her purse close to her stomach. I smiled kindly and went over to the breakfast bar. “Hi.” She looked around and appeared to be uber cautious. “Don’t be scared. They’re just a goofy band of brothers.”
Connor walked out of the bathroom in a towel and the woman smiled at him. He didn’t even look at her. Instead, he came over to me and said the same thing he said to me every morning. “Hey, Emmy.” He picked up an apple and bit into it. “Wanna fuck?”
The woman glared. I wasn’t sure why it was directed at me though. “Oh, uh…” I pushed my glasses up onto my nose and smiled, then politely returned, “No, thank you.”
He chewed slowly, looking me up and down. “You sure?”
Every morning, it was the same. “I’m sure.”
“Okay,” he said, walking to his room. As he passed the woman, he winked. “Thanks for a rocking night, babe, but it’s time to go.”
The woman nodded then did something very stupid. She came over to the breakfast bar, where I stood, and stated, “If they’re a band of brothers, what does that make you?” She looked me up and down. Her smile was vicious. “The ugly stepsister?”
The entire room stilled. Hell even sat up.
My stomach dropped.
Connor materialized in the doorway of his room, stark naked.
I can honestly say that in the time I worked with these men, I’d seen more penises in six weeks than I had in my entire life.
When he spoke, it was so quiet I wasn’t sure I heard him. “What did you just say?”
The woman spun around and forced a laugh. “It was a joke.”
I didn’t know what was coming but I knew it wasn’t good. Connor stalked out of his room to the woman, bent down and picked up her heels, gripped her upper arm hard enough to bruise and walked her to the door. When the door opened, he shoved her out, threw her heels to the floor and muttered, “Bye, bitch.”
The door slammed so hard I jumped.
Connor trudged into his room and reappeared a moment later wearing black boxers. He came over to me and pointed hard at me. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
What had I done? Why was he mad at me?
Connor shrugged into his tee. “Don’t ever let anyone speak to you like that.” He was livid. “Not even me.” Said the guy wearing a No Fat Chicks T-shirt.
“Okay,” I told him uncertainly.
Lee cut in, “Nice Betty, man.”
Connor attacked. “Fuck you, Lee. You’re just jealous ‘cause you aren’t getting any.”
Lee’s voice strained. His infection was getting better, but it still wasn’t gone. “Whatever. I’m just saying—”
Connor interrupted. “You always gotta say something.”
Noah interjected with, “Guys, come on. Let’s not do this. It’s too early.”
Connor turned on Noah. “Fuck you, too, Noe. I didn’t start this.”
Noah was annoyed. “I didn’t say you did!”
Hell farted.
Lee mumbled something under his breath and Connor shouted at him. Noah came over to break it up. My hands started to shake.
I hated when they did this.
“Guys.” Without a word, I slid onto the breakfast bar and sat on it, removing my slipper. “Stop it.” When the arguing got louder, I bent down and slapped my slipper onto the counter repeatedly and bellowed, “Stop it!” When everyone turned to look at me, I sighed a breath of relief. “Okay. Family meeting.”
Enjoying the silence, I stood on the counter, took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Item number one is an easy one.” I pointed to the bathroom. “Don’t keep wet towels in your room. They mold and fester and the suite ends up smelling like wet dog.”
I held up two fingers. “Item number two.” I couldn’t believe I had to bring this up with a group of thirty-year-olds. “Guys,” I groaned. “Do not flush condoms down the toilet. There’s a trashcan right there. Wrap it in tissue and dump it.”
Lee pointed to Connor. “It was him.”
Before another argument could ensue, I stared Lee down and uttered, “Item number three.” I looked around at my guys, my face solemn. “No more fighting. Please. It breaks my heart.”
The guys were quiet a moment, and I chose that time to put my hands on my hips and order them around.
To Lee. “Take your pills or so help me.”
To Noah. “Call Micah.”
To Hell. “No more dairy.”
And, finally, to Connor. “Enough, okay?”
Connor sighed, clearly irritated. “Okay.”
I sat then slid off the counter and smiled happily. “Great. Well, I’m off. Have a good practice.”