by Hadley Quinn
“Me too,” Camryn added with a matching smile.
“Me three,” Sarah chimed in as she entered the kitchen. “I mean I’ve met Tate and I know him through Rayne, but this is different. I’m so happy for this entire situation, you have no idea!”
Kellie felt a surge of excitement buzz through her. She knew she had the girls’ support—that was never a problem—but she was more concerned with how the guys were going to be when Tate was added to the mix.
Particularly Jay. They worked together now and then, so obviously they got along, but how was her brother going to behave when Tate was around her as her boyfriend.
“Don’t look so worried,” Camryn touched Kellie’s arm. Her eyes were full of empathy and Kellie knew she could see right through her.
“I don’t do this,” she stated. “I don’t bring guys to family dinners.”
“I know,” Camryn nodded. “But this is different. You never had any reason to bring those guys around your family. Tate isn’t just anyone and you know that. It’s time to just go with it.”
“Yeah, for sure,” Melanie added. “We can see it in your eyes, Kellie. You’ve got it bad for this guy and there’s no need to hide it!”
“Way to be tactful,” Camryn joked.
“Yeah no kidding,” Kellie agreed dryly.
But she really wasn’t upset. She didn’t care if they had noticed since it seemed to go with the changes that had been occurring lately. She felt like she was learning to let go a little more, allowing her real feelings to come out once in a while. She’d always been known for being blunt or not putting up with anyone’s crap, but it was also never in her nature to be openly sappy for anyone, either. It was part of the wall that had built itself around her vulnerable emotions.
The angry, irritated, impatient emotions she could handle sharing… It was the delicate ones she preferred to mask. It had become necessary in Hollywood.
“I feel pretty, so so pretty,” a male voice sang as he entered through the back door. Jay with his incessant singing of random songs…it was no surprise.
“Pretty enough to go check on Cade and feed him if he needs it?” Melanie asked with a hopeful smile.
Jay lifted his shirt all the way up to expose his pecs. He squeezed a nipple and said, “Sure thing, looks like I’m good to go.”
“Dear God, put those away,” Teague said as he entered the house behind him.
“I think I’ve been asked to titty feed a baby,” Jay answered.
Teague gave him a funny look. “Oh, I thought you were bragging about your abs to my wife again. Hide those damn things.”
Camryn laughed and shook her head. “You know we would never declare a winner or a loser when it comes to that.”
“Winner or loser of what?” Tyse asked as he entered the house from the garage. He set an armful of drinks on the counter and added, “I’m in, whatever it is.”
“There is no competition,” Melanie laughed. “You guys crack me up.”
Tyse scowled across the room at Jay and Teague. “Why are you both standing there with your shirts up?”
“Ab show,” Jay answered matter-of-factly. “Don’t pretend like you’re not impressed.”
Tyse chuckled. “Oh, very impressed. You guys are so cute, trying to catch up to me.”
“Oh my God,” Kellie laughed out loud, and so did the rest of them.
“Cute, huh?” Jay scoffed. “You cannot even compare, jackass. This,” he flexed his stomach, “is hard to beat.”
Teague flexed his stomach right alongside him. “Which is only second place to this.”
“You guys never quit,” Camryn said as she continued to slice an apple for a salad.
Tyse positioned himself next to the other guys and lifted his shirt. “Don’t cry too hard, boys. Just use it as inspiration, ‘kay?”
“Wow, I’m kind of enjoying this,” Sarah finally spoke. “You guys may have to start a new family tradition with this one. And you look amazing, baby,” she winked at Tyse. “Definitely the winner.”
“Uh, no, I don’t think so,” Camryn playfully frowned. “Teague, hands down. Sarah is so biased.”
“Jay for sure,” Melanie said. “Duh, look who’s being biased.”
Kellie was thoroughly amused at this point. All three women were practically drooling over their men and the guys were totally eating it up, standing there with their shirts up as they devoured the praise.
“Kellie?” Teague finally asked. “You’re the deciding vote. Make it happen.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Oh hell no, you’re all related to me! That’s so gross!”
“Oh don’t even look at it that way,” Jay rolled his eyes.
“Yes I will look at it that way, and I would say none of you because Tate’s body is way better than any of yours. So there.”
Silence ensued for a few seconds as Jay maintained eye contact with her. Finally he lowered his shirt and said, “Fine. We’ll wait for his ab show, and if he comes in last, he gets booted off the island. Deal?”
“Oh my God, you’re so ridiculous,” Kellie groaned, but she had to laugh at the same time.
This was so like her family. But even though she knew her brother was joking, she was still worried about how the night would go. And when there was a knock at the front door, her nerves started to zing everywhere in her body because she knew who it was.
“Ah, and so it shall be decided!” Jay smiled as he headed for the door. He opened it, and upon seeing that it really was Tate, said, “Lift up your shirt and flex.”
There was laughter everywhere, but before Kellie could explain what the hell was going on, Tate shrugged and lifted his shirt. It was sooo not the right time to feel that heat between her legs when he flexed his stomach, but she couldn’t help it. She knew exactly how nice his body was, and that mixture of sexiness plus feeling happy to see him made her smile to herself and turned her on at the same time.
“Hm. Obviously a mutant,” Jay scoffed and slammed the door in Tate’s face. “Poor guy.”
“You asshole,” Kellie laughed as she came across the room to let Tate in the house.
But Jay opened the door again and said, “Nah man, I’m kidding, come on in.”
Tate entered but cast a few confused glances around the room, and it was Camryn that came over to greet him first.
“Hi, I’m Camryn. Welcome, I’m so glad you could come.” She gave him a hug, which was nothing new to any of them, but Tate seemed a little surprised.
“Thank you,” he answered when she pulled away from him. “I’m happy to be here.”
Kellie slid her arm around his waist and gave him a kiss on the mouth. She didn’t care if anyone was watching, but she expected some kind of comment from her brother. Thankfully Jay had his back to them as he walked across the room, so Kellie took a minute to introduce Tate to everyone else.
“This is Teague,” she pointed as they walked toward him.
“Hey man, nice to meet you. Welcome.” Teague held out a fist to bump. Typical as well.
“This is Melanie, Jay’s wife—err, soon-to-be wife,” she corrected herself.
“Hi!” Melanie grinned as she gave Tate a big hug. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
“Yeah, you too,” he replied.
“And thanks for putting the guys in their place,” she said under her breath.
“Hey, I heard that,” Jay narrowed his eyes at her. “There was absolutely no such thing as that.”
Melanie snickered but bit her lip. Tate looked confused but Kellie said, “Never mind. Just the testosterone getting out of hand in here.”
He barely nodded and then noticed Sarah in the kitchen, giving her a nod as well.
“Hey, you,” she returned the smile.
It was interesting that Sarah had known Tate for as long as she’d known Rayne. Kellie had received very positive encouragement from both girls when it came to Tate, but there was something she noticed right away whenever either of them talked about him.
; They didn’t seem to know about his PTSD. Rayne had only mentioned how much quieter he’d become after returning home. She attributed it to his injury and said it’d been a tough road for him to recover from it.
“Grub time,” Jay’s voice interrupted. He motioned them all outside to the deck, so while the girls grabbed the rest of the food and followed him, Tyse was still lingering patiently.
“Tate, this is my other brother,” Kellie told him. “This is Tyse.”
Tyse held his hand out and Tate shook it. “It’s very nice to meet you. Make yourself at home, even though it’s not mine.”
Tate smiled with a nod but glanced at Kellie for what seemed like a necessary confirmation.
“It’s true,” she agreed with a laugh. “I would have even told you to just walk right in, but I forgot.”
She glanced at the clock and frowned, but assumed that all of the guests that were going to come tonight were already present. It was most likely a good thing. Adding too much too soon probably wasn’t a smart idea.
Following Tyse, she led Tate outside to the deck and they found two spots at the long picnic table. She hoped for a good evening with her family, and truly hoped that Tate felt comfortable enough with everyone. As they all ate dinner, it seemed to go fairly well. It was sometimes obnoxious with little babies and grown-men babies with their sick humor in the mix, but that was her family and she loved it.
But Tate seemed to be having a good conversation with her cousin when Teague suddenly stopped talking mid-sentence. His gaze was frozen on the gate at the side of the house.
Max was here.
Kellie’s pulse quickened. She’d been waiting for him to arrive but kind of assumed he wouldn’t. She couldn’t blame him. It took someone with pretty solid balls to enter this lair of alphas.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Teague asked as Max came up the steps of the deck. But Teague must have noticed Chase right when the rest of them did because he closed his mouth to prevent himself from swearing anymore.
“Hey buddy,” Camryn spoke sweetly. She opened her arms in hopes that Chase would come to her, but Kellie could tell she was worried. Chase hadn’t been around them as much lately, so Camryn obviously feared he wouldn’t feel as comfortable with her like he used to.
But Max released Chase’s hand and the little guy came across the deck. Camryn scooped him up and sat him on her lap, squeezing him gently against her. “Oh I have missed you so much, Chase.”
“Hey pal, it’s good to see you,” Teague added softly, messing his hair up a little. “Whatcha been up to, big guy?”
Chase began a productive yet shy conversation with Teague and Camryn, so Kellie motioned for Max to join them at the table. She was waiting for some smartass comment to come out of Jay’s mouth, but he remained silent. Granted, he was holding Cade on his lap at that point, but Kellie wondered if he would have had something to say anyway.
Max was hesitant, especially once he noticed Sarah. Kellie felt so terrible for him, but she had to give him credit for actually coming. At first he’d given her a big “fuck no” almost instantly, but then she talked him into it. When he hadn’t shown up on time, she figured he had changed his mind.
Tate scooted over on the bench to make room, so Kellie scooted over too. She patted the spot next to her and began filling a paper plate with food. Max looked like he was about to bolt, but she pleaded silently with him as she set the plate down on the table.
Camryn was fixing a plate for Chase at the same time she said, “There is so much food, Max. Have a seat and eat some of it. Please?”
Kellie made eye contact with her and offered a grateful smile. Even though Camryn and Melanie had always respected their men’s feelings toward the guy, they had always stayed out of the feud as much as they could. Chase seemed happy to be loved by them at the moment, and Camryn and Teague seemed happy to be loving on him. Kellie assumed that was going to be a great ally for her.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Tate asked when Max gave him a nod. “This is your little guy, huh?”
“Yeah, this is Chase,” Max answered, finally letting a tiny smile escape. “Hey buddy, this is Tate. Can you say hi?”
Chase lifted his hand up and waved. “Hi, Tate.”
Kellie almost melted right there. She had no idea why. She didn’t even care that everyone was staring at them, realizing that Max and Tate knew each other somehow. All she cared about was the tiny little milestone that seemed to have been met at that moment.
One step forward, a million more to go.
At least that’s how she felt until she noticed Teague’s fiery glare aimed her direction.
Chapter Thirteen
Tate had no idea what to think of the situation. He was a guest for the first time in this home, and if he wasn’t a bit uncomfortable meeting some of Kellie’s family originally, he was certainly uncomfortable now.
As an outsider he could only make assumptions, but this looked like the first time Max had ever sat down to eat with these people. Teague seemed to focus most of his attention on Chase, but every so often he would look across the table at either Kellie or Max.
Melanie started making small talk with Max, but then there was some sort of shift in the situation because Teague pointed to both Kellie and Max and said, “We need to talk.”
He was about to get up from the table but Kellie replied, “Then talk. Right here with everyone.”
Teague’s jaw went taut as he stared at her. Tate could feel his own defenses being riled up. He didn’t like the way Teague was looking at her.
But before Tate could add himself to the McCallan family drama, it was Tyse that said, “Good idea. Let’s all talk.”
Sarah got up from the table, silently removed Cade from Jay’s arms, and leaned down to Chase’s level. “Hey, wanna go in the playroom with us? Cade wants to show you his favorite toys.”
Chase looked at Max, who nodded his head with silent agreement, so the little guy took Sarah’s hand and followed her into the house. “If we’re really super quiet we can peek in on the new baby, too,” she whispered to him, glancing at Camryn to let her know she’d check on C.J.
Chase’s smile was priceless. Tate wondered if he was ever around any other kids. He also wondered if he should even be a part of this family discussion (or whatever it was going to turn into) and thought maybe he should go join Sarah with the kids. But Kellie slipped her hand into his and he immediately knew she needed the support.
“What the fuck is going on?” Teague asked the second the sliding glass door shut.
“Chill out,” Kellie growled at him. “Why don’t you hear me out first, okay?”
“Fine, this should be interesting,” Teague retorted, leaning forward onto the table. “Go ahead and explain.”
“First of all, lose the shitty attitude,” she glared at him. “Do you see who came to see you today?” she motioned into the house, referring to Chase.
Teague took a deep breath and slowly released it, his face softening somewhat. “I’m definitely not going to complain about that. What I want to know is…what the hell is this?” He looked at Max and added, “Should we all hold hands and say grace, too?”
It was Tyse that said, “I think this is good. All of us. Here. Together. Kellie? Go ahead and say what you want to say.”
Everyone looked thoroughly confused. Again, Tate could only make assumptions, but Kellie wanting a family meeting was probably unheard of.
She placed her left hand—the one that wasn’t gripping Tate’s—on the table in front of her, almost like she was bracing herself. He could literally feel it building up inside of her and Tate was very familiar with that feeling. He squeezed her hand gently to let her know he was there to support her, and as soon as he did, her body seemed to relax a little.
“I am…so fucking sick and tired of this,” she began, speaking firmly yet quietly. “All of this tension and backstabbing and resentment and holding grudges and shit. Is it ever going to end?”
&nb
sp; “I’m not the one to answer that question,” Teague replied dourly.
He looked extremely pissed off right now, which made Tate glance at the other guys too. Jay was scowling, but he hadn’t said anything yet, and Tyse had obviously known this was coming somehow, so his expression was neutral.
“Yes, Teague, you are expected to answer it,” Kellie narrowed her eyes. “I understand everyone has fucked over everyone here at some point but—”
“Hey, whoa, hold on a fucking minute,” Teague growled. “When did I ever fuck him over? Huh? Because if my memory serves me right, he’s the one that got my girlfriend pregnant and lied to me about it!”
“I don’t think I can do this,” Max mumbled as he stood.
Teague stood up across from him. “Oh, and what’s that? Do what, Max? Come clean? Apologize? Ask for forgiveness? What in the fuck are you here for!?”
“Yeah, all of that!” Max yelled back. “That’s why I’m here, okay? Obviously only one of us cares that we’re brothers and is trying salvage something worth salvaging!”
Teague’s jaw clenched again but he didn’t respond right away. He shook his head and ran a hand across his face but he sat down at the table again.
Max sat too, but it might have been because Kellie grabbed his wrist and yanked him down. Tate noticed that Camryn’s arm was around Teague, trying to calm him down and keep his temper at bay.
“Kellie, what the hell is going on?” Jay finally asked. He motioned to Max. “He got to you, I wanna know how.”
“It’s not like that,” she shook her head with a frustrated sigh. “You guys have all been so busy at each other’s throats, you don’t realize how much I’ve been in the middle of it all. You guys had the falling out, remember?” she pointed to Max and Teague. “And yeah, I guess the logical thing would be to take a side,” she added, looking at Jay. “But guess what? I never did. I never chose a fucking side, okay? I understand you have reasons to hate each other, but I never developed that inclination.”
“What the fuck are you saying?” Jay scowled. “You want nothing to do with that side of the family, either. You changing your tune all of a sudden?”
