My Ex-Boyfriend’s Brothers: Chapter 26

The trail Luke led me to was in a dense area of woods. It was even cooler under the tree coverage and I found myself enjoying the mostly flat hike. It helped that Luke hardly ever took his hands off me and that when he had to go ahead of me on a thin part of the trail I got to watch his back muscles flex.

“Do you like Devon?” Luke stepped over a fallen log and then lifted me over it. He didn’t let me go right away, instead he let me slide down his body and dropped his mouth to mine for a heated kiss.

My brain struggled to catch up when he let me go and pulled me along again. “Devon? Oh, yeah. He’s great. He’s also the reason I get to take a morning hike with you. He jumped right in and took over getting things set up with the band this morning. If it was more than making sure everything I already set up is good to go, I would’ve insisted on being in the call. Devon seems more than capable, though. So, thank you. Again. It means a lot that I could take off this morning.”

“I’ll give him a raise.” Luke smiled at my shocked expression. “What? It’s just money. Money that I’ll always happily spend if it means a morning like this morning.”

I felt my face burn and tried to ignore it but Luke stopped and cupped my face in his hands. I groaned and looked up into his eyes. “The nice thing would be to ignore my blush.”

“Ryan’s the nice one.”

“Jackson’s the bad boy.” I leaned into his warmth. “So what does that make you?”

“The lucky one who got to steal you away first.” He stroked my cheeks and kissed my forehead. “You’re beautiful when you blush.”

“Do you think it’s weird how natural this feels?” I held his sides and let my fingers trace the line of a scar on his side. “What’s this from?”

“No. You were always supposed to be mine, Maggie.” He grunted. “Or ours, I guess. And the scar is from a car crash a while back. Nothing serious.”

I leaned over so I could see the ragged looking scar that stretched about six inches from his back to his front. “It doesn’t look like nothing serious. How long ago?”

He pulled my face back up to his and kissed me slowly, doing his best to distract me with his tongue. It almost worked. If I couldn’t feel it under my hand, it would’ve. When he saw that I wasn’t going to let it go, he caught my hand and started pulling me along again. “A little over two years ago. I fell asleep at the wheel after a long day. No one else was involved but the tree I hit wasn’t too thrilled about it. A branch came through the windshield and got me.”

I stopped walking completely and refused to budge when Luke tugged at my hand. My chest had tightened painfully and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the scar. He could’ve died and I never would’ve known. I never would’ve had the night before or that morning.

“I’m fine, Maggie. I just pulled you out of the cabin for a hike. Dead men don’t hike, baby.” He closed the distance between us and wrapped me in a tight hug. “Breathe, Maggie.”

I sucked in a ragged breath and took a few seconds to just feel his heart beating under my cheek. “I didn’t know. No one told me. What happened? Why were you working so hard? You don’t do that anymore, do you?”

He pulled back and kissed me. “Gregor was in the car behind me and saw it happen. He called for help and I woke up in the hospital. It was much more traumatizing for him than it was for me. I still work long days but I don’t drive myself anymore. Ever.”

“I’m going to kiss Gregor when I see him.” I sighed and then bent down to trace my lips along the scar. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to take care of you.”

He growled and pulled me up just as I saw movement in his shorts. “You’re not kissing anyone but me. And Jackson and Ryan. I’ll get used to that eventually. I didn’t know you and Brad were over then. I told Brad not to tell you because I was terrified of you rushing in to try to take care of me with your big, kind eyes and your full lips. It would’ve been a lot harder to hide an erection while stuck in a hospital bed. Then he told me you guys weren’t together anymore and in my pain pill induced stupor I asked him to tell you then, since you were free.”

I gaped up at him. “You’re lying.”

He shook his head and looked sheepish. “It caused quite the drama for a while.”

I let out a bark of laughter that surprised both of us and sent a bird screaming from deeper in the woods. Slapping my hand over my mouth, I ducked my head and swallowed back more laughter. “Sorry! It’s not funny. I can just imagine the drama, though. Your dad and Brad’s mom never liked me. They were probably so glad to get rid of me that the idea of another one of their sons wanting me was fury inducing.”

“They’re in for quite the surprise.” Luke gripped the back of my neck and tugged me closer. “I should’ve come for you sooner.”

“Why didn’t you?”

He looked pained. “Work. Guilt for wanting my little brother’s girlfriend and then his ex. Stupidity. I don’t know. What I do know is that there’s no going back.”

“I mean, you can’t keep your hands off of me so it would be kind of hard to pretend like this never happened.” I winked at him and then moved around him to go first on the trail. “I wish I could’ve been there for you. If you want to pretend like you’re hurt again later, I’ll play doctor.”

He caught my arm and tugged me back into his chest. “I’ll take you up on that offer. I’m sure Jack and Ryan will understand that they can’t see you tonight because I’m ill.”

I rested my hands on his chest. “Are you really okay with this plan? Sharing me, I mean.”

His jaw tensed but he nodded. “It’s not easy. You make it worthwhile, though. This makes it easier, spending time alone with you. The rest will get easier.”

“You talk like you guys are going to want me for a long time.” I tried to make it sound like I wasn’t concerned but the truth was, I already couldn’t imagine things being over with them.

“Depends on what your definition of a long time is.” The mischief in his eyes told me he knew he was teasing me.

“And your definition of a long time?”

His smile was slow and sexy. “Long enough that you’d probably freak out if I told you. Now, come on. There’s an overlook I want to show you.”