Double Dare (Neighbor from Hell #6)(27)

“Ow!” Duncan yelped as Danny grabbed his hand and with a simple twist of his wrist, dropped their brother to his knees.

“The next person that shows my girlfriend a picture of me wearing one of Mom’s bras is a dead man!” he snarled, using his hold on his brother’s hand to make his point.

“Let go, you bastard!” Duncan yelled, gasping in pain.

Darrin thought about helping his brother, but…

He was too comfortable to move.

“There’s a picture of you wearing a bra?” Jodi asked, shooting a hopeful glance towards the pile of photo albums that they’d stacked for her.

“Don’t even think about it,” Danny bit out coldly, which probably would have cowed any other woman, but not this one. She glared right back at him, which earned her a series of curses as Danny pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Be nice, Tinkerbelle, or I won’t show you my old tree house.”

“You had a tree house?” she asked, sounding intrigued as Darrin watched their mother walk into the room. Yeah, this should definitely be good, he decided around a yawn.

“Yes, he did and I could only get him to come out for dinner,” their mother said with a huge smile as Danny stepped back to introduce them.

“Sweetheart, this is my mother,” Danny said, leaning down to kiss their mother on the cheek. “Mom, this is my girlfriend…Mom?”

“Mrs. Bradford?” Jodi asked, shifting nervously as Darrin watched his mother’s eyes roll back in her head and-

“Shit!” Darrin snapped when he realized what was happening a little too late and jumped up from the couch. He dove for her along with the rest of his brothers and…

Missed.

Shit!

*-*-*-*

“I’m fine,” their mother, Mary said, waving off everyone’s concerns and gesturing for everyone to eat.

“Honey, maybe we should go to the hos-” their father began to say only to stop mid-word when she turned a furious glare on him.

“My oldest son brought home his girlfriend to have dinner with me and I’m damn well going to have dinner with her!” she snapped at their father, startling everyone at the table.

“Ummm,” his father began to say, swallowing nervously as he slowly, ever so slowly, handed his wife the ice pack he’d been holding against the back of her head where she’d hit the edge of the couch when she’d passed out, and sat back in his chair. “Just let me know if it starts hurting.”

“Uh huh,” she said, shifting her attention back to Danny’s girlfriend. “Would you like any more chicken, Jodi?” she asked pleasantly, noticeably startling the small woman even more.

“N-no, thank you, I’m fine,” Jodi said with a warm smile as she returned her attention to the large plate of food in front of her with a curious frown.

“Are you thirsty?” his mother asked, sounding eager as she gestured towards one of the many pitchers lining the long dining room table.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Jodi said, smiling.

“Are you sure?” Mary asked, gesturing for Duncan to pour her a glass of lemonade.

“She’s fine, Mom,” Danny said, waving their brother off.

“Yes, yes of course,” Mary murmured, looking thoughtful as she absently pushed her mashed potatoes around on her plate.

“This is really good, Mrs. Bra-umm, Mary,” Jodi said with a smile as she took a bite of mashed potatoes.

“So, tell me about yourself,” Mary said with a huge smile as soon as Jodi had food in her mouth.

“You already know all about her,” Danny said, sighing heavily as he shifted the food around on his plate.

Eyes narrowed on Danny, their mother snapped, “I have waited years for one of my inconsiderate sons to bring a nice young woman home to meet me! You will not deny me this moment!”

Biting back a groan, Darrin shifted his attention to his plate, praying that no one decided to bring up his lack of “dating” again. He wished like hell that he could just tell them about him and Marybeth, but the stubborn woman was determined to drive him out of his goddamn mind. Speaking of Marybeth, he pulled his phone out and discreetly checked it beneath the table only to curse seconds later and-

“Why are you here?” Danny suddenly asked, dragging his attention away from his phone. He looked up and followed Danny’s curious glance down to the end of the table where their cousins sat.

“There was a party,” Jason said, taking a large sip of his ice tea.

“And we weren’t invited,” Trevor finished for him with a careless shrug.

“And Haley and Zoe?” Danny asked, still pushing his food around his plate.

“Were,” Jason answered, taking a bite of mashed potato.

“And the kids?” Jodi asked, frowning.

“Also invited,” Trevor said, taking a bite of chicken.

“Then why weren’t you-” she started to ask, only to get cut off by the arrival of the woman who’d spent the entire day f*cking him over and rubbing it in his face.

“I’m sorry I’m late. Uncle Jared needed a hand with some blueprints,” Marybeth explained as she walked into.

“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded as he glanced over his shoulder and watched as Marybeth walked over to the table, looking incredibly sexy in her Bradford Construction shirt and tight jeans that showed her generous ass off to perfection.