My Brother's Keeper(23)

Kendrick spun her in his arms. "You seem different."

Anne thought about it for a moment. "I do?"

"You seem more sure of yourself."

She nodded. "I think I am. Before, when there was confusion about Keelan, I wasn't sure where I belonged. Guilt at my attraction to you made me doubt who I was, but now..."--she wrapped her arms around his neck--"...now I know that's it's okay to be in love with you."

His eyes widened.

Oops!

She smiled brightly and bolted for the door. "Dinner smells great!"

She was halfway down the stairs when she heard him running. She squealed, and laughing hard, she ran for the dinning room. She burst into the room and everyone looked up in surprise. Grinning, she braced herself against the closed door. Seconds later, she was jolted by the impact of Kendrick hitting the door.

"Sonofabitch!"

Laughing, she ran for her chair. Everyone around the table was grinning.

Kendrick swung the door open and stepped through slowly, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "I know that Anne wouldn't block the door against me, causing me to bump my nose." He glared at her.

Anne shook her head. "You're right. It was Colton." She pointed at the blond whose mouth dropped open at the accusation.

Kendrick crossed his arms over his chest and began to tap his finger against his elbow. "I see. So Colton, why would you want to keep me from my mate?"

At his question, there were gasps around the table. Anne scowled at him. "You could have told them in a better way."

Kendrick shrugged and walked over to stand beside her chair. He looked around the table. "This isn't going to be a problem, is it gentlemen?"

Darian shook his head and looked around at the other men. "Keelan admitted to me that he wasn't attracted to Anne. Kendrick and I worked out that the dreams he had been having were premonitions to keep her safe, not mating dreams." He looked up at Kendrick. "I'm assuming that you both have been dreaming about each other?"

Anne nodded and looked up at Kendrick; he winked at her and sat down.

"Have you claimed each other yet?" Meryn asked.

"Meryn!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"What?" Meryn looked at Anne and Kendrick. "Too personal?"

Kendrick shrugged, and Anne just smiled at Meryn; the odd woman had grown on her. "I don't mind telling you when he claims me, but I'm not going into detail. Something tells me it will be too scandalous to share." She leered up at her mate. He just nodded and picked up his water glass.

Meryn giggled and held up her fist. Anne lifted her hand and gave the woman her imaginary fist bump. Meryn sighed happily. "I knew you'd fit in."

Colton watched her with a careful look. "She was hiding her crazy," he accused.

Rheia laughed and shook her head. "She was probably very conflicted about how she felt about Kendrick, especially considering what we told her about Keelan. Now that she's settled, I bet we see more of the real Anne Bennett."

Anne nodded. "She's right. Before, I knew I wasn't attracted to Keelan in that way, but everyone was calling me his mate. Then I met Kendrick, and I was drawn to my supposed mate's brother. I felt like utter shit."

Amelia reached around Kendrick to pat her on the shoulder. "Don't feel bad, that's five for five for relationships starting on the wrong foot in this house." All the women were nodding.

"At least you didn't beat Kendrick with any plumbing fixtures." Aiden commented.

Meryn threw her hands in the air. "Still?" She looked over at Anne. "At least he didn't lock you in his trunk." She turned and stuck her tongue out at her mate.

Laughing, Elizabeth chimed in. "I almost bled to death a couple of times."

Rheia hugged Colton's arm to her. "I surprised Colton with a daughter the day we met."

Amelia turned and held up her hand. "Don't even get me started about feeling guilty. Darian and I have you beat hands down."

Anne's face hurt from smiling so much. Everyone was trying so hard to make this less awkward for her and to help her feel like part of the family. "You'll have to tell me your stories later; they sound amazing."

"There's never a dull moment around here, that's for certain," Ryuu said, pushing the serving tray into the room. He had ladled out everyone's soup of choice and began serving as he made his way around the table.

"Sorry I stole your man, Ryuu," Anne joked.

Ryuu smiled down at her as he placed her dinner in front of her. "How shall I go on?"

Amelia clapped her hands together. "I know! Let's find a mate for Noah!"

Anne nodded enthusiastically. "I'm in. He's so beautiful; he deserves an amazing man."

Meryn began to bounce in her chair too. "Smart like the Doctor."

Anne nodded. "Handsome like Tezuka."

"Faithful like Rory." Meryn sighed.

"Considerate like Yuri." Anne added.

They looked at each other and Anne grinned. "I think our geekdoms overlapped."

Meryn threw her arm in the air. "Score!"

Elizabeth unfolded her napkin. "I don't think I have a geekdom, but I do like to organize things."

"I love make-up," Amelia confessed.

Anne turned to Rheia for her interests. Rheia shook her head and laughed. "I have a four-year-old; I can barely see straight at the end of the day, much less do make-up or keep to any organized plan."

Meryn picked up her spoon. "Yeah, I've pretty much given up on the smokey eye; my new nemesis is liquid lipsticks. They make me look like I've been kissing clowns." Grinning, she looked over at Aiden.

"Hey!" he laughed.

Anne thought about it for a moment. "I don't really have a lot of hobbies besides anime and cosplay when I had the odd weekend off." She paused. "Does baking count?"

Elizabeth nodded. "Absolutely. What is your favorite thing to make?"

Anne shrugged. "Anything really. I like cakes more than cookies though. When you make cookies, you roll everything out into one-inch balls. It takes forever to roll out two hundred and forty one-inch balls." She shuddered at the memory of last Christmas.

"That is a lot of cookies," Gavriel said.

"I donate to the women's shelters around the holidays. They hardly get anything homemade like that," Anne confessed.

"What a wonderful idea! How did you manage to do that and go to school?" Elizabeth asked.

Anne smiled. "It's not like I go out much. I'm pretty content staying at home watching television and making cookies. The sugar helped around exam time."

Colton exhaled in relief. "She's normal crazy, not like that one." He pointed to Meryn.

Meryn didn't even look in his direction. "I enjoy my crazy, thank you very much. I noticed a long time ago that those who value normalcy to the point of making someone else feel like shit for being different were assholes. I stopped caring about what people thought of me after that."

"We enjoy your crazy, too, Menace," Colton teased.

Anne laughed. "Why do they call you Menace?"

"Because that's what she is," Darian answered. "She likes to mess with us poor, hard-working unit warriors."

Amelia bumped shoulders with her mate. "She does not."

Darian gave Amelia a look. "Then answer me this: Why did Meryn have binoculars to give you right after you first arrived?"

Amelia opened her mouth then closed it. She looked over at Meryn. "Why did you have binoculars?"

"She likes to bird watch," Aiden answered.

Anne looked around the table to see if she was the only one who didn't believe that. She leaned forward in her chair to see Rheia's expression. Okay, that would be a big, fat no.

Meryn grinned. "Yup, I like to watch."

"Oh, Meryn." Elizabeth hid her face against Gavriel's upper arm. Gavriel's lips twitched as he tried not to laugh, but every once in a while, a snicker would escape.

Colton and Darian were exchanging looks. Colton nodded toward Aiden. Darian shook his head and pointed to Colton.

And the winner is? Anne wondered who would be brave enough to tell Aiden the truth.

Colton cleared his throat. "You know, Aiden, I don't really think Meryn is bird watching."

Aiden frowned. "What else would she be doing with binoculars?"

Kendrick raised his spoon and sipped his soup. "I assume you have a ranking system?"

Meryn laughed and nodded. "I even created a database."

Kendrick nodded in approval. "You'll have to show me how it works. I'd love to get some of the reference materials I've accumulated over the years into an easier to search format."

"Ranking system?" Aiden frowned.

Meryn ignored Aiden's question. "Sure, swing by the office any time," Meryn offered.

"Excellent," Kendrick agreed. "By the way, where did I rank?"

Meryn shook her head. "We haven't placed you yet since you haven't worked out with your shirt off."

Realization dawned on Aiden's face. "Meryn!" he bellowed.

"What? It gets boring around here," she complained.

"To whom is she referring, when she says 'we'?" Gavriel asked, his lips dancing along Elizabeth's neck as he spoke.

Elizabeth laughed, her cheeks flushed. "Noah. They only have me judge in the event of a tie."

Colton turned to Rheia. "Did you know about this?"

Rheia nodded. "I helped supply the chest measurements they needed for some of the more closely contested ranks."