Brandon pulled himself out of me on a moan, causing me to wince slightly. He kissed my shoulder before carefully grasping my waist and lifting me off of Jacks. He held me against his chest as Jacks got to his feet unsteadily and by some unspoken agreement, headed for the bathroom. Brandon followed, still carrying me.

Not wanting to break the spell of the moment, I laid my head against his shoulder with a sigh, content to let them take care of me. I smiled as Jackson ran bath water, adding my favorite bubble bath and letting the tub fill before Brandon carefully lowered me into the water.

“You okay?” he murmured in my ear before he pulled away.

I nodded and relaxed into the hot water, letting it soothe the aches beginning to set in.

Chapter 8

The next week flew by in a flurry of wedding plans and steamy nights spent in ecstasy with the two gorgeous men who decided to claim me for their own. I couldn’t complain about it, though, unless you count muscles being sore in places I never thought could be sore. Even then, I really didn’t want to complain when I thought about how they got sore in the first place…

It was Sunday morning and Emma’s mom had called to say that Sunday brunch was on as usual since they were back home. Emma had told me that they’d already hi-jacked Doug and took him to the “doggy spa” in Cincinnati a couple days after they got back. I swear they treat him just like another of their grandchildren. I think it’s because they missed their labs that they used to have, but then again, we all missed those dogs. Emma and I used to dress them up in baby doll clothes when they (and we) were younger and they’d do nothing but lay there and let us. Ah…good times.

Jackson, Brandon, and I got up and headed over to Jan and Ben’s house, ready to brave the craziness that always happens there. We pulled up just in time to see Calland come flying out of the house, looking like he was seriously running for his life, even though he was laughing his ass off. I shook my head and got out, walking into the house to find out what the hell was going on.

I made it to the front door, the guys trailing behind me, before I stopped dead in my tracks. I stood there, gaping at Jan who was standing there wielding a cracked wooden spoon and a satisfied expression.

I smiled widely at her before asking, “What’d he do now?”

She grinned at me, her eyes twinkling. “He cracked my wooden spoon.”

I knew better than to ask anything more. And more than likely, she cracked her wooden spoon on his head. Or ass. Or whatever part of him she could reach. She’s scary like that sometimes…got those ninja mom moves.

She motioned us in and I waved to Ben who was sitting in his chair, watching the news. I could see Noah out back with the kids, standing on the deck and trying to catch frogs in the small pond Ben had dug years ago. Luke was on the opposite side of the pond, holding on to Doug’s collar for all he was worth in order to keep him from scaring the frogs away, or out of the water at least.

Brandon and Jackson went out the back door toward Luke and I headed into the kitchen where Jenna, Leah, and Emma were finishing up the cooking.

“So how did Calland break your mom’s wooden spoon?” I asked.

They all started laughing and Jenna said, “Being a smart ass to her. She whipped that puppy out and clocked him with it quicker than he could get away!”

I laughed with them and helped get things ready to serve. We talked a little about wedding plans as we got everything ready and called everybody in to eat. Halfway through breakfast, we were all laughing at the story Ben was relaying about poor Doug’s trip the ‘spa’.

“And then the poor bastard was violated by that Chihuahua with the little sweater on!” Ben roared, his face red from laughing so hard. “Seriously, the little shit couldn’t have been more than six pounds soaking wet and he sure as hell jumped right up on Doug’s ass as he lay there and humped for all he was worth! Doug got up like his tail was on fire but that fucker dug his claws in and kept on going ‘til he was done.”

Luke was looking at Doug with a horrified expression on his face, and Doug was giving him a sad, poor me look right back. We laughed even harder when he slipped him a slice of bacon under the table and whispered to him, “Don’t worry, buddy…I’ll never let them take you there again.”

Surprisingly, that was the highlight of breakfast; Calland actually behaved for once, though Emma did put her hand to his forehead to see if he had a fever because he didn’t steal anything from her plate. After breakfast was done and everything cleaned up, Brandon and Luke said they needed to go to the shop to do a couple things. Jackson said he’d tag along, so Emma and I took Luke’s car and went back to their house to hang out until they were done.

Before they took off, Luke rolled his window down and smiled sweetly at Emma.

“Yes, my love?” she asked, making her voice match the sweetness of his look, before she looked at me and rolled her eyes, whispering to me, “He wants something…bet me.”

I shook my head and grinned, not wanting to take that bet because I could see that coming from a mile away.

“Will you please get the stuff to make tequila lime chicken for dinner tonight? You haven’t made it in a while and you mentioned it the other night,” Luke asked.

Brandon hooted from the driver’s seat and shouted, “Yes! We’re coming for dinner, too!” while Jackson nodded vigorously from behind Luke.

Emma looked over at me and I gave her puppy dog eyes and a pouty lip, because that’s my favorite thing she makes, besides buffalo chicken dip and our other girl’s night staples, and she really hadn’t made it in a while.

“Yes,” she said exasperatedly, “I’ll make it-” She didn’t get anything more out before Luke smiled, shouted ‘Thanks!’ and they took off. She shook her head and looked at me again before saying, “Guess we have to go drop Doug off and then go to the store.”

“I’m good with that!” I told her.

We made our way to their house and let Doug out to do his business before putting him inside and heading back in town to go to the store. We talked about little things on the way and then she mentioned that Floyd, her old boss, had called and asked her to help him out for a couple weeks while his new secretary dealt with a family emergency. Which made me think of something I wanted to ask her about, even though I was worried about mentioning it.

“So…I hate to bring it up, Em, but have you gotten a court date yet for Creepy?” I asked her as she drove.

She nodded and sighed. “Yeah. I hadn’t said anything really to anyone yet. I just got it Friday but I don’t even want to have to think about facing him again. I don’t want to have to go back there…you know?”

“I know,” I said softly. “But you know we’re all here for you and I’ll be right there in the court room with you.”

She sniffed and nodded, reaching up quickly to swipe at a tear that had started down her cheek.

“God, Emma, I’m so sorry! Don’t cry! I didn’t want to bring it up and upset you, but you just hadn’t said anything lately and I didn’t want to miss being there for you. I’m such a moron to bring that up out of nowhere!” I shook my head at myself, disgusted for upsetting her.

“Stop, Allie! It’s okay! I was planning on telling you today anyway, I just didn’t have a chance yet. I didn’t want to say anything at breakfast and Luke and Noah are the only ones that know right now. And no, before you say anything, I’m not keeping it from anyone like before. I just didn’t want to upset my parents at breakfast!” Emma said firmly.