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I laughed as he slumped into the chair at the table and rubbed at his eyes. Aleks was not a morning person. Even though it was already mid-morning, he was bleary eyed and still half asleep as he set to work powering on his computer, still dressed in his crumpled PJ’s.
We all got to work, like the well oiled machine we had become in the time we had been living together. Kailan made coffee and handed us each a cup. Not one of us could fully function without caffeine.
Harris had Zack in his high chair and was feeding him spoonful’s of cereal, between my little guy grabbing handfuls of chopped banana to shovel into his mouth himself. I couldn’t help but smile with the enthusiasm and excitement he showed for every spoonful Harris fed him, and I wished, not for the first time, that I could be a better man. I wanted to be the father he deserved. I wanted to take full custody of him as I knew I should, but I was too messed up for that. The previous night had been a perfect example. What if that happened when Zack was older and he came running in to check on me? What if I hurt him? No, I could never risk that. Kayla was far from a loving mom, but she took good care of Zack, and he was safe with her. He’d never be safe with me.
The sound of the buzzer at the front gate had us all freezing in place and looking to each other with a groan.
“That cannot be them already,” I sighed.
“Yep. It is,” Aleks replied as he turned the screen of his laptop to face me. The image showed the huge rental SUV with Kyle in the front seat. “Fuck. I gotta get dressed.” With that he jumped up and ran for the stairs faster than I’d ever seen him move before midday.
“Me too. Sorry guys. You’re on your own,” Kailan added with a smug grin, then he too was gone
“Why the fuck are they here so early?” Harris groused.
“To piss us all off?” I suggested. We’d come a long way with Evie’s brothers the previous night, finding some common ground, and – I’d like to think anyway – beginning to gain some trust with them, but we were far from friends and the idea of them being there all day had me wanting to grab Evie and Zack and run as far and fast as possible.
“Let them in, would you? I’ll put on some more coffee.” I nodded and shut off the stove so I could get the door. I just hoped they’d all eaten because they already ate most of our groceries the night before. There was no way I had enough eggs to feed their huge asses.
EVIE
I woke up feeling so much better than I had the day before. The deep fatigue had lifted and my body no longer ached as much as it had. I stretched, disappointed to see the guys had all gotten up and left. I had slept so soundly knowing they were all there with me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been able to do that. It had definitely been before Soloman grabbed me, but even then I wasn’t sure I had ever felt as safe and content as I had the previous night.
I grabbed my cell from the nightstand to check the time, then sat up in pure shock when I saw it was just after midday! I had slept for hours. Little wonder the guys had gotten up and started their day.
Feeling guilty and lazy, I hurried through a shower and getting ready, braiding my still wet, freshly washed hair, and pulling on jeans and a sweater. My face was still slightly swollen and very bruised, so make up was pointless and it wasn’t like I could go anywhere anyway.
As soon as I started down the stairs, my guilt only grew worse at the sound of my brother’s voices coming from the kitchen. They had come all of that way for me, and I had slept through their visit.
I took the last of the stairs two at a time, running for the kitchen as fast as I could. It was so unlike me to sleep for so long and I felt so crappy for doing it. I shot into the kitchen way too fast and hurtled right into Aleks who had clearly just made, likely his fifth or sixth cup of coffee.
I crashed right into him and marvelled at his fast reflexes as he used one hand to hold the steaming mug of coffee away from us both, and the other to grab me before I fell right on my ass.
“Crap!” I gasped as I clung to him and took a calming breath, my heart pounding hard in my chest.
“Fuck!” Aleks cursed at the same time. He set down his now only half full cup of coffee and looked to me with concern. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” he demanded.
“Evie? What is it?” Harris asked as he appeared beside me.
“Nothing,” I winced as I realized I had terrified them all rushing in there the way I had, like my ass was on fire. “Sorry. I just…I slept so late. I wanted to get down here.”
“Aleks, get your hand under the faucet, it’s bright red,” Nick said as he stepped forward and looked the both of us over.
“Oh no! I’m so sorry, Aleks. Let me help you,” I cried as I started for the faucet to turn it on.
“I’ll help,” Nick told me as he grabbed my arm to stop me in my tracks. “You sit and calm down. No more rushing around.”
“You guys should have woken me. I’m so sorry I was still in bed when you got here,” I said as I looked over to my brothers, most of whom were sat at the dining table apart from Matt, who was in the kitchen cooking something that smelled amazing and Kade, who sat on the floor with Zack, playing with toy cars and making all of the appropriate sounds.
“Enough of that. You needed the rest. You had a full night of sleep to catch up on and you’re healing,” Harris told me as he wrapped an arm around me and led me to sit at the dining table between Cole and Kyle.
“He’s right, squirt. We’re just glad you slept. You have some color back,” Cole agreed.
“Do not call me that. I hated it when I was five and I definitely hate it now!” I scolded him, but he just laughed.
“How are you feeling, Evie? How’s your head?” Xander asked.
“Better. I think I really just needed to sleep to be honest. My head still throbs a little, but it’s much less.”
