anywhere by herself right now. Although the craft store with Grace and whoever else showed up for their girly craft night was probably safe enough.
“I’ll drive you.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“I want to.”
She glanced at me with a little smile. “Okay, Wolf. You can drive me.”
By the time we got back and I unloaded the bumper into the shop, it was almost time for her to go. She changed into a clean shirt and jeans—they made me want to take them off her, but she squirmed out of my embrace with a giggle.
That was fine. I’d strip her out of them later.
We got on my bike and rode into town. She got off the bike and got out her little crochet bag. She was so fucking cute. I kissed her, then grabbed her and hauled her against me so I could kiss her again before letting her go.
I watched her go inside the Knotty Knitter, debating whether to just wait out here or find something to do. Sitting in the parking lot was probably overkill. She wasn’t alone in there. Cara’s car was out front, and that woman was enough to scare off just about anybody.
Still, I didn’t want to go too far. I could head over to the Caboose for a beer, but that sounded boring. I wondered if my brothers were home tonight. They lived close, I could swing by their place and pick up Fiona when she was done.
I drove over to the house three of my brothers shared. Asher and Grace lived right next door, in a house Grace had bought and started remodeling while Asher was in prison. It was pretty cool what she’d done. They’d talked about buying it before their lives had gone sideways, and Grace had done it on her own while he was away. They’d had an electrical fire last year that had set them back a bit, but we’d all pitched in to help fix it.
The symbolism wasn’t lost on me. They’d brought the house back from the ashes, just like their life together.
Logan, Levi, and Gavin had moved in next door. I wondered how Asher was handling living so close to our three younger brothers. Levi was a lot like me, he tended to keep to himself. But Logan and Gavin were obnoxious, especially when they were together.
The location of my house—outside town—was not an accident.
Still, I found myself inexplicably in the mood for their company tonight.
And why not? They were my brothers. Just because I hadn’t dropped by their house unannounced in a long time—or maybe ever—didn’t mean it had to be a big deal.
All three worked for the fire department, so chances were at least one of them was on duty tonight. But there were three vehicles out front, so it looked like a full house.
I parked on the street and went up to the front door. Since they never knocked when they showed up at my house, I didn’t bother either. Just walked right in.
And immediately wished I hadn’t.
In the middle of the living room was a life-sized cardboard cutout of Asher. Angry Asher. It looked like one of them had caught him on camera getting out of the shower and he hadn’t been happy about it. His face was twisted in a snarl, like he’d been yelling at whoever was taking the picture. He wasn’t wearing any clothes, his hair was wet, and one hand held a towel over his crotch. The other made a fist at his side.
My other three brothers all stood around the cutout, dressed in nothing but white underwear.
White underwear with a picture of Asher’s face—the same as on the cutout—right on the crotch.
They had one of their phones set up on a tripod, facing them.
“What the fuck?” I asked.
“Dude, awesome,” Gavin said. “Do we have an extra pair?”
“Shit yeah, we got like ten,” Logan said. “Hang on, I’ll find the box.”
“No,” I said.
“Come on, your timing is perfect,” Gavin said.
“I’m not putting those on.”
“Never mind,” Gavin said. “He’s allergic to fun. Just take another one.”
“Okay,” Logan said. “On three. One, two, three.”
They all posed around the cutout while Logan took a picture with a remote.
“Are we done?” Levi asked. “I have to get to work.”
“Chillax, broseph. I gotta see if we got a good one.” He took the phone off the tripod and started swiping through his photos.
Levi headed for the hallway. “I’m getting dressed. I can’t wear Asher’s face on my junk anymore.”
Gavin looked down at himself, grinning.