6 Mountain Brothers for Christmas

I looked over at Jenn and tried to imagine her with Bennett McCormick – the oldest of the brothers. He'd been a senior when we were freshman, and the last time I saw him, he'd been dating one of the cheerleaders. Typical jock move. Back then, he'd never given us the time of day. “You went on a date with Bennett McCormick?” I asked. “And you never told me about it?”

Jenn shrugged. “Like I said, it didn't go anywhere. He was nice, but I was already interested in Martin by then.”

Back in high school, there was no way Jenn or I would have chosen Martin Drake over any of the McCormick brothers. No girl of sound mind would have. The McCormick brothers were the most gorgeous men in school. They were practically royalty in Black Oak and had their pick of the girls. And for the most part, they'd been cocky assholes. But like I'd learned, a lot had obviously changed since those days. And Jenn was happy, so that was all that mattered.

A mischievous little grin spread across my best friend's face. “Why don't you go over there, Hailey?” she said. “I'm sure they'll just die when they see you!”

My cheeks burned and flushed with color as I looked down at my hands. “They wouldn't even know who I am,” I said. “They never did back then.”

“You'd be surprised, sis,” Jenn said. “Seriously, go say hello.”

“Maybe later,” I said, no longer straining to see if the brothers were in the truck.

I didn't want to look too desperate. Besides, I may have been single, but I was far from ready to start dating again. Just the idea of entering into a relationship so soon after getting back to town made my stomach roil and a wave of nausea rise up within me.

Not that I stood a chance with any of the brothers in reality, anyway. Even if I looked a lot different than I had back then, my transformation was nowhere near as dramatic as Jenn's. She was like an entirely new person.

And me? Well, I was apparently still very much me.

CHAPTER TWO - CASON

Preparing for the Bonfire

“Think I could get some help here?” I asked.

I pushed the door to my brother's bedroom open. Bennett – the oldest of the three of us – was already up and at the restaurant. But Quinn, the middle brother, was sleeping in.

Quinn rolled over in bed and grumbled something that vaguely sounded like English at me, the girl next to him still snoring away. The girl – Shelly Stewart – was an on-again, off-again fixture around the house, so that wasn't surprising to me that she was snuggled up with him in bed.

What was surprising though, was that both of them were fully clothed. Usually, I got an eyeful when I opened the door to Quinn's room in the morning. Typically, I either got a glimpse of my brother's bare ass or Shelly's boobs – which she didn't seem to care about hiding.

But today, they were both in pajamas, which was different.

Ever since I'd graduated from high school, I'd slacked on the workouts and wasn't nearly as in shape as I used to be, especially compared to Quinn and Ben, who still worked out hard every day – and it showed.

Sometimes, I envied my brothers’ muscular physiques. Having a leaner build, when I saw either of my brothers with their shirts off, was another reminder to me that I needed to hit the gym.

Except for the fact that he was more muscular and in better shape than me though, Quinn and I were spitting images of one another – right down to the reddish-brown hair. Quinn was desperately in need of a haircut though, with his shaggy locks spilling down to his shoulders. I kept mine trimmed neatly – mostly because I needed to keep it out of the way when I was working in the kitchen.

“Quinn, seriously, we need to get moving, bro,” I said. “We need to get the grills set up by ten.”

Sometimes, going into business with my brothers seemed like it was more trouble than it was worth. There were times I felt more like a babysitter than a partner. And other times, I enjoyed the hell out of it. The camaraderie we shared sometimes made the workdays fun and entertaining.

This though, wasn't one of those times.

Quinn peeked out from under his squinted eyes and he groaned when he saw me. But instead of fighting me, like he used to do in high school, he instead, immediately swung his legs over the side of his bed. Running a hand through his long hair, he sat there, certainly not in any hurry to actually get out of bed.

“Come on, Shells,” he said, not turning to the girl in his bed. “I have to get to work.”

His voice sounded more detached than usual; distant and there was a tension in the air I hadn't noticed before. Groaning, Shelly got up, and quickly threw on her shoes. I looked at Quinn with a question in my eyes, but he merely shrugged. The silence in the room was as awkward as it was painful to witness.

“I'm going to be outside,” I said, excusing myself from an obviously awkward situation.

Quinn and Shelly had been together on and off since high school. Everyone always assumed they were soul mates, but living under the same roof as my brother, I knew the pain Shelly brought to him. I knew the way she turned his heart and mind upside down and inside out. But he kept going back, like a loyal lap dog to its owner. Every single time. Whenever Shelly called, Quinn was right there, wagging his tail, begging for a little love and attention.

With a sigh and a shake of my head, I left them to work out their latest issues in peace.

Walking out front, I moved my pickup truck to the garage where we stored everything for the business that wasn't in the restaurant itself. As I opened the garage door, Shelly slammed the front door behind her, and walked down the steps, huffing and puffing her way to her car, parked on the street in front of the house.