“Wow.”
“Yeah, I know. Sometimes I think I’m adopted. At the same time, if you want to know what guys are really like behind all the flirting and flattery, there you go.”
I laugh. “They want to STIC you.”
“Touché.”
I snort. “They’re only interested in their sticks.” I smirk and look over at Beth, who is eyeing the bus.
“Come on. I’ll drive you over to the sticky place, and we can bake cookies. I’ll share my guys suck recipe with you. It’s top secret.”
“The O cookies?”
She nods. “Fuck, yeah! Who needs a guy when you have those?”
I giggle and wipe the tears from my eyes, forgetting about Carter for a moment. Beth climbs into the drivers seat and starts the bus. I plop down behind her. Before the raccoon can pitch a fit, she shifts the thing into gear and floors it. Me and Rocky are plastered to our seats as Beth bolts from the campus.
Chapter 9
My jeans are caked with flour, and my hair is tied in a sloppy ponytail when another one of her brothers walks into the house. He calls to her, “Beth? Where’d you get a bus?”
“How’d he know you were here?” I mouth to her.
She shrugs. “I’m pretty sure my mother had me chipped when they did the dog. Seriously, they always know where I am.”
A guy that looks like Josh and Jace rounds the corner to the kitchen. I’m standing at the table chopping up bits of Butterfingers with a huge knife. He stops and sweeps his eyes over me quickly. “She’s right. We did have her chipped with Fluffy. The two of them kept making plans to run away together. Something had to be done.” He walks over, pops a bit of the candy in his mouth, and looks up at me. “I’m Justin.”
“Kerry.”
“Nice to meet you.”
I glance at Beth and then at Justin. “You seem a little too normal to be related to Josh and Jace.”
He laughs. “Yeah, I get that a lot. They’re middle children.”
“Well, that explains everything.”
He nods like it does, and pops another piece of candy in his mouth. “Not that I want to throw you out of my home, but I have some guys coming over to wo
rk on a project. When will you be done?”
“If you don’t kick us out, I can feed you guys cookies.” She makes a throaty noise and chants, “Me love cookies,” nailing a Cookie Monster impersonation.
“Fine, but stay in the kitchen. I don’t need these guys hitting on you. Then Josh will freak out, and Jace will make sure they never breathe again. We don’t need a repeat of the Ronald incident.”
Beth shoots daggers at her brother. “No. We certainly do not.”
“Who’s Ronald?”
Beth says, “Don’t ask,” at the same time as Justin says, “Her last boyfriend.”
I smile and quietly watch the exchange between them. Beth tries to continue cooking like it doesn’t bother her, but I know it does. They meddle. No, it’s beyond that. They’re an infestation and equally difficult to dislodge.
“He only wanted one thing.”
“Right. Because a guy couldn’t possibly like me for me.”
“You’re naïve. Good thing we’re around.”