"Damn," I mumbled and walked back out to the garage. Austin glanced up and gave me a sweet smile.

"What's up, Daddy?" He stood and wiped his greasy hands on his jeans.

"Uncle Rhys is here. You remember him much?" I tossed a rag to him as I walked back toward my bike.

"Nope." He wiped his hands and knelt. "You think the bike will take much longer?"

"No. Why? You got a hot date?" I smiled as he crinkled his nose and gave me a look.

"Dad. I'm five. Girls are super gross right now."

I laughed loudly, loving the kid more than anything else in the world. "They're not going to be super gross in a few years."

"There's a party at Katie's house for her birthday tonight." He ignored my comment and moved us to what seemed to be a much more comfortable subject for him. "I really want to go."

"Katie by Granny's house?" I moved over to the bike and put my hands on my hips as I studied it. It was going to take a few more hours to finish fixing the damn thing, and after Rhys's call, I knew I didn't have the time. "The cute girl with blond hair."

He rolled his eyes. "She has cooties. Hello."

"This is true." I stifled my need to laugh again. He had on his serious face which meant 'no laughing.' Memories flooded my vision, and the site of Laila rocking him when we first brought him home almost crippled me. He had to miss her as much as I did, but the little guy was stronger than all the rest of us put together. Or he pretended to be.

"Can I go?" He wiped his hands on his pants and smiled. "We can finish this later this week. It's Thanksgiving week. We have time. No school!"

"True. Yeah. Sure. Go in there and change and I'll take you over to Granny's house." I watched him skip away before calling my mother. I needed a way to get over to see Rhys without upsetting Austin, and now I had it. There was such a thing as grace, or so it would seem.

"Jeremy? Everything okay?" My mother always sounded panicked when she picked up the phone with me. It was like she was expecting me to deliver the same kind of news I did when Laila died.

"Yeah, Mom. Austin wants to come over tonight for a party down at Katie's house. Rhys's in town, so it works out well unless you had something planned."

"Not at all. Bring me my baby, and you go have fun with your friend. Make sure you stay alert for women that might be a good fit for you and Austin. You know it's not just about you, Jeremy."

"Yeah. Thanks, Mom. We'll be there shortly." I got off the phone as quickly as I could and walked into the living room. I could hear Austin down the hall somewhere singing the happy birthday song. I smiled and stopped beside the various pictures lining the bookshelf in the living room.

The one of me and Rhys smiling, arms wrapped around each other as we got out of basic training and planned on ruling the Air Force was one of my favorites. Life had taken a crazy ass turn, but it was what it was. He was still in, and I was Captain of the fire department in town.

"Dad!" Austin bounded into the living room and lifted his eyebrow at me. "Do you think I should wear a coat?"

"It's freezing outside. Yes." I walked toward him, picked him up and tickled him all the way back to the bedroom. He was going to get to meet both Rhys and Bailey the next day at Mom's when we all shared Thanksgiving together.

Would he like Bailey?

Would she like him?

Why the hell did I care?

I wasn't sure I wanted to answer my own question, and regardless of the answer, I knew one thing for sure... I did care. A lot.

* * *

"Hey, buddy!" Rhys wrapped me in a tight hug as he flung open the door to Bailey's apartment. The smell of something garlicky slapped me in the face, and my stomach growled loudly. I realized I hadn't eaten more than a piece of toast all day. It was something I was horrible about doing since Laila died. Feeding my damn self.

"Hey, you." I hugged him tightly and glanced up to find Bailey watching us. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and once again, I lamented over not getting to see it down. It would have been a little too much to ask her to take it down. Too intimate and maybe a little weird of me.

She looked like a model. Her light pink dress hugged her breasts and flared a little at her hips. It was long sleeved, but the length of it brushed about mid-thigh on her. She had on designer winter boots and a pretty necklace. She looked like she was ready to go out for the night, not BBQ with friends.

"You've gotten fat." Rhys moved back and patted my sides, squeezing my ribs.

"Ouch! Fuck man. That's not fat. It's muscle." I reached up and rubbed his head. "Like your big, ugly head."

He laughed. "You've met my little sister, Bailey."

She joined us and offered me a smile that calmed me. She might have been unsure of herself, but she was hiding it like a pro. Fuck. Maybe it was me who was unsure. For the first time in a long time, I was nervous.

"Hey." I reached out and gripped her shoulders before leaning over and kissing her cheek. "You look beautiful."

I wanted to hug her so damn bad, to feel her pressed against me, but there would be no hiding the hard-on it would leave me with. She was invading my thoughts and my dreams more and more over the last few weeks. It was becoming an obsession of sorts, which fucked with me, so I did what I always did when I was freaked out. I stayed away from her.

No way she felt the same way I did. And I wasn't entirely sure how I felt, but I knew I wanted her something fierce.

"Thanks. My friend Ellen just disappeared into the bathroom. She's been waiting to meet you." Bailey moved back, turned and walked into the kitchen. My eyes moved down the back of her perfect body, and my dick pulsed a few times in my jeans.

"I saw that." Rhys popped me in the chest and gave me a look.

"Dude. She's beyond beautiful. You couldn't have fucking warned me when I went looking for her that she wasn't the little brat we picked on? What the fuck?" I narrowed my eyes and lowered my voice.

He laughed loudly. "I told you she had grown up. Idiot."

"Whatever." I followed him out on the patio where the grill was already going. The weather had dropped drastically, and I wouldn't have been surprised if we had a snowy Thanksgiving by the looks of things.

"You interested in my kid sister?" He closed the door behind us.

"No." I slipped my hands into my pockets and blew out. A cloud formed in front of me and lingered. "Yes. Fuck. I don't know. She does something to me, Rhys."

"I'd beat anyone else's ass, but you're like a brother to me. If you're interested in taking her out, I'd trust you to do that."

"No." I shook my head and glanced back over my shoulder to see her working in the kitchen. "I didn't know she was your sister the first time I saw her." I stopped myself from telling him just how much she turned me on. There would be no coming back from that. He might have been my best friend, but this was his only sister, and she was younger. There were limits to what I could say.

"No? She looks the same to me, man." He nodded toward the kitchen. "Can you grab me a plate to put these burgers on?"

"Yeah, sure." I opened the door and paused. "Want a beer?"

He lifted his. "Already got one. There's a six-pack in the fridge. Help yourself."

"Alright. Thanks." I closed the door behind me as a cute blonde walked out of the bathroom and gave me a look.

"You're the pirate, right?" She tilted her head and studied me.

"Hey! Ellen. This is Jeremy." Bailey jogged around the corner from the kitchen. Her cheeks were pink and eyes wide.

I laughed and extended my hand. "Pirate, hm? Not sure how to take that."

"She meant because you save booties." Bailey glanced at Ellen and widened her eyes farther.

It was comical.

Ellen responded, her voice slow as if she were trying to follow Bailey's every move. "Yes. That's what I meant?"

I laughed and shook her hand. "Well, nice to meet you, Ellen." I glanced over at Bailey, who was rather mortified. "I'm going to grab a plate and a beer if that's okay?"

"Oh yeah. Let me help you." She turned and walked into the kitchen.

"I'll be on the deck with your fine-ass brother." Ellen wagged her eyebrows at me and smiled before walking out on the patio with Rhys.

I walked into the kitchen and stopped short. I had to reach out to stop myself from plowing Bailey over.

"I'm so sorry." She rested her hands on my hips, the innocence on her face left me realizing that she wasn't aware of how intimate her grip was. "I told her about you being in the Air Force, and then we talked about why you were out and-"

She droned on, but I couldn't hear anything else but a soft hum. The smell of dinner cooking and the site of her in her pretty pink dress made the world dissipate.

"I'm gonna kiss you." I reached up and cupped her pretty face.

"Wait. What?"

"Shhh." I leaned down and pressed my lips to hers as I pulled her fully against me. My cock pressed to her stomach, and she had to know how much she turned me on. There was nothing I could do more than show her.

Her moan lit me on fucking fire. I had to have her. Soon.

Now.