Page 69 of Falling With You

“Well, he’s an asshole, but he’s our asshole,” Brendon said.

“I feel like that needs to be the family tagline,” Dillon said, laughing.

“Yeah, well, that might be right.”

I sighed and went to one of the back tables where we could all sit. It had been slowing down, and that meant I could take some time off and let my staff do what they needed to do. Considering that no one had told me that I had said I was taking the day off just meant that they were used to my moods. I didn’t know how I felt about that, but I was head chef. It was sort of what I did.

All three of my brothers came and sat down next to me, Brendon helping Dillon with his books while Dillon carefully brought over his glass of milk while rolling his eyes.

“Oh, good, don’t waste the milk.”

“Yes, apparently, it’s good for my bones.”

“And we want you to keep growing, little one,” Cameron said, pinching Dillon’s cheek.

“The family love here is just so much, it’s making me want to throw up,” I said, laughing.

“Good to see you laugh,” Cameron said, leaning into me.

“So, what the fuck’s going on with you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re in a huff, you forgot that you weren’t going to actually work in the kitchen today, and you keep acting like you’re a bear with something in its paw.”

“I am not.”

“You are, too,” Brendon said.

“Is it Sienna?” Dillon asked, looking straight at me.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“It’s Sienna,” all three of them said at once, looking at each other and not me.

I hated them. I really did. And the fact that Dillon fit in with us so well, just said that he was indeed a Connolly and we were all fucked.

Or maybe we were just a family, and everybody was happy, and I just needed to get over myself. But…whatever.

“Everything’s fine.”

“Lie,” Brendon said, sipping his beer. He looked up at Cameron and tilted his head. “Good. Not too hoppy. Nice and refreshing. Maybe this should just be a seasonal one, though?”

Cameron nodded, taking another sip of his. “I agree. Something a little more limited so that way it drives up the sale. And something we can taste some more. I don’t know if it’s going to fit into our regular stock.”

“Seriously?” Dillon asked, looking between us. “You’re going to talk about beer instead of the fact that Aiden is stressing out over Sienna?”

“Beer’s important, it’s kind of our livelihood,” Cameron said, his eyes filled with laughter.

“No, food is our livelihood,” I snapped.

“Okay, so food is your livelihood, that’s great. What’s wrong with you and Sienna?” Dillon asked, throwing his hands up into the air and almost spilling his milk.

“Women are complicated.”

“Well, that’s an understatement,” Cameron muttered.

“Well, if you ask me…” Dillon began.