Fighting For You (The Connor Family 5)

His eyes lit up. “Oooh, yes. I’m just missing a few.”

I chatted with Milo right up until Val offered me wine.

“Chardonnay is my favorite,” I told her as she filled my glass.

“We have a system. We drink Chardonnay when we celebrate something and Pinot when we’re sulking,” Hailey explained.

“Hey, that’s a great system. I might adopt it too.”

“We’re so happy you came by tonight. We were wondering when Jace would finally man up and bring you around,” Hailey went on.

“I heard that,” Jace called from a few feet away.

“Pretend you didn’t,” Hailey volleyed back smoothly. “If this has you up in arms, you’re going to be brooding by the end of the evening.”

“I thought you were supposed to be on his side,” I said.

Jace winked at me. Hailey caught our exchange and smiled to herself.

“I switch sides from time to time. Just to spice things up.”

“As a sister should do,” I declared.

Val placed an arm around my shoulders, squeezing me in a side hug. “I like you, Brooke. You’re just what Jace needs.”

I grinned from ear to ear. If there was one person who knew Jace best, it had to be Val.

“We should give her some input on our dearest brother,” Hailey said.

Lori elbowed her. “Hailey! We don’t want to scare her away.”

“Oh, no worries. I’m not easily scared.”

Man, I was enjoying this. No wonder Jace stuck to his iron-clad rule of not taking on any social commitments on Friday evening. I sat on the couch surrounded by the girls, who had no shortage of stories to share while we sipped wine.

“Jace was good at giving scares,” Lori said. “Remember when this guy showed up to take me to a movie, and Jace gave him the talk? I wanted to be mad, but instead I was trying hard not to laugh because my thirteen-year-old brother was scaring the crap out of a sixteen-year-old.”

“Wait a second, Jace gave the guy the talk?” I asked incredulously.

“Yep. It was so efficient that the guy never asked me on another date. He’s got an overprotective streak a mile long,” Lori went on.

“I would’ve paid serious money to see this.” I was enjoying their stories so much that I would’ve gladly skipped dinner just to hear more. He rarely spoke about himself, but his sisters’ stories were like pieces of a puzzle. The more I heard, the closer I felt to Jace.

During dinner, the girls kept the storytelling to the minimum, but guess who filled in the gaps? None other than Will. “Careful with this one. He’s a troublemaker. Spent half my teenage years chasing him and Hailey around.”

Hailey rolled her eyes. “And you spent the other half causing trouble, so don’t try to convince Brooke you were a saint. Jace and I weren’t that bad.”

“Interesting. Now you’re on Jace’s side, huh?” I called her out. “When Will is also throwing you under the bus?”

“I know when to have his back.” Hailey grinned before winking at Jace.

Midway through dinner, the conversation turned to the foundation.

“I can always wire more funds if they’re too low,” Landon offered.

“Thanks, Landon, but we’ve just signed up a few more donors,” Will said.

“Jace and Brooke have been a great help,” Paige added.