Taking Chances (Taking Chances #1)(122)
I hugged him tightly back, “Thanks Jer, and thanks for coming.”
“I brought my girlfriend, is that okay?”
“Jeremy, you have a girlfriend?!” His face lit up and he had a huge grin, “Are you even old enough for one of those yet?” I laughed when he playfully punched my arm.
“I’m seventeen, not twelve.”
I got all serious, “Oh yes, of course. How could I ever forget?” I looked around him, “Well where is she? I want to meet this girl who stole my brother-in-law’s heart.”
“She’s with Laura and Kate, but she’s really shy, so Bree” he turned to look at her, “go easy on her, okay?”
Bree put a hand to her chest, “Who me? Shy people are my specialty. Just ask Harper.”
We all laughed and Jeremy eyed me curiously, “Sis, what the f*ck are you doing?”
“Language!” I chastised him but started giggling uncontrollably when I still couldn’t get down, “I can’t get back down. I usually can’t even jump up here. How the hell did I get up here Konrad?”
“Language!” Jeremy tried to mimic my pitch as he scooped me off the counter. “God you’re so short.”
“No, the rest of you are just freakishly tall.” I pushed him away from me and went to stand by Bree, since she was much closer to my height.
“Aww, are they making fun of you again sweetheart?” Brandon was grinning when he rounded the corner, “I can’t believe anyone would ever make fun of your height. Because you’re average height, right?”
I glared at him until he wrapped his arms around me with my favorite smile and his dimple flashing at me, “Exactly.” I reached up on my tiptoes and kissed him soundly.
“Uh, one, get a room. Two, Harper I want you to meet Aubrey.”
I peeked around Brandon’s side and saw a pretty girl with pale skin, raven black hair and wide brown eyes tucked under Jeremy’s arm. Oh my word they were cute together. “Hi Aubrey!” I walked over to them and hugged her quickly, dropping my arms and stepping back when I remembered how much I hated being hugged before Bree socialized me.
“Aubrey, this is my sister-in-law, Harper.”
She gave a small wave and blushed when she smiled, oh yeah, we were going to get along just fine. “Nice to meet you Harper, you have a beautiful home.”
“Thank you! Aubrey, this is my best friend Breanna and her fiancé Konrad.” I waited until they said their hellos and stepped back into Brandon’s arms, “And I’m guessing you just met Brandon?”
She nodded and bit her lower lip, trying to curl further into Jeremy’s arm.
“Um, no! Where is the little munchkin?” One of the twins called from the dining room.
I laughed and when Kate and Laura walked into the kitchen, I went to hug them both. “He’s at Mom and Dad’s for the night, figured this would be a little much for him. You girls remember Konrad and Bree?”
Laura jumped over to Bree’s side for a hug and Kate crossed her arms and failed at glaring at me, “I wanted to see my little Liam though.” She pouted and drug her feet to hug Bree.
“Next time,” I promised them, “besides, we have four or five single guys fresh out of the Marine Corps coming today, you really want to be playing with a baby that whole time?”
“Oh my God, really?!” They both said at the same time.
I laughed and nodded. The twins were Brandon and Jeremy’s cousins, only a year younger than myself and insanely beautiful. They had a good half foot on me, had blue eyes and unnatural blonde hair, but they rocked it pretty well. Other than their eyes, I still hadn’t found a way to tell them apart, thank God Kate had one eye that was half blue and half brown, or I’d always wonder who I was talking to.
“Well then!” Kate said and grabbed her sister’s hand, “We’re going to go change into our bikinis!”
“You do realize we don’t have a pool, right?” I called to their retreating forms.
“Don’t care!”
“I’m going to end up punching someone, aren’t I?” Brandon grumbled from behind me.
“Probably.” I sighed and looked up at him, glad to see he was smiling. “When are you going to start the grill?”
“Already did after I let them in. I’ll put the burgers on a bit after everyone else gets here.”
“Thank you.” I kissed his soft lips and relaxed further into his chest, “And thank you for this, I think it’ll be a good day.”
“I think you’re right.” He lifted me up and sat me on the counter, gave me another kiss that almost reduced me to a puddle and walked over to Jeremy, “Come help me with the ice chests.”
“Brandon! I just barely got down from the counter, and Jeremy had to help me!”
“I know.” He smiled wickedly and walked out to the garage.
I turned to Konrad, “Care to help?”
“Ya know, I forgot to get the ice from the store…wanna go with me baby?” He grabbed Bree’s hand and led her quickly out of the kitchen.
Jerks.
Looking to the only person left in the room I added dryly, “Want to join?”
Aubrey walked up next to me and had to jump three times before she got enough leverage to lift herself all the way up.