“He’s staying at your place?” Miles asked, shaking his head.
“Yeah. They all are.”
“What’s his deal with you?”
“He fucking hates me. The shit that went down with Kate wasn’t good. I fucked up big time—”
“I don’t need to know details,” Miles cut in.
“Yeah, well, neither did Bram, but apparently he knows more than I realized.”
We pulled up to the curb outside my house, and I swung my door open. “Thanks for the ride.”
“You need me to stay?” Miles asked as Bram stumbled out of the SUV ahead of us.
“Nah, his brothers will keep him in line, and their parents are in the house with the kids.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, even Bram wouldn’t start shit with the kids there.”
I waved as I walked toward the front of the house, coming to a stop outside the passenger-side door of Kate’s SUV. She was passed out, her head tilted back against the seat.
“You want to carry her in?” Trevor asked quietly as Anita and Henry walked a stumbling Bram inside.
“Yeah, I’ll get her.”
I opened the door and unbuckled Katie, sliding my arms under her so I could lift her up.
“Bram’s going to feel like shit in the morning,” Trevor told me, shutting the car door after I’d pulled Kate out.
“He ruined her fucking birthday,” I snarled, situating Kate more solidly against my chest as she wrapped her arms around my neck. “He needs to get a handle on his shit. Kate and I are fine—why the fuck does he have to keep bringing that shit up?”
I walked toward the house and slid in sideways while Dan held the door open.
“Looks like she had a good time,” he said quietly.
“Yeah, until your son lost his fucking mind.”
“What happened?”
I shook my head and walked Kate up the stairs to bed. She didn’t stir again as I pulled her hands from around my neck, and I didn’t bother doing anything but unsnapping her bra and pulling her jeans and shoes off. She was out for the night.
I grabbed a wet washcloth and cleaned my face off as I checked on each of the kids. I always made the rounds at night, making sure each of them was safe and sleeping before I crawled into bed. Half the time one of the boys was on the floor when I checked on them, and I had to re-tuck them into their beds.
I could hear the murmur of voices as I shut Sage’s door, so I walked back downstairs.
Bram was passed out on the floor of the living room, a pillow stuffed under his head. I wanted to kick him, but didn’t.
“Coffee?” Ellie asked as I moved into the kitchen.
“Yeah, thanks.”
Everyone was gathered around the kitchen table, with Trevor and Henry seated at the bar stools next to the counter.
“You okay?” Dan asked, glancing from my face to the bloody washcloth in my hand.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I huffed, finding an empty seat and sinking into it with a grunt. Bram had knocked me into the legs of a table, and I could already feel bruises forming on my lower back.
“What the hell happened?” Liz asked, her eyebrows drawing together. “You two just started throwing punches?”
I shook my head, thanking Ellie for the cup of coffee she placed on the table in front of me.
“Bram was running his mouth,” Henry spit out furiously, turning to look at me. “I’m sorry I brought it up, dude. I had no idea it was going to cause such a shit storm.”
“Not your fault, Hen.”
“I thought Kate was going to jump in between you two,” Anita said quietly, her eyes tired and rimmed with smudged makeup. “God, Bram is such a dick sometimes.”
“I shouldn’t have hit him,” I said, my stomach clenching as I thought of the conversation I’d have with Kate when she woke up.
“If you didn’t, I would have,” Trevor said. “And I’m not even drunk.”
The conversation was steered to the girls’ musical talents and the songs they’d sung, and before long Ellie, Dan, and Liz were leaving as the rest of the group got their beds ready.
“Why’re you staying?” I asked Mike, after he’d kissed Ellie good-bye and come back into the kitchen.
“Gonna keep an eye on Bram,” he said, patting my back as he passed me. “Dan has trouble sleeping when he’s not in his own bed, so it was better for him to go with Liz.”
“I couldn’t believe that shit tonight,” I groaned, slouching down in my chair. “He picked a fight and I stepped right into it.”
“Now that your mother’s gone, why don’t you tell me what he said?”
“It wasn’t as much what he said, as how he said it,” I told my dad, clenching my hand into a fist. My knuckles were torn. “He made some comment about getting my dick wet and how Kate was just waiting to take care of it.”