Branna(50)

“You know what?” my friend boasted, sudden confidence filling her tone. “You are goin’ on the pull tonight. You’re goin’ to kiss the socks off a lad and forget about Damien Slater.”

If only.

“Yeah.” I whooped with fake enthusiasm. “Good idea.”

Bronagh beamed, pleased with herself. “Great. Go on down and tell the lads I’m ready. I’m gonna go get some of Branna’s perfume and see if she’s ready.”

I nodded and left the room. When I reached the ground floor, I turned and walked down the hallway and into the kitchen where I walked headfirst into one of the Slater brothers. I looked up and found Alec Slater looking down at me with a shit-eating grin on his way too perfect face. He placed his large hands on my shoulders to steady me, and he left them there, which had me freaking out because he was too hot for words to be touching me for a long period of time.

“So sorry,” I said rapidly.

He continued to grin. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, sweetheart.”

I heard a groan from inside the kitchen followed by some snickering.

“She just turned eighteen, big brother.”

It was Dominic who spoke, and I wanted to pummel him for embarrassing me.

Alec simply winked at me before he removed his hands from my shoulders, moved around me, and ventured off down the hallway then upstairs. I inhaled and exhaled before I stepped into the kitchen. Without realising it, I turned around to the empty space Alec just vacated and stared as if he would magically reappear.

“He’s so damn pretty.”

I looked to my right when male laughter sounded, and when I found the remaining four Slater brothers staring at me, I widened my eyes.

“Did I say that out loud?” I asked, horrified.

The group nodded, and I felt blood rush up my neck to my cheeks, which prompted me to place my face in my hands.

“You’re doing much better than Bronagh if it’s any consolation,” Dominic offered. “She stared at all my brothers when she first met them. I’m sure she drooled too.”

I dropped my hands, my cheeks still aflame.

“Speakin’ of Bronagh, go and put ‘er out of ‘er misery.”

Dominic blinked. “You wanna expand on that?”

“She’s mortified to see you even though you both… you know.”

He smirked. “Yeah, I know.”

Ryder and Kane shook their heads while Damien bumped fists with his twin.

“Go act normal so she can stop freakin’ out ‘cause when she is freaked, I have to be freaked. Best friend code.”

Damien laughed; his brothers didn’t. I felt a surge of pleasure that at least he thought I was funny.

“I’ll go take care of her,” Dominic said as he stood up, moved past me, and left the room.

When I was alone with the remaining three brothers, I found myself moving back and forth on my heels. I stopped moving when fear of my ankles giving way under my high heels entered my mind.

“So.” I cleared my throat. “You’re American.”

Alannah, oh my God.

I cringed at the shocking conversation starter.

“And you’re Irish,” Kane rumbled. “Now that we’ve gotten the obvious out of the way, how close are you with Bronagh?”

I wasn’t prepared for the question, nor the tension in Kane’s tone and the accusation in his glaring eyes.

“Bro,” Damien began, but one look from his older brother silenced him.

Kane looked back at me, awaiting my reply, and I could do nothing but stare at him. He was extremely intimidating. Bronagh warned me about his appearance, and I knew that his scars wouldn’t bother me because his looks didn’t define him, but she failed to mention that he was a bit of an arse.

“Close as new friends can be, I guess,” I replied with a one shoulder shrug.

Kane cocked a brow. “Has she talked to you about us?”

“Us?”

“Me. My brothers.”

I blinked. “Um, no. She told me your names, that you’re from New York and said you’re all good lookin’, but that’s about it.”

Ryder smiled and was about to speak, but Kane wasn’t finished.

“Are you gonna ask questions about us?”

I got the feeling he didn’t like me, though I wasn’t sure why because he didn’t know me.

I swallowed. “No, why would I?”

“Because you’re curious.”

“About Damien, not you.”

I realised what I said the second the words left my mouth, and I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole because it sounded sassy, and I was rarely sassy.

“I didn’t mean that like it sounded,” I blurted. “I mean—”