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I sat up. Anniversaries?
“No, I didn’t buy a couch. I bought a couch repair kit and four thousand dollars worth of woodworking tools.” Sounding completely disgusted with himself, Cyrus wasn’t finished. “And a Hilary Duff CD from the early 2000s?”
My laughter gave me away. I couldn’t help it, though. A Hilary Duff CD?
Sam came in first and I could tell he was unsure of how to approach me after their night. “We didn’t wake you, did we?”
I shook my head and smiled. “Morning.”
Jude walked in and came straight at the bed. He didn’t stop until his knees hit the side and he flopped straight down onto his face. His muffled words were still easy to make out. “Don’t hate us.”
I crawled on top of him and sat on his back. “I don’t hate you. I am going to help you murder my brother, though.”
Jude tapped awkwardly at his shoulder. “Can you just rub here a little bit?”
“Poppy, I have a serious question.” Cyrus sank into the bed next to me and cupped my thigh. “Would you find me sexy as a carpenter and do you want a Hilary Duff CD?”
I pretended to consider my options while rubbing Jude’s shoulders. “I think you’d be very sexy as a carpenter. I’d especially like a photo of you in just one of those little leather tool belts. Maybe holding a hammer?”
He sighed. “And the CD?”
“I wouldn’t say no to it showing up in my truck.” I glanced back at Sam and saw him watching with a smile on his face. “What are you smiling about?”
“I like finding you in my bed.” Sam shrugged. “Not that I plan on letting you spend many nights without me in it too.”
My body warmed at his words while my brain tripped over them. The night before, my brothers had called the guys my boyfriends and they seemed to know all about my tryst with the guys. They’d welcomed them to the family in true Summers brother fashion by getting them wasted and probably torturing their secrets out of them. The last person who’d been welcomed into the family was my brother Mike’s boyfriend, Heath, and now they were married in Palm Springs with three foster dogs and a cat named Brat Pitt.
My brothers didn’t welcome someone into the family unless they were sure the person was sticking around. Heath had to swear his loyalty to the family and swear to help hide any bodies that ever needed hiding to convince them he was serious about Mikey.
“What did you guys tell my brothers?” The question came out more accusatory than I’d meant for it to, but I needed to know.
Jude turned his head to the side so he could talk without it being muffled. “What are you talking about?”
I climbed off of him and knelt facing them on the bed. “They knew about us last night.”
Cyrus looked up at me and hesitated before looking at Sam and Jude. “Yeah. After you sprinted away from us in the park yesterday, we had a talk with Charlie. He sorted it out and we weren’t going to lie to him.”
“But what did you say?” I could feel myself getting frustrated and I didn’t understand why. “What words did you use?”
Jude sat up and frowned at me. “Nice ones. Ones that convinced your brothers that what we’re doing isn’t terrible and disrespectful to you.”
“You told them yourespectme?” I stood up and blew out a rough breath. “What else?”
Sam held out his hands to me. “Look, whatever you’re panicking about right now, just hold on for a second. There’s nothing to panic about, baby.”
“Poppy!” I shouted my own name and then forced myself to lower my voice. “My name is Poppy. Call me Poppy, Sam.”
The look of hurt that crossed his face was too hard to look at, but when I turned away, he spoke and the softness of his voice made me look back at him. “Poppy. Just stop for a second, okay? Let’s just talk.”
I hurt him. It’d been so easy to do it too. It’d never been that way before. Before we broke the rules, I could do whatever and say whatever and they didn’t care. They didn’t let me hurt them. But I could feel Sam’s ache like it was my own.
“Sit down, Poppy.” Cyrus was frustrated, I could tell. He pointed to the bed and studied me, his expression closed off.
I felt trapped, though. “My brothers don’t just welcome people into the family. You had to have said something to convince them that what we’re doing is serious.”
Jude stood up and frowned at me. “It is fucking serious, Poppy!”
Sam put his hand on Jude’s arm. “Easy.”
