Love Me (WITSEC #3)(11)

“Our mother loved banana pancakes,” Knox said, shocking all of us. Even Colt looked up from his plate.

“She loved banana everything. Banana cream pie and banana bread and muffins,” Keelan said, looking from Creed to Colt and back again. “When she was pregnant with you two, Dad said that all she wanted to eat was banana pudding.”

As Keelan talked about their mother, Colt and Creed hung on his every word. Their mother had passed away from lung cancer when the twins had been six, which would have made Keelan eleven and Knox thirteen. Knox and Keelan had more time with and memories of their mother, whereas Colt and Creed probably didn’t remember much about her. If they did, I had a feeling they weren’t memories of when she had been healthy.

Silence blanketed the table as we ate. Since I had been the one to drag us all down memory lane, I felt obligated to pull us out of it. “Anything eventful going on at work today?”

“I’ll be working from home,” Keelan said.

“You shouldn’t be working at all,” Knox grumbled.

Keelan shrugged. “You can’t finish the preparations for the mud run tomorrow and find coverage for all my classes.” With Keelan’s injuries, it’d be a while before he could teach again. Last night, I had offered to help in any way that I could, even if that meant teaching the class with someone else. Keelan had explained that with everything that was going on with the sheriff and Jacob, it might be best to take a break from teaching with him. I agreed. My life was full of…hurdles and that wasn’t fair to the women paying for the class.

“I need to find someone to help me with Shi’s training on the weekend, too,” Keelan added.

“I’d suggest Derek, but he’s covering the front desk,” Knox said.

“Derek?” I said.

“Derek’s our fill-in guy,” Creed said. “He’s worked in every department.”

“The guy has impressive MMA training,” Keelan added.

“He hates teaching classes, though,” Colt said. “He prefers one-on-one teaching, which is why he does personal training.”

“I thought personal training was to teach people how to get into shape?” I asked.

“It is. We don’t offer one-on-one self-defense training,” Knox said.

Keelan gave him a look that clearly screamed W.T.F.?

I wasn’t surprised. I had a feeling that was the case. It was one of the reasons I had been reluctant to let Keelan train me. By the look he was giving Knox, he was worried me knowing would cause issues with our arrangement. “So Derek is a no-go,” I said, moving the conversation on.

The four of them stared at me, then exchanged looks with each other with varying tells of surprise. Like always, Keelan was the quickest to recover. “Derek wants to continue working the front desk part-time so he can still do personal training. We just need to hire someone to cover what’s left of Stephanie’s shifts.”

“If you give me a week or two to find someone, you can ask Derek to help you with Shiloh’s training,” Knox said to Keelan.

Keelan looked at me. “Would you be comfortable with that?”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

“We should make a decision about the Halloween party,” Creed said, changing the subject.

“It’s not a good idea,” Knox said at the same time I said, “Have it.”

Knox frowned at me, and I could see he was getting ready to argue.

“You have to trust me to know what I can and cannot handle,” I said to him. “I’m so sick of missing out on things. I used to love horror movies. I don’t remember what it’s like to feel the thrill and excitement of being scared for a stupid reason. So much was taken from me, and if I ever want to get any of it back, I have to try. If all I can handle is to stand in the middle of a Halloween party for ten minutes, then at least I gained ten minutes. It’s a small step, but it’s still progress.”

They became quiet as they seemed to process what I had said.

“We’ll keep the decorations tame and Creed or I will stick by her side,” Colt said, siding with me.

I squeezed his hand, smiling.

Keelan looked at Knox. “Want to chaperone a high-school party?”

Knox gave him a look that said that was the last thing he’d want to do.

“And by chaperone, I mean we lock ourselves in one of our rooms and play video games,” Keelan added. “It’d be one less room the horny high-schoolers try to screw in. Plus, we’ll be close if anything happens with Shi.”

I arched a brow at Keelan. “You know you’re dating a high-schooler, right?”

“Nope.” Keelan shook his head, standing. “You’re supposed to be in college.” He pointed at Colt, then Creed. “You’re the one dating the high-schoolers.”

Colt and Creed both rolled their eyes at him as he scooped up his empty plate and took it over to the sink.

I glanced from Keelan to Knox and back to Keelan again. “Does it bother you that I’m still in high school?” The insecure question left my mouth before I could stop it.

Before he made it to the sink, Keelan stopped abruptly and turned around to face me with a blindsided expression. “I was only playing around.”

I looked at Knox. He was staring at me and appeared a little angry.