Calmly, Carefully, Completely (The Reed Brothers 3)

Shit. Maggie has her teeth bared at him, and she’s gnashing them. “You might want to let me up,” I warn.

“Is she going to bite me?” he asks.

“Fuck, I don’t know.” He lifts his hands and moves to the other side of the room. Maggie hops onto the bed, gets between me and him, and growls. “Mags,” I say, just like Reagan would. Maggie turns and slides her head under my hand. A laugh bursts from my throat. “Now that shit’s funny,” I say.

Sam doesn’t agree, if his scowl is any indication. “You cheated with a f**king dog,” he says. But a grin breaks across his face.

I scratch Maggie behind the ears. She loves me. Already. “He’s all right, girl,” I tell her. She nuzzles my hand, her eyes going back and forth between Sam and me. “She can tell us apart. Ain’t that some shit?” I ask.

Sam backs out of the room, and I follow with Maggie at my heels. I sit down on the couch, and she drops at my feet and lays her head on her paws.

They still have the movie turned off, and I can tell they’re waiting to grill me.

“Did you two make up?” Paul asks, as he crosses one foot over his leg. He’s trying to be casual about it, but we both know there’s nothing casual when he’s being serious. And he’s serious about this.

“We tried, but then Pete sicced his dog on me,” Sam grouses. He sits down on the arm of the couch. Emily’s in Logan’s lap in the lazy chair, and Matt and Paul are on the other couch.

“Who’s the girl?” Paul asks, jerking his thumb toward the bathroom.

I look toward it, and my insides go soft just thinking about her. “Her name is Reagan. You don’t care if she spends the night, do you?”

Sam raises his hand like a teacher is calling on him in class. “She can sleep in my room.”

I throw a pillow at his head, but he ducks and it sails past him.

“Is that the Reagan?” Matt asks. He reaches for a can of nuts on the coffee table and pops a handful into his mouth.

“Yeah,” I reply. “But don’t mention that to her, will you?” They all know about the rape. “And don’t act like you pity her when she’s around, all right? She’s private about that stuff.”

“I don’t pity her,” Emily says. “I admire the hell out of her.” She steals Matt’s nuts by crawling into his lap and prying them from his hands. He bats at her fingers, but he’s playing. He f**king loves Emily. We all do.

“Well, I think I love the hell out of her, so you guys be nice.”

My brothers freeze. All but Sam, and he’s busy trying to steal the can of nuts from Emily. She knocks him over the head with it, and he gives up, sulking.

“You love her?” Paul asks quietly.

I can’t bite back my grin. “Yeah.”

“He’s got the coochie disease,” Sam says. “You know, the one where you get some and can’t stop thinking about getting some more.”

I throw another pillow at his head. “We haven’t even done that,” I say quietly. I look toward the door. I don’t want her to hear me.

“You haven’t?” Matt asks. He walks over and sits down on top of Emily, who’s still in Logan’s lap, and steals the nuts back from her. She squirms under him and finally gives up. He holds out a cashew for her, and she opens her mouth like a baby bird so he can pop it in. Then he climbs off her.

“Nope.” God, they’re nosy. “She has an apartment across town, over near where Emily lives.”

“Oh, then we can take her home,” Emily chirps. But she’s already harassing Matt for the can of nuts again. He pins her down on the couch with his elbow and eats them while refusing to let her up. “Logan!” she whines, but she’s laughing.

Logan just smiles. She gets herself into these messes; she can get herself out.

“I want her to stay here,” I say, shaking my head at Emily. Matt lets her up, and she leans against him with her head on his shoulder. He likes to cuddle with her. She’s like a sister to all of us, and I hope Reagan will fit in as well as Emily does one day. But I really can’t imagine her wrestling with them the way Emily does.

“What happened to your eye?” Paul asks. My eye is still a little blue from when she hit me.

“Reagan hit me,” I admit. Logan grins.

“Marry her,” Logan says. “Marry her right away.”

I nod. “I think I might,” I say quietly. I watch their faces. They all look at me, and then Logan starts to laugh. He gets up and high-fives me.

“Thank God,” he says. “I thought Emily would be the only girl around her forever.”

“Emily’s not a girl,” Matt says, grimacing at the thought of it. She shoots him a heated glance. But she’s not a girl. Not to any of us.

“So, you guys will be nice to her, right?” I ask.

“Duh,” Sam says drolly as he walks into the kitchen and gets a beer. He brings one to me, but I shake my head. I’m going to have Reagan in my arms for the first time ever tonight, and I want to keep my head straight.

I hear the bathroom door open and get up. Reagan walks to stand beside me and whispers, “Which room is ours?” Her hair is loose and damp, hanging down over her shoulders. Her face is free of makeup, and she smells so damn good that I want to lick her. I adjust my junk, and Matt snickers. I scowl at him, and he nods toward the bedroom. It’s a subtle warning, but I take it. “It was nice to meet you, Reagan,” he says.