Paxton was also dressed like a witch, but had gotten out of painting her face green by using Gage as an excuse.
Right as we walked up, Cord looked past us.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
“Hey, there’s Jonathon. Jon! Hey, over here!”
Waylynn glanced over her shoulder, and it was hard not to notice her disappointment.
“He brought a date,” she whispered.
Amelia pulled Waylynn into the seat next to her. I sat down, and Mitchell sat on the other side of me.
“Wipe that look off your face right now, Waylynn,” Amelia said, pointing her finger at her sister.
Snapping out of it quickly, Waylynn smiled again. “Right. No big deal.”
I reached for her hand and squeezed it. “Are you okay?” I asked in a hushed voice.
Nodding, Waylynn replied, “Yep. This is what I needed. A good kick in the ass to move on. So that’s what I’m going to do.”
She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Mitchell leaned in closer to me and asked, “What’s going on? Waylynn didn’t seem too pleased to see Jonathon here.”
I faced Mitchell and forced a grin. “I’ll tell you later, but everything’s okay.”
He looked at me like he knew I wasn’t telling him the truth.
Everyone said hello to Jonathan and his date, Bethany. Even Waylynn was pleasant—and putting on a total show. I couldn’t help but notice how Jonathon kept stealing glances and peeks at Waylynn. There was no doubt in my mind; he liked Waylynn. A lot.
When Jonathon and Bethany sat down at the table, Waylynn jumped up and made her way across the room.
“What’s going on with Waylynn and Jon? He can’t keep his eyes off of my sister, and she can’t stop looking back at him. I know you know. Spill it,” Mitchell said.
Cheese and crackers.
I swallowed hard, trying to think of something to do or say that would alter the course of this conversation.
Leaning in, I placed my lips against Mitchell’s ear.
“I want you. Now.”
He drew back and smiled at me. “Oh yeah? You’re gonna have to do better at convincing me to change the subject. And you’re not getting me to leave yet another party.”
My cheeks heated. Moving in closer so no one would hear us, I whispered, “I want you to fuck me. Now.”
And like that, I’d worked my witchy magic, and Mitchell had forgotten all about Waylynn and Jonathon.
I walked into the kitchen and smiled when I saw my brothers and Wade sitting there.
“You ready for this shit?” Trevor asked before pushing a forkful of eggs into his mouth.
Mom reached across the table and slapped Trevor on the side of the head. “Do not swear at my table, Trevor Parker.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied with a wide grin.
“How are you liking your new job, Mitch?” Cord asked, leaning back in his chair with a cup of coffee.
“I’m sore as shi…um…I’m sore as heck,” I answered, peeking over to my grinning mother.
Trevor and Wade laughed.
“I forgot how much daily work goes into this place. I don’t know how you did it before Wade,” I said to Trevor.
“We made do with the other ranch hands and y’all when you could make it.”
A large plate of pancakes sat in the middle of the table along with bacon. Damn, it smelled good, and my stomach let me know how hungry I was.
Mom clapped her hands and said, “Eat up, boys. You’ve got a lot of work to do today.”
Steed walked into the kitchen with Chloe at his side.
“Good morning, uncles!” she shouted as she shot by us and made her way to Dad’s office.
Trevor laughed. “I see where the uncles fall in the order of most-loved.”
Mom laughed and added, “What about me? She ran right on by me.”
Steed kissed Mom on the cheek. “She loves you all equally. It’s just Dad has promised her she can drive one of the tractors today. Good Lord, that girl couldn’t even go to sleep last night she was so excited.”
Steed sat across from me.
“Eat up, Steed,” Mom said.
“No thanks, Mom. Paxton made us a big breakfast this morning.”
His eyes caught mine, and he smiled. He and Paxton were the only two who knew Corina and I were trying for a baby. “How’s the planning coming?” he asked.
Everyone else probably thought he meant the wedding planning, but I knew what the bastard was asking.
“It’s going great. Stayed up half the night working on it.”
Steed laughed and shook his head as he said, “Damn.”
Reaching for Steed’s hat, my mother took it off and set it on the long buffet table. She did the same thing with mine when she walked by.
“You boys know better than to keep those hats on during breakfast.”
“Yes, ma’am,” we said together.
Our mom sat down and glanced around the table. Anytime she had all her boys there, she went in for the kill. We were all holding our breath, waiting to see who would be the first victim.