“Yeah.” Her smile remained, but it tightened. “Maybe.” Her eyes darted to Cross again. She didn’t say anything else, but it looked like she wanted to.

Cross nodded to Ava. “Sorry about that. We’ll follow you.”

We sat in the corner.

A different server brought over water, then soda. We had just gotten our second round of drinks when a hush fell over the Pizzeria.

I didn’t need to look up to know why.

My brother had arrived.

I kept my eyes glued to the menu, not needing to see the sick worship Channing always received. I’d read the same sentence ten times before Channing and Moose got to our table.

“Hey, guys.” Channing moved around, taking the empty seat on my left. He faced the rest of the restaurant, his back to the window. Moose sat next to him.

I’d been right. He pushed back one of the extra chairs and moved his over to take all the space. His massive shoulders hunched forward, but not in a sheepish way. He was trying to get comfortable, if that was possible. Moose could’ve told me he ate ostrich eggs as a snack, and I would’ve believed him. (Though, I don’t support that.) “Bren.” He gave me a friendly smile.

“Hi.”

Channing had been watching me. I ignored him, and he sighed. “Really?” he asked under his breath.

Zellman chose now to make his entrance. He literally jumped into the seat beside Moose, leapfrogging over the back of the chair as he clamped a hand around Moose’s bicep. “I think this is as big as my head. What’s your secret?” Z’s grin was lopsided. “Vegan organic egg whites for every single meal of your life and for a midnight snack?”

Moose barked out a laugh, grabbed Zellman, and pulled him in for a headlock. “Let’s see if it is.” He flexed, his bicep pushing against Z’s face.

Jordan’s eyes got big. “Dude. It is. Oh my God. Look. Side by side, it’s the same size.” He pulled his phone out and snapped a picture.

“No way.” Z grabbed for it, showing Moose.

And that was just the start. Z wanted to see what else matched the size of Moose’s bicep.

As they kept taking photos, I began to believe they were going to do a whole collage. Jordan insisted he didn’t know what Pinterest was, but I didn’t believe him.

“You guys come in here a lot?”

Channing surprised everyone with that question.

The bicep-comparison photo session was paused.

Jordan lowered his phone and shrugged. “I guess. I don’t know. It’s okay.”

Z propped his elbows on the table, a rapt expression raising his eyebrows. “Why? Are you getting into the pizza business?”

But Channing just leaned back in his seat. “I don’t know.”

“Really?” Z leaned over the table.

“Dude. That’d be amazing.” Jordan held up a fist to Z, who met it with his own.

“You serious?” Moose asked.

Channing put his hand on the back of my chair. I wasn’t looking at him, but he sounded bemused. “Maybe. It’d be an interesting business idea, don’t you think?”

Moose shook his head. “Scratch is going to go ape-shit.”

“Why?” Channing let go of my chair and pulled up close to the table again. “It wouldn’t compete with the bar.”

“Because you’re already hardly ever there. Scratch says he’s been running the whole thing by himself.”

I looked up at that. “Really?” I turned to my brother. “Don’t take our cousin for granted. It’s not fair if he’s the only one handling the bar.”

The guys got all quiet.

I knew why. Everyone probably did.

It was rare for Channing to be questioned.

And my brother wasn’t disturbed. He shrugged, picking up a water. He grinned at me, winking. “You worried about me, Bren? Don’t want me to isolate myself?”

I flushed. Asshole. He was taking a shot at me.

I twisted forward so fast, my chair scraped against the floor. “Never mind. Do what you want.”

I grabbed my water too, sipping through the straw until half of it was gone.

Conversation died, and I knew it was my fault. I should’ve let the guys pepper Channing with questions. I should’ve just kept my mouth shut, but I hadn’t. And now it was awkward.

“I’m sorry.” Channing’s words were soft.

I tensed, but didn’t turn toward him.

“I didn’t mean that how it came out,” he added. “Scratch has been busting my balls for being too involved with things going on. That was the reason for the bad joke.”

Moose snorted. “You should never joke, Chan. Ever. You’re the worst funniest person I know.”

“Worst funniest?” I could hear my brother smiling. “We doing this same joke? Let me say my part. ‘You need to go to college, Moose. Get a real education.’”

“Ha! Says the guy who barely finished high school.” Moose slapped a hand on the table.

“Agh!” The server had approached, her order pad in hand. She jerked at the sound, and the pad went flying. It landed in front of Zellman, who started cracking up.

“Oh. Oh my gosh!” She scrambled for it, but Z was already reading from it.

“Look, guys.” He pointed at Jordan. “You’re ‘tl gy’.” He pointed to himself. “I must be ‘wrd gy.” He twisted around in his chair. “Is that for weird or word? Because I’ll own up to both. Or, no. Wait.” He plucked the pencil from her hand and crossed out something on the pad, scribbling another word. “There. I’ll be ‘fny gy.’ Funny guy. That’s my role generally.”

Jordan snorted, even Cross was grinning.

A softness zinged me and I said, “We know you have layers, Z. You just hide them better than everyone.”

Everyone stilled around the table.

Jordan and Cross watched Z for his reaction. My brother and Moose fell silent.

Even Ava seemed to be waiting.

Then Z coughed, a look in his eyes mirroring what I’d felt. He ducked his head a bit, sneaking a look at me from under his eyelashes. “I’ll write you as ‘pfs girl’.” His grin was sly. “Pretty fucking sexy.”

I frowned. I’d expected a different response, but shrugged. It was what it was.

“Thanks, Z.”

Seeing the girl’s embarrassment, Zellman took pity and offered the pad back. “I’m just giving you a hard time. I don’t mean anything by it. Really.”

She reached out cautiously. When he didn’t snatch the pad away, she took it, and her smile seemed less mortified. “Thank you.”

We weren’t all just tough, just about sex, just about fighting, just about being loyal to each other. There was more. We didn’t show it often, but we could be kind too. Zellman had just proven that.

Pride bloomed in me, and as the girl started taking our orders, a lot less nervous now, Zellman caught my eye. He motioned towards his phone and I pulled mine out, seeing a text from him.

Pretty fucking smart.

I got choked up. Legit.

He gave me his half-grin, and I typed back, thanx.

For some reason, it didn’t seem such a hardship to be here right now.

Channing asked as we were leaving dinner, “Going home? Want a ride?”

Cross spoke up, “I got her.”

They shared a look before Channing nodded slowly. “Yeah. Okay.”

He and Moose headed to his truck, while the rest of us hung back.

Jordan rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Uh. Yeah.” He and Z glanced at each other. “We’re, uh… We’re going to head back in. Is that okay?”

Most of the Normals had still been there when we left—especially the girls. As the families headed home, their table had just gotten louder. I’d stopped by once after returning from the bathroom, and Taz had told me the girls were hanging around as long we did.

“They want the guys to come over,” she’d explained.

So I wasn’t surprised.

Cross nodded. “That’s cool. We’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“What are you two going to do?”

I had no plans, so I waited for Cross to say.

He shrugged. “We’ll figure something out.”

Jordan grinned. “It’s just nine thirty. You guys could do homework. Study for tomorrow. Be good students.”

Zellman laughed.

Cross smirked. “We’re already good students.”

“Speak for yourself.” I shook my head.

Smart students, maybe. Good students, no. Well, for me. I was in agreement with Jordan on that one.

As soon as they went back inside, I went with Cross to his truck. I’d left my Jeep at the house.