunch was very good.”
Hannah waited for more details, but it was obvious her mom wasn’t going to divulge information about the mystery man.
So disappointing. “You’re not going to tell me anything?”
“Nothing to tell . . . yet. It was nice. Now go have dinner