Wild and Free (The Wilder Brothers)

“Lucas, what did you do?” Kane asked.

“I’m getting there, Mom,” I said, rolling my eyes..

The brothers chuckled along with me, but Cash didn’t.

“I’ll absorb the cost, okay? But one of the new windows we were going to put up was at the base of the ladder. I wanted to install all of them before the storms rolled in this weekend, and I fell onto it,” I said.

“Holy shit, you got cut, didn’t you?” Drew asked.

“More like pierced.”

I lifted up my button-front shirt and all the brothers began to laugh. All except Cash. His fingertips reached out and traveled along the edge of the dressing before I put my shirt back down.

“How many stitches?” he asked.

“Forty something,” I said.

“You don’t even know how many stitches you have, Luke?”

“I busted a couple, so they put in a few more to hold the spot together.”

“Of course you did,” Everett said, grinning. “You’ve always been the damn reckless one of the bunch.”

“This could’ve been a lot worse, Luke. You could’ve gotten yourself killed,” Cash said.

“Trust me, I know that,” I said.

“But do you? The last time we talked, you promised me you wouldn’t be working on houses in the middle of the damn night if you couldn't sleep.”

“Cash, I get it. This could’ve been bad.”

“‘Bad’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. How long were you in the—?”

“Okay. That’s enough. This food I slaved over’s gonna get cold if you two don’t shut up,” Drew said.

“Slaved over? You picked it up two hours ago,” Flynn said.

“I am hungry, though,” Everett said.

“My appetite’s back now that Luke put his damn shirt down,” Cayden said.

Drew threw his head back and laughed while Cash growled in frustration.

“You and I are talking later,” he said.

“Trust me, I’m expecting it,” I said.

“Y’all ready to say grace?” Cayden asked.

“Yep.”

“Let’s go.”

“I’m hungry. Let’s eat.”

We all took hands and Drew said the blessing over the massive buffet of food in front of us. Though Drew was technically our cousin, he felt more like a brother than anything else. We grew up together. Played together. Snuck out together. Threw parties together. Got in trouble together. Hell, he was the one who suggested the restoration business in the first damn place. Since my brothers and I took an offshoot and decided to do our own thing, he was in line to take over my parents’ real estate empire once they passed.

Especially since his own parents weren’t gonna leave him jack shit.