Page 59 of Sundown Somewhere

Cary more than me—fruit trees are his deal—but I’ll help. Trees are trees, and when it comes to Hayes, I’m the tree guy.

“At least my nuts are gonna be okay,” he mutters.

“That’s what she said,” Jace snarks from my other side.

I toss him a look, but he simply shrugs, not giving a damn, clearly annoyed he’s even been dragged on this field trip.

“Did she though?” Ewan pipes up. “That would imply there’s a she to say it and ehhhhh…” He grits his teeth, making a face like he’s skeptical that such a “she” exists.

As he should be, because we all know she doesn’t.

Baby brother comin’ in hot…

Anton flips them both the bird, making them laugh. As the family instigator, he should know better than to think that we’re not going to take any chance we get to poke at him. He’d do the exact same thing if the roles were reversed.

Hell, he has done the exact same thing every chance he’s been given.

“So how was the beach?” Jace asks, completely ignoring the single finger salute he’s being given. “Romantic?”

“It was better than expected,” I reply.

“What does that mean?”

What doesn’t he understand? Thought that answer was pretty straightforward.

“It means it was better than expected,” I answer, trying to leave it at that.

Except, that is apparently not that.

All of my bothers—with the exception of Anton who has turned back to his blooms—are staring at me, waiting for me to elaborate. But I don’t. Because I can’t or I don’t want to.

I’m not really sure which one it is—both maybe.

What I do know is that Dolly said she didn’t want to tell anyone, and I want to respect that. I also don’t exactly know what I’d be telling them.

“So, it went well then?” Gus prompts.

“Yeah.”

“Did you expect it to not go well?” Ewan counters.

“No, I did.”

Fuck, this is an odd line of questioning. I squirm, feeling like a worm on a hook, hating being under the microscope like this. How do I change the subject?

“Well, then, how did it go better than expected?” Jace pushes.

“It just did,” I snap, my voice harsher than I intend. Why can they not take a hint?

“Okay, okay…” Jace holds his hands up in surrender, rocking backward.

They all continue to look at me confused, my outburst not helping my half answers. Well, everyone except Milo. He gives me a different look entirely. A knowing look.

Because if there’s any one of the group who understands, it’s him.

“It’s a little weird at first when things change, isn’t it?” he asks, one corner of his mouth ticking upward, that stupid older brother smirk of his shining through. Right now, I want to both smack it right off and hug him for understanding.

There’s no denying it now—I’m busted.