“You shouldn’t be flinging her around,” Eli said with a superior tone only an oldest child could pull off. “You could hurt her.”
“Or maybe someone else hurt her,” Asher said, looking over at Dylan with a frown.
All of her brothers turned to glare at Dylan.
“Hey,” she said, trying to elbow her brothers out of the way. But they’d surrounded her, forming a human wall between her and Dylan. “Be nice, you guys. Dylan, these are my brothers. The tall one is Simon. The one in front of me is Dare. Eli is to his right and the last one is Asher.”
“Is he the reason you hardly ever come home?” Dare asked suspiciously.
“No, in fact, Dylan was the one who insisted we come here. And you’re all treating him like he’s Jack the Ripper or something,” she said with exasperation. “Will you let me through!” Finally, she gave Dare a jab in the kidneys.
“Hey!” he said, turning and rubbing his back. She broke through the gap he’d created and returned to Dylan’s side. “What’d you do that for?”
“To get you to move, you great oaf.”
“Wow, you’ve turned really mean since you’ve been living in the city.”
Tilly rolled her eyes.
“I think I like this side of you,” Simon said with a grin.
“Blame Eli, he’s the one who insisted on teaching me how to defend myself.”
“Yeah, but you weren’t supposed to use it on us,” Dare moaned. “We’re your brothers. You’re supposed to love us.”
“And I do. But I don’t appreciate you being rude to the man I love.”
They all gaped at her. “Love?” Asher asked in a dark voice. “Did she just say love?”
“I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth,” Dare groaned. “Do we have to talk about your love life? You’re my sister.”
Tilly rolled her eyes. “So I’m supposed to remain a nun all my life?”
“Yes,” Dare replied, stubborn as always.
She looked over at Simon, who was usually her only ally when her brothers got some crazy idea in their heads. He was looking at Dylan thoughtfully, sizing him up.
Dylan appeared slightly amused by all of this. Her dad sat back in his large chair, watching them all.
“I lived with Javier for nearly two years, Dare. I’m no nun.”
A look of fury crossed Dare’s face. “Yeah, well, he was no man. Not a real one anyway.”
“He finally got what he deserved,” Eli said as he moved away to sit on the sofa.
Asher sat beside him. “I just wish it was by my hand.”
The worse thing was she knew they weren’t joking. “You can’t go around killing every jerk out there.”
“We can if they hurt our sister,” Dare replied, glaring at Dylan.
“Dare, behave!” Tilly put her hands on her hips, prepared to defend Dylan to the death if necessary. And it might be, Dare wasn’t one to give up once he got an idea in his head and he had obviously decided he didn’t approve of her relationship with Dylan.
“Dinner’s ready,” Rosa called out from the doorway. Tilly sent her a grateful
look. Thank God. If they had food in their mouths, it meant they couldn’t be grilling her and Dylan.
Dylan watched Tilly’s family around the dinner table with a mix of amusement and shock. He was an only child. Dinner at his house had been quiet and peaceful. Not so in the King household. It was loud, raucous and downright vicious.