She might indeed be too sweet for Donovan, he had to agree with him on that, but he could see why his big brother was so enthralled by her. Then he noticed a picture of Errin, the youngest of the Walsh family. She seemed to be the blonde version of Kate. You would think that it would make her look like a copy of Kayla, both being blondes, but Duncan could see more similarities with Kate than with Kayla in Errin.
Errin sat on the same swing, and she looked at the camera with big blue eyes, the exact same shape and color as Kate’s. She had the same pert nose and those cute dimples in her cheeks. Instead of brunette, Errin was blonde, but you could describe the color best as honey. Unlike her sisters, she wore her hair in a braid over her right shoulder. Her shoulders were bare in a black tube top. Errin smiled at the camera, but it seemed like she was smiling directly at Duncan.
“I know, Dunc. This is... fuck, I need to go. I’m going to call Ro and beat the fuck out of him.”
Duncan knew that Donovan wasn’t himself right now. He normally wouldn’t swear, and for Donovan stating that he had to fight to release some pressure was a big deal. Any of his brothers would know this was a huge fucking deal.
As Donovan stood from the sofa, his front door opened as their brother Brennan let himself in with his key. They all had keys to each other’s homes—well, only Brennan had a key for Donovan’s place. Being closest, if anyone could reach Donovan in the state he was in, it had to be Brennan.
“Ah, Bren, your timing couldn’t be better. Can you calm Don the fuck down?” Duncan asked.
Donovan growled at Duncan’s announcement. “Shut the fuck up, Dunc.”
Brennan closed the door behind him and went straight toward the coffee table. “So that’s her?”
Of course Brennan knew what had Donovan so worked up. They told each other everything. Growing up, it sucked sometimes for Duncan to be the middle child. With his two younger brothers being twins and Don and Bren above him being so close, they all seemed to have paired up. All but him.
There was a time growing up that he’d acted out, challenged his older brothers to fights and picked on his younger brothers to make sure they acknowledged him. But as he grew older, he didn’t have to fight as much. They seemed to be more drawn to him when he would joke around, and that was kind of his role in the family now.
He was the one everyone seemed to get along with, who made you laugh, who you could hang around with and watch a game together and talk about women. He was glad he wasn’t so on edge anymore, more laid back. He hoped that Ronan would turn out to be more like him as he was now and wouldn’t feel the need to prove himself as much anymore. He could see so much of himself in Ronan; that was why they butted heads so often. They both had a short fuse and didn’t back down.
“Yeah, the brunette,” Donovan said and stood still as he watched Brennan going over the pictures of the Walsh sisters.
“And they have three brothers? I know Calum, but they have two other brothers as well?”
Donovan nodded at Brennan and picked up the bottom papers, pulling out a picture of the whole family around the same swing in the yard.
Duncan spotted an older couple sitting on the swing. The man had the same dark hair color as Kate, and the woman had the exact same light blonde hair as Kayla and Calum. They must be Kayla’s parents.
Kayla had jumped on Calum’s back, and they both tilted their heads back in laughter. Duncan imagined Calum tricking Kayla, pretending to drop her. They stood behind their parents’ right-hand side, and next to them he noticed a guy with honey-colored hair with Kate on his back. And next to them stood their other brother with dark brown hair, and he was carrying Errin on his back.
“This is Evan. He’s thirty-four years old.” Donovan pointed at the brown-haired guy. “And that is the youngest brother, Conner. He’s thirty-one.” Conner had the same hair color as Errin, and they looked very much alike because of it. Conner seemed grounded and self-assured. Evan looked into the camera with a big smirk on his face, and he resembled Duncan’s brothers. Evan had the same broad shoulders and a killer smirk the ladies in Austin surely would fight over.
He glanced at Conner once again and noticed that he had the same build as Calum. He was one tall fucker. Only the girls looked petite. Duncan smiled. Kayla seemed to come from a warm family; they seemed to be close. He was brought up in an all-male household where they would fight and talk shit, but they were also close. They had each other’s backs, no questions asked.
He was reminded of the reason why she needed to spend some time alone tonight with her siblings. He shook his head. He would let her be with them tonight, and tomorrow, he would come for her again. He smiled at the thought.
“I see, Don.” Brennan wasn’t a man of many words. He would always listen to others talk, and then he would give them advice. It had been like that growing up and even now as he worked behind the bar at Lucky.
“And now she’s coming here. Tonight, for fuck’s sake.” Donovan paced Duncan’s living room. He had a vein popping on his forehead, and his face had turned red. “I can’t seem to shake her, Bren. Dunc, now I know what possessed you when you claimed Kayla at first sight. I looked Kate up yesterday morning as Kayla asked, and now I can’t stop thinking about her. I went home early from Lucky solely because I needed to watch out for her, keep her safe. I can’t help but monitor everything she does, and before you say anything, I know how twisted that sounds coming from me.”
Donovan grabbed his tailored coat from the sofa’s arm and strode toward the door with big steps. “I’m out.” He looked over his shoulder to Duncan and Brennan from the opened front door. “Breathe one word about this to anyone, and I’ll make you disappear.”
Duncan knew his brother could be one mean fucker, but he still laughed at Donovan’s expense.