You will have a red ass tonight.
I smirked re-reading the text, which I had ignored. I kind of wanted to get a red ass tonight. I glanced up from my phone to see Ian’s large form standing out from the crowd. I shoved my phone in my bag and ran towards him, weaving through the crowd to leap on my big brother.
“Ian!” I screamed, throwing my arms around his neck.
I felt my brother vibrate as he chuckled, arms circling around me in a tight hug.
He pulled me back, holding me at arm’s length, scrutinizing me. It was as if he was looking for outward signs of me falling apart.
“You look good, Ace. Great actually,” he smiled and pulled me into another bear hug before I had time to return the favor and make sure he wasn’t riddled with bullet holes. Tears ran down my cheeks as Ian released me.
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” I hiccupped, giving him a quick once over, making sure I wasn’t missing any injuries. He looked the same, big and muscled and imposing in his military uniform, his cap hiding his close shaved head. I frowned, spotting a faded scar on his eyebrow. Ian, guessing what I was about to say before I opened my mouth, ruffled my hair and slung an arm around me.
“Don’t start, Ace, few knocks is all part of the job.” He directed me towards the exit, not at all confused by being in a strange place.
I frowned up at him. “When are you going to change jobs to something which has a little less knocks?”
“Don’t start on me, Gwen, I only just got off the plane, you sound just like Mum. I’ll stop when I decide its time, no sooner,” he replied tightly.
I opened my mouth.
“No arguments,” he ordered.
I huffed, but conceded, I wanted to enjoy this time. As we walked into the parking lot, Ian spotted my car and held out his hand.
“Keys.”
I rolled my eyes and rustled through my bag. “You know your penis isn’t going to fall off if you let your sister drive her own damn car,” I shot sarcastically handing him my keys.
“I value my life, Ace, and I didn’t come back from a war zone just to die in a car wreck caused by my baby sister’s heavy foot,” he joked, popping the trunk and throwing his duffle in.
I scowled at him as he opened the door for me.
“So I got a few speeding tickets back home. Those cops were out to get me. I’ll have you know I haven’t gotten a single one since I moved here,” I informed him smugly, failing to mention that was because the police here hadn’t known me since I was a baby and were very susceptible to subtle flirting.
Ian raised an eyebrow. “The only reason you didn’t lose your license Schumacher, is because the cops actually liked you. And I wonder how many doe eyes you have blinded Yank police with to get out of said tickets?” he pondered, seeing right through me.
I poked my tongue out at him. Having my sibling back turned me into a child in less than twenty minutes apparently.
The two hour ride home was filled with conversation, well more me babbling on about the store, Rosie and my love of Amber with Ian letting out a grunt every now and then, sly smile on his face. I deliberately left Cade out of my conversation, trying to avoid that landmine for as long as possible. I halted my babble as we drove into Amber, pointing at various places.
“There’s my store!” I shouted. “You want to go in and meet Rosie and see Amy?”
Ian got a strange look on his face. “Nar Gwen, we can do that later. How about you show me how to get to your place so I can dump my shit and you can cook me a feed.”
“Charming, Ian, you haven’t seen your sister in months and already you’re ordering her around,” I complained with fake shock.
“There’s got to be some benefit to having a sibling as crazy as you are,” he deadpanned.
As we pulled up to our house, Ian let out a low whistle.
“Not too shabby Gwen.”
“Wait till you see the inside. Amy has outdone herself.”
I jumped out of the car excitedly, waiting while Ian grabbed his duffle from out of the trunk.
“Hurry up, Ian,” I whined like an impatient child.
“You don’t have to wait for me, Ace. I’m sure I’ll figure out how to make it through the front door by myself.”
Sarcasm was a family trait. I was about to shoot something equally smart back when the roar of a motorbike sounded down the street. Oh shit. How is it that Cade even knew we were back? Him and his bad ass magical powers would be the death of me.
Ian’s jaw turned hard, he regarded me with concern as Cade’s bike came into view, he obviously expected me to have some sort of reaction, boy was he in for a surprise. Cade pulled up behind my car and Ian dropped his duffle and pushed me behind him.
“Get inside the house, Ace,” he ordered, looking ready for a fight as Cade swung off the bike.
I touched his arm. “It’s okay Ian, I um… know him,” I said quickly as Cade approached.
Ian raised an eyebrow, still looking on his guard as Cade came to a stop in front of us. Both of the men looked at me, crap.
“So Ian, this is my boyfriend Cade.” I tried to sound breezy, make it not a big deal. But Ian’s expression moved from disbelief to flat out fury very quickly.
Cade held out his hand, looking almost uncomfortable, I would have found it funny if it wasn’t me.
“Good to meet you, Ian. I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said roughly.
Ian was staring at Cade like he was some piece of dirt on his shoe. I did not like the way this meeting was going down. My phone ringing made me jump and I reached into my bag and answered it, grateful for the reprieve.