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“Luke has had a crush on Rachel since he was ten. Nothing is ever going to happen there. If I thought there was a chance, I’d lock him up in my attic until he came to his senses.”
Abe joined them. “Give him a break. Apparently, he’s the last man standing.”
Milo glanced at Mathias. “Um…yeah. It seems that way.”
Abe put a hand on Mathias’ shoulder. “You can’t have a problem with Milo dating Wilda. He’s like…every woman’s ideal man. I don’t know how he’s managed to stay single for so long.” Milo scowled, and Abe laughed. “You are. I can admit that. You teach kindergarten, for God’s sake. What woman can resist that? You cook, you own an awesome house, and you smell good most of the time. What’s not to love?”
“Most of the time?”
Mathias laughed. “I have come to accept the idea.”
Wilda came up to them. “What are we talking about?”
Abe took her arm. “Your brother approves of my brother.”
“Oh. Well, how lucky am I? Seems there was some sexual tension going on between the only other woman here tonight and my brother.”
Mathias shook his head. “Oh, no. I was just fighting back.”
“Okay. We’ll go with that, I guess.”
Milo sighed. “Rachel has a way of creating tension whenever she’s around. Sexual or otherwise.”
Wilda put a hand on Mathias’ arm. “I agree with Milo, though. Don’t mess with Rachel.”
“Hey, I can take care of myself. I have no interest in Rachel. She may bewitch Luke. But I’m immune to women like her.”
Wilda kissed Milo on the cheek. “I’m going to go check on Caleb and read my book for a while.”
“You don’t need to leave.”
“It’s bro time.”
“I’ll walk you to your room.”
“Good night, guys. Thanks for letting me hang out with you.”
She got a general goodnight and a unanimous "anytime," then Milo walked her to her suite. She stopped outside the door and put her arms around him.
“I love your brothers.”
“They’re pretty awesome.”
“I kind of love Rachel, too.”
“I figured. She’s hard not to love. In a platonic sort of way.”
“Thank you for including Mathias. He’s having a great time. It means a lot to him.”
“Well, might as well start treating him as family. He’ll officially be family soon enough.”
Wilda took a step back. “Milo?”
He held up a hand. “Um…that was premature and presumptuous. Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare the crap out of you.”
She moved back and placed her hands on his chest. “It doesn’t scare me.”
“Really?”
