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“Enemies,” I whisper to myself.

24

Henry

“Just go with meeeeeeee.You’re always telling me you want to get out of here. To just pick up and go somewhere totally new. Why won’t you go to London with me?” Law continues to badger Michael obnoxiously.

“Chop that.” I throw a massive bunch of cilantro at my loudmouth brother. We’re standing around my dad’s state-of-the-art outdoor kitchen space. My dad doesn't cheap out on things. The pellet grill that can easily hold up to five full racks of ribs that sits next to the flat top grill would be the first thing to tip off a guest. Nah, Asher Riggs always aims high and then exceeds his own expectations. He’s always exceeded mine. The kind of father you don’t realize is incredible until you’re well into adulthood. When my dad realized how much cooking pulled me out of the dark, how much I genuinely enjoyed cooking for Sunday dinners, he decided to revamp the inside and outdoor kitchens.

“Tell him, Henry,” Law says.

I don’t even look up from the grill when I say, “Tell him what? That you’re a pain in the ass? That you’re the worst person to travel with because you’re like a dog. Constantly distracted by a movement. A woman. Hell, even any kind of food on display. He already knows that shit.”

Michael takes a pull of his beer and laughs as he swallows. He tilts his chin up at me. A quiet thank you for having his back on this. Law is a pain in the ass all the time, but when he has his mind set on something, or worse, on something he wantsyouto do, then there’s no getting out of it. He’ll wear him down. He’s done it to all of us.

“There is only one reason you want me to go to London with you, and I’m not fucking doing it. Pull up your up big boy panties and go on your own if you want to do this so bad,” Michael says.

“Go where? Where we going?” Jack, my new brother-in-law, asks as he walks up to us.

“Hey, man, come help me flip this rack,” I ask.

“I could have helped,” Law says.

“No fucking way. You keep a three-foot radius from all the food until it’s time to eat,” I yell his way.

“It was one fucking time, Henry,” he huffs out.

Michael laughs.

“One time too many.”

“What’d I miss?” Jack asks.

“I dropped one plate of steak,onetime…” Law yells out.

“It was a plate of Kobe beef for Dad’s birthday, and you dropped it and then stepped on it like a damn toddler,” I say as Michael and Jack continue laughing.

It’s taken Law and me a while to get to a place where we can joke around. It’s taken time to really settle, for both of us to move on and start a friendship instead of just being brothers. A conscious choice to be in each other’s lives because we wanted to be, and not out of obligation because we happen to share DNA. Plus, he makes me laugh.

Law brings one hand to his hip and takes a drink from his beer. “Jack, you wouldn’t want to head to London for a long weekend with me when you’re back from your honeymoon, would you?”

“You still trying to get someone to go to that sex club with you?” Jack asks.

“Fucking hell,” I groan. “That’s why you’re hellbent on going to London? A fucking sex club?”

“I doubt your sister would be on board with me going. Unless I took her with me,” Jack says.

“Bah bah bah, stop now. Okay. You’re uninvited,” Law yells, cutting off Jack’s response.

“Where are we going?” Everly walks up, giving each of us a cheek kiss to say hello.

Law responds, “Nowhere. You’re going on your honeymoon in like less than forty-eight hours.”

Everly just smiles at our brother. Then she peeks over my shoulder to see the racks of ribs I have roasting on the pellet grill. “Smells good, Henry. Thanks for cooking for this crowd. I know it’s a lot.”

I kiss her forehead. “I’m happy you wanted me to do it. I’m going to leave these clowns to watch this for the last thirty minutes to go check the sides inside. Callen and David show up yet?” She nods. “How about…”

“She just got here,” Everly says quietly and smiles.


Tags: Victoria Wilder Romance