This was so fucking far over the line.

When I’d gone to bed last night, I’d been okay. Brea and I had spent more than five hours having sex. By the time we’d gotten to the last round, coming had almost hurt. I’d had encounters that had lasted almost that long in the past, but this had been different. I hadn’t been able to stop touching her. Rather than the times between sex feeling like something I’d had to force myself through, I’d enjoyed them almost as much as the sex. Almost.

She’d gone home without asking to stay, or even hinting at it, really. And then I’d showered and gone to bed. I’d slept well and woken up this morning feeling like I could handle seeing my brothers again. I’d listen to what they had to say, then they would go home, and I’d be able to get back to my life.

Except I’d barely been finishing my breakfast when I’d gotten a text from Jax saying they were pulling into my driveway. I’d hoped for a bit more of a warning, but I wouldn’t have been able to brush that off if it hadn’t been for what happened after I’d gotten into the car they’d rented.

“We’re going to a retreat,” Jax announced, glancing at me in the rearview mirror.

“Seriously? I thought we were going to some restaurant for an over-priced meal while we talked.”

“We thought things would go a little easier if we were all comfortable,” Slade said.

I glared at him. “Then we could’ve done this at my place.”

“We wanted something neutral,” Cai said quietly.

I folded my arms and scowled. “Figures.”

“What does that mean?” Jax asked.

I shrugged.

“Talk to us, Blake,” Slade said. “That’s why we’re here.”

I barked a laugh that didn’t sound anything like the laugh that came from my mouth when I was with Brea. “You want me to talk to you, but you just went and decided what we were doing without bothering to ask me.”

All three of them looked like they had no clue what I was talking about, but that didn’t surprise me. They’d always been that way, making decisions and expecting me to tag along.

Then we were turning, and I found something else to distract me from my brothers treating me like a little kid. The only turn this close to my place was the driveway next door.

Shit. The retreat next door.

“You booked the retreat that’s literally next door to my place.”

“Was that a bad thing?” Slade asked.

I glared at him.

“I thought it was convenient,” Jax said. “The guy who’s opening it, his family used to move in the same circles as Grandfather. I happened to mention to someone that I was interested in booking a retreat, and they recommended I contact Kevin and Blair.”

“Fucking nightmare,” I muttered.

“It’s not that bad,” Slade said. “We figured you’d be more comfortable somewhere close to home.”

I would’ve told them that if they knew me at all, they would’ve known exactly how shitty their idea was, but I’d learned a long time ago that it didn’t do any good. They’d see me the way they wanted to see me, project all their personal shit onto me just like they always did.

“Let’s check it out,” Slade said. “It can’t be that bad, right?”

Leave it to Slade to try to smooth things over. He’d been doing that for as long as I could remember, trying to ease tension between all of us.

I followed them inside because I knew if I kept arguing, it’d only delay the inevitable. Hopefully, once my brothers met Kevin and Blair, they’d realize they didn’t want to be here either, and we could go our separate ways. If they pushed it, I’d let them say what they felt they needed to say, then I’d go home.

I hadn’t been here before, but it was a nice ranch. Too bad it was going to bring a ton of people here, and then they’d end up wandering onto my property.

Slade kept talking as we walked into the retreat, and I finally noticed that he seemed…happier. Like for real, happy rather than the forced charm I’d seen so much of growing up. Something had changed. Considering all three of my brothers were here, I suspected it wasn’t only Slade who had something new going on.

All of that flew out of my head, however, when Kevin and Blair came in, both beaming. They weren’t the reason my stomach was knotting. That honor belonged to the dark-haired woman behind them.

Brea.

She looked as startled as I felt but recovered quicker. My brain was still scrambling when she started moving toward me.

“What the–” What I was going to say cut off when she grabbed my arm and pulled me off to the side. I could feel the others watching me, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Now that the shock was wearing off, I was getting pissed.

“You’re my parents’ first group?” She kept her voice down, but it didn’t take away from the intensity I could see on her face. “A little warning would’ve been nice.”

“Are you fucking with me?” I lowered my voice too, but that was more because I didn’t want my brothers knowing what was going on.

How could I have been such an idiot, to think that someone like Brea would just show up out of the blue and want to be with me?

“Why didn’t you tell me they were your parents?”

“I assumed you figured it out when they told me they’d met you. Kevin and I have the same last name, and I was on their property when we first met.”

I briefly registered that she called her father by his first name, but that wasn’t important. I was so stupid. How could I have missed it? I should have known even if Kevin hadn’t given me his last name when we’d first met.

A horrible thought hit me.

“Did they ask you to come over and seduce me to smooth things over about the retreat?”

Her eyes widened, and I caught a flash of hurt before her face went blank.

“If that’s what you think of me, then it must be true.” She gave me a brittle smile. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to open my shop. Don’t bother checking it out. It’s the same goofy stuff I sell in town. Nothing to interest you.”

She walked away, and I let her. A heavy hand on my shoulder reminded me that I wasn’t alone.

“Nice to see you’re charming the ladies same as always.” Slade grinned at me, but there was something in his eyes that looked a lot like concern. “Come on. We’re not here to get laid. Let’s check out our suite.”

No, I could with certainty say, I wasn’t going to be getting laid any time soon.