The Brothers Rule - Carolyn Faulkner Page 0,37

in on, surprising them all. And she did really well, although she couldn't hope to have kept up with them.

She'd gotten up to use the facilities—her room had an en suite, which she loved because she didn't fancy sharing with any of them—and when she returned, Jace was just coming back to the table, too.

Christina Perri's, A Thousand Years, began to play, and he took her hand, pulling her into a slow dance with him to the romantic song.

But the other two noticed what he was doing, and they weren't about to let him get the upper hand with her. So, Ryan got up part of the way through the song and cut in.

Jace looked as if he was going to object, but Laurie settled the matter by moving from his into Ryan's waiting arms.

Jace returned to the table, not looking any too happy.

But then Adam interrupted Ryan, and again, it was Laurie who settled things before they became a problem, leaving him to dance with Adam. She had settled into all of their arms comfortably, snuggling up to them and thoroughly enjoying being held by all of them.

But when the song was over and he would have guided her back to the table, she horrified them by beginning to sob, putting her hands over her face and crying even harder.

"I can't decide. I just can't."

Adam was right there, reaching out to her, but she pulled away, moving away from the others, too, when they rose to come see to her.

"I can't do this," she whimpered then ran down the hallway to her room.

Jace took a step toward the hall, himself, but his brothers each grabbed an arm.

"I think it might be best to leave her alone, big bro. We'll see if we can get her to talk to us tomorrow, when she's a little more clearheaded."

He looked as if he might try to ignore their advice, and both brothers braced themselves for a fight to keep him away from her, if necessary.

But he eventually stood down, saying, "I'm going to turn in."

The night broke up after that—much earlier than usual—and after the rest of them had cleaned up, they sought the comfort of their own beds, Adam and Ryan wondering if she'd end up leaving them tomorrow, or if one of the three of them would end up being the happiest man on Earth.

Chapter 6

Laurie surprised them the next morning. The family tried to eat breakfast together on the weekends—at least on Sundays—but this was Saturday. The two younger guys had things to do, so they were already gone when she got up and wandered into the kitchen to make herself an egg for breakfast.

She noted that the rest of them were home, and they hadn't rushed to her as they might have but were giving her some space, which she appreciated.

While her egg was cooking, she stood in the family room and asked, "Do you all have a moment to talk this morning?"

They all agreed that they did.

"Where are the brats?"

"Tanner is going off-roading with his buds, and Nick is doing some kind of Chamber of Commerce thing, I think, to try to drum up business."

"Good, then. It's just us. We can talk here. I'll come in when I'm done with breakfast."

When she reappeared, she took a separate seat rather than sitting on or with any of them, and the guys weren't sure whether that was a good thing or not, since she was sitting about as far away from any of them as she could and still be in the same room.

She looked tentative but got right to it anyway.

"Firstly, I wanted to say that I'm sorry for ruining game night. I'd had a bit too much to drink, and I let my emotions run away with me. I'm sorry."

"Stop," Adam scolded softly. "We had a great time. We're just sorry that we made you unhappy."

"You didn't, and you haven't. Just the opposite, in fact." She paused then continued. "Well, I wanted to talk to you guys about our… situation. The fire kind of interrupted the time I was taking away from you. I'm never away from any of you for very long while I'm here."

Adam wondered if she was telling them that she was leaving, even though they all knew her apartment wasn't habitable yet. The owners of the apartment complex had barely begun to clean things out, much less actually rebuild.

"But I appreciate that none of you have pressured me about making a decision in