Tonight though, she’s wearing makeup, something I’ve never seen her wear. Her lashes are thick and long, and her eyes smoky and sultry. She has just the right amount of blush on to highlight her high cheekbones. She’s fucking gorgeous.
Her hair has been curled and pulled to the side, showing one side of her slender neck.
“You look beautiful,” I tell her, pulling her into my arms. I promised myself I would keep my hands off her, but then she came out looking like she did and all I wanted to do was touch her.
“Thank you,” she replies breathlessly.
“Hey, you made it,” Charlotte says, interrupting. I pull away, turning to my cousin with a sigh.
“Hey.”
“Hey, Charlotte. Where’s Lily tonight?” Bailey asks.
Fuck! I’ve still not explained Lily to Bailey. It’s too complicated, and honestly, not my story to tell. Not that I know much of it. I think it’s only my parents and Maddox who know more about her childhood than we do. We were just given the basics. We were never meant to know anything, but Lily slipped up one night and it came out that she wasn’t really our biological sister, but instead, our aunt.
It doesn’t matter to me though; she’s my sister just as much as Faith is.
“She doesn’t come out to bars,” Charlotte answers, wariness in her voice as she looks to me for help.
Bailey glances at me, and I can feel the question in her stare. I scrub the back of my neck before facing her.
“Lily doesn’t do well around alcohol—well, she can be around it, but not when it’s people she doesn’t know who are drinking.”
“How come?”
“I’ll meet you inside,” Charlotte announces, leaving me to answer.
I give her a chin lift and take Bailey’s hand in mine. “It’s a long story, one only she can really share. She doesn’t mind it when she’s with us and we’re drinking, but she won’t come to a bar or club. She freaked out over Beau, my sister’s fiancé, when he drunk a bottle of beer.”
Her expression softens with sadness. “I understand. It must be hard for her when you all meet up.”
Her thoughtfulness warms my heart. My sisters, my family, they mean everything to me. Bailey caring about them means a lot to me.
“Either my mum or dad keep her company or someone stays with her. My cousin Imogen is watching a movie with her tonight. They had organised it before we planned tonight. So, it worked out.”
“That’s nice for her, then.”
I look to the bar, wondering if it’s too late to leave. It is. Maddox is in the pub thrusting his hips and snogging the window. I groan. Bailey turns to investigate and starts giggling.
“Is he drunk already?”
“Nope,” I tell her. “Trust me, he’s worse when he’s had a drink.”
“I can believe it.”
She goes to step inside but I grab her wrist and pull her back. She looks up at me with complete trust shining in her eyes.
“Whatever you do, don’t agree to any of his bright ideas—or any of my family’s. They seem to have a knack for getting into trouble or stuck in embarrassing situations.”
She laughs like she thinks I’m joking, but I’m not. “I promise.”
“You ready to meet my crazy family?” I ask her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.
“I was five minutes ago.”
I chuckle, leading her into the bar. It’s not packed yet, but it will pick up around eleven. Maddox, Landon, Faith, Beau, Charlotte, Liam, Mark, Hope and Hayden sit in the section under the window. A few cousins couldn’t make it, which is a shame; I wanted them to meet Bailey.
“Bailey, I want you to meet my sister, Faith. The ugly fuck next to her is her fiancé,” I say. My sister stands up and pulls Bailey into a hug. Bailey looks at me from the corner of her eye, surprise shining in her eyes. I chuckle, shrugging.
“It’s lovely to meet you. Lily and Charlotte have told us so much about you,” Faith greets. A flash of disappointment crosses Bailey’s face, and I don’t understand where it’s come from. “Aiden here just wants to keep you to himself, so he refuses to share information with us.”
Bailey’s face brightens.
Ah, so that’s what made her sad; she thought I hadn’t been talking about her. She should know by now she’s all I talk and think about. My decision on what to do about the connection we share heavy on my mind.
“It’s the food,” Bailey answers with a shrug.
“If you say so,” Faith says to her, before giving me a knowing look.
I gently nudge Bailey. “You know Landon, Charlotte, Mark, Liam and Maddox,” I tell her. “Next to Landon is his and Liam’s other triplet, Hayden. Next to her is Hope. The others couldn’t make it tonight, but you’ll meet them eventually.”
“Hey, everyone.”
They all smile, saying their own hellos before Maddox gets up. “Want a drink, Bailey?”
“Um—” she starts, but I interrupt.
“I can get her a drink, fuck-head.”
He laughs, slapping me on the shoulder. “Come on, then. I lost a bet so Liam and Landon’s drinks are on me.”
“And mine,” Hayden yells. “We come as a trio.”
Maddox faces her, raising his eyebrow. “You weren’t even there for the bet.”
Hayden looks up from her nails, glaring at Maddox. “It doesn’t matter. I’m still included. I’ll have a vodka Red Bull.”
Maddox groans. “Expensive-arse drink. And stop using the triplet card.”
She laughs at his discomfort. “Why? You use your twin card whenever possible.”
“Yeah, you made me pay for your cinema ticket when I promised Maddison I’d pay for her if she helped me clean out the attic,” Hope complains.
“I wanted to watch Jurassic Park.” He shrugs shamelessly. “And we come as a pair.”
Charlotte pouts. “You took Lily with you.”
“I paid for Lily, though,” Maddox adds, grinning.
“And he didn’t help clean the attic,” Hope adds.
“Hey, I helped you clean that,” I argue, glaring at Maddox. “And I didn’t get anything.”
Bailey pats my chest, giggling. I smile down at her, winking.
“I baked you a cake,” Hope tells me.
I lick my lips, remembering that slice of chocolate cake. I gave the rest to a girl I was trying to impress.
Maybe saying I only got to eat one slice isn’t the best topic to bring up in front of Bailey.
I pull Bailey away from the bickering and over to the bar. “What would you like to drink?”
Her eyes rake over the menu as she bites her bottom lip. It distracts me for a moment, before I remember she probably hasn’t been out drinking before and doesn’t know what to order.
“I’d go for something girly, so you aren’t sick in the morning.”
She meets my gaze. “I drank a Malibu drink when I went away with my grandparents. I just can’t remember what it was called.”
“Was it a cocktail?”
She nods, glancing over the menu again. “I think it was called sea breeze, but I’m not sure,” she mumbles, concentrating on what she’s reading.
“Wait, that’s a Malibu sea breeze. Did it have cranberry juice, pineapple juice, and probably a little bit of lime?”
Her eyes light up with excitement. “They sell it here? That’s exactly what was in it. I’m not sure about the lime, but the rest was in it. They even added fruit and stuff inside.”
I chuckle, entertained by her innocence, and lift my hand to wave down the bartender.
I order our drinks, ignoring Maddox as he walks over. I’m grateful when he walks past, his eyes trained on something behind me. Turning to see, I shake my head in amusement as he sidles up to a blonde sitting with a friend.
Hayden, Liam, and Landon won’t be getting their drinks anytime soon.
“Your family is big,” Bailey comments. I quickly lay our money on the bar then grab our drinks before facing Bailey, han
ding over her drink. She takes it, smiling gratefully. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” I tell her, then look over to my where my family is sitting, shaking my head when Liam starts stacking glasses into a tower.
He’s so going to pay for those later.
“And as for my family, we are big—and really close. We all live close to each other too. Aunt Harlow and Uncle Malik lived next door my nan and granddad—when my grandparents were alive, and Uncle Mason and Aunt Denny live at the end of their garden where they built their house. A few doors down from them live Uncle Myles and Aunt Kayla. All of them but Mason and Malik lived there at one point. But then my dad met my mum and some stuff happened so he got bought the house we grew up in, although, that is a few streets over from this street. My Uncle Max and Aunt Lake moved into a house across the street not long before the triplets were born.
“Jesus, do you own the whole street?”
I laugh, shrugging. “My dad is good at investing. He likes fixing houses up and selling them. He has a few he rents out, but only to those he knows. He hates fixing up after tenants wreck the place.”
“And your mum owns a flower shop, right?”
I nod. “Yeah, my nan from my mum’s side left it to her. She’d been running it for a while before my nan’s death, since she couldn’t keep up with the work. Madison works there too. She didn’t enjoy school, even though she was good at it. She’s just got my mum to agree to building a little lot outside the flower shop where they can grow vegetables. She’s hoping she can start selling the fresh veggies at the market.”
“Nothing beats fresh veggies. You should get her to speak to local bars who do a lunch menu. Most of them would probably buy from her.”
“That could actually work.” I grin. “I’ll let her know.”
“How has work been today?”
I groan. “Hard. We had a mad rush come in, and with the heat, it had been scorching in the kitchen.”
“I bet,” she says, smiling at me. “And Sunday?”
I raise my eyes at her. “Happy Nanny has her. I checked in and went to see her after I finished work.”
She giggles. “Aw, I bet she’s being spoiled.”
I shrug. “She deserves it.”
“She does,” Bailey agrees.
“Want to go sit back down? It looks like Jimmy has reigned Liam in before he smashes a load of glasses.”
She glances over her shoulder, a cute frown creasing her forehead. “Wait, is that why we’re standing here talking?”
I watch as Liam pouts, standing on the table as he hands down pint glasses from the tower he made.
“Yep. He would have kept going until it either reached the ceiling or it fell like a game of Jenga.”
She begins to laugh. “Has he done it before?”
I sigh. “He’s trying to beat me.”
She turns to look back at me. “You?”
I nod, feeling like an immature kid. “Yeah. I got to twenty-six pint glasses before they smashed. He and Maddox have been trying to beat me ever since.”
Just as I finish speaking, Jimmy walks up to us with a tray of glasses. “I told you not to do that after the last lot got broken. It takes time for them to be delivered, and with the football going on, I need all the glasses I can get.”
“I’ll make him buy you another crate of them so you have extra,” I tell him, my lips twitching.
He grunts. “I let you lot get away with too much in here.”
Bailey starts laughing once he walks off. “That poor man. He looks ready to quit.”
I rub the back of my neck. “Probably. But he’d miss us if we never came in. We keep him entertained.”
“Bless him.”
“Come on; let’s go join the others.”
I place my hand on her lower back and lead her over to the table. She sits down next to Charlotte, already joining in with their conversation.
“Hey, where’s Maddox with our drinks?” Hayden calls out.
I grin at her. “You may as well go get the money off him. He’s chatting up some blonde.” I take a seat next to Bailey, Landon the other side of me.
Hayden scrunches her face up in disgust. “You’d think he would learn his lesson,” she mutters. “Did you know he made the paper over that Bachelor scene?”
“He didn’t,” I gasp, coughing on my beer.
She laughs. “Yeah. Uncle Malik went mad ‘cause it had Maddox’s name and picture in it. Girls think he’s a celebrity now. And the dumb act he plays has them eating it up.”
Landon scoffs. “Celebrity. The guy acts like he can’t tie his own shoe laces, but he’s a fucking genius. I don’t know how girls fall for it.”
“Me neither,” I say, chuckling. The cold beer in my hand barely touches my lips before my gaze catches a group walking through the door, their backs to me.
I groan, putting my beer down.
“This can’t be good,” I say out loud.
“Tonight just got interesting,” Landon murmurs, cracking his knuckles.
Oh, fuck.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
BAILEY
The atmosphere in the bar turns tense pretty quickly. I seek out the intrusion, scanning the bar until my gaze lands on a group of people walking in. The one at the back turns towards us, doing a double take before fully facing us, a wide grin spreading across his face.
The rest follow suit when they realise their friend has stopped, distracted by us.
I gasp, utterly flabbergasted by how handsome each and every one is. The one at the back, nearest the bar, steps forward, an intense expression on his face.
Holy mother of Jesus.
I’ve seen good-looking guys—hell, I design romance covers for a living and see more bare chests than I care to admit—but nothing could have prepared me for the sight in front of me.
Dark, tanned skin, muscles, and tattoos show on his body, but it’s his rugged good-looking face that has me under a spell.
Three of the youngest-looking ones must be triplets, because they look exactly the same, including the tattoos inked on their arms.
And they are so goddamn good-looking it should be a crime. I think I whimper out loud—I can’t be sure over the buzzing in my ears.
“Family reunion night? Where’s the pretty one—Lily?”
“Fuck off, Reid,” Maddox snaps from behind him.
“Here I thought I was the pretty one,” Liam taunts, knowing Maddox will start something over Lily.
“Ah, Maddox, thought we got lucky and they left you at home,” Reid says, letting Maddox pass to sit next to us.
“You never get lucky,” Maddox says, smirking.
The guy next to him, the one covered in tattoos and an expression filled with heavy burdens, steps forward. I shuffle closer to Aiden, worried at what may happen. These guys look like they don’t fuck around.
“Are they going to fight?” I whisper, so I’m unheard.
Aiden tilts his head slightly towards me. “Nah. Not yet. It will take more than a bit of banter to get us fighting. Plus, Landon’s here, and the only one brave enough to fight him is Jaxon, and he tends to keep the peace.”
“Which one is Jaxon?”
I feel his sharp gaze on the side of my neck, but I don’t look away from the confrontation going on in front of me.
“Why?”
Surprised at his tone, I glance at him. “So I know which one will break it up. If it looks like he’s not going to do anything, then I’m hiding under the table.”
The laughing lines at the corner of his eyes, crease. “All right. But I don’t think they will. It’s still early.”
“Hey, who’s the new girl? Your baby’s mum?” The one who looks like he might be a triplet, says.
Aiden tenses beside me. “Isaac, you weren’t always the brightest bulb in the pack. And she’s fuck-all to do with you.”
Well, that definitely answers if they’re friends or not. It’s confusing. They’re not raising their voices, and they are
n’t been friendly either, but none of them seem to mind each other’s company.
So far.
The one they called Isaac glares and speaks up. “Says the person who still needs his shoelaces tied by someone else.” His brothers chuckle.
Aiden moves to stand, but I stop him. The guy from earlier—I think I heard someone call Jimmy—walks over, looking between the two families before letting out a haggard sigh.
“I’m too old for this. Boys, if you’re gonna fight tonight, take it out back. I lose customers when you start trashing furniture.”
The one covered in the most tattoos, smirks. “Jim, I’m pretty sure we bring in extra customers.”
“Yeah!” a girl hoots from the back. “Take off a shirt.”
“You too, Carter,” another girl shouts.
“Which Carter?” Liam shouts back, grinning.
“I don’t care. Just take it off.”
The old man rubs a hand down his face, looking exhausted and tired. “Just leave a deposit of a hundred with Baz at the bar. Otherwise, you can all get out.”
Wide-eyed, I turn to Aiden. “Deposit? Why does it sound like he’s demanded this before?”
From the corner of my eye, I watch them all walk off, all but the one with the tattoos and hidden burdens.
“He’s just being thorough,” Aiden says, but I can hear the lie in his voice. I frown, wondering what it is that was so bad they need to put deposits down.
“You know, I’ve been wondering: why is it I see you with Lily in other places but never at a bar?” a deep, gravelly voice speaks up from the side of the group that had formed. He’s stayed quiet, intent on watching everything play out.
“Careful,” Landon warns.
“Don’t even look at Lily, Jaxon,” Maddox snaps.
Jaxon smirks. “Why? She’s the only one worth looking at.”
Maddox stands, spilling over his pint. Hayden jumps out of the way before it lands on her. I begin to tremble as everyone moves, including Beau, Faith’s fiancé.
“Not tonight, lads. We just came in for a quiet pint,” Beau says.
Jaxon holds his hands up as Liam and Landon hold Maddox back. “I’ll go. I was just asking an innocent question.”
“Then don’t ask about Lily, you wanker,” Maddox yells.
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