Payback: The Men of Firehouse 69 by Lori Toland Read Free Book Online Page B

doesn’t
know how good he has it with you, he’s not worth it.”
    He kissed her forehead
as her brother walked in the room with the bottle of wine. “What’s wrong, Sis?”
    “She’s having boy
troubles,” her dad said.
    “Ah,” her brother said
as he moved on to pouring the next glass of wine. “You just point him out to
me. I’ll have a talk with him.”
    She sighed. “That’s
what I’m afraid of.”
    Brian kept talking as
if he hadn’t heard her. “And if he gives me a hard time, I’ll call in Andre and
we’ll beat the crap out of this guy.”
    The thought of Andre
punching himself struck Mel as funny and she began to laugh, which sounded
sharp and slightly unhinged to her own ears. It must have sounded strange to
everyone else because all eyes turned to her.
    “Sorry,” she said in
between giggles. She tried to explain her reaction but finally gave up.
    Brian shook his head as
they all sat down at the table. “Crazy Mel.”
    Her mother smiled as
she picked up her wine glass. “She always was the sweet, smiling child. Brian
was the one you had to watch out for like putting frogs in Melanie’s bed or
putting toothpaste all over the sink.”
    “I thought they would
never stop fighting.” Her father started serving the turkey and passing it
around. “But they finally grew up and put aside their petty differences.”
    Mel glanced over at
Brian, who frowned as he dished a large helping of potatoes onto his plate.
“Who said anything about petty? Mel is still a tyrant.”
    He smirked at her and
she threw one back at him, even though her stomach churned. What would he do if
he found out? Andre could certainly hold his own against Brian but if Brian
couldn’t get past his best friend dating his sister, their friendship would
suffer.
    Ronnie squeezed her
shoulder, pulling Mel from her reverie, and then sighed when her cell phone
rang. “They would pick the worst time to call,” she said, flipping her phone
open as she walked out of the room. “Hi Mom and Dad. How is Nassau?”
    After Ronnie left the
room, they all kept eating with Brian and her father dominating the
conversation. A few minutes later, the doorbell rang and Mel’s heart raced. She
half-wished it would be carolers on their doorstep, but she knew it was Andre.
    Her mother went to
answer the door and Mel dropped her fork with a clang, suddenly not hungry. She
cleared her throat and took a sip of water, trying to calm her nerves.
    He walked through the
doorway into the dining room and her father stood to shake his hand. The
greetings flew between her family and Andre but Mel couldn’t seem to bring
herself to say anything.
    Not that anyone
noticed. Andre acted like nothing was wrong and kissed her mother on the cheek.
“I’m sorry I’m late, Mrs. Brentley.” He sat across the table from Mel, looking
anywhere but her.
    Her mom patted him on
the shoulder before heading to her own seat. “As long as everything was all
right.”
    “Just some traffic. Hey
Bri, how’s it going?” Andre asked with a grin.
    “Pretty decent, man. I
can’t complain. You missed saying grace but we saved you some turkey.”
    “I wait all year long
for today. I starve myself for days,” Andre said, holding out his plate as he
continued to lay it on thick to her mom.
    “Oh, you poor child.”
Her mother beamed as she scooped extra meat onto his plate. “You can have an
extra helping, my dear, and I’ll pack you a helping of leftovers to take home.”
    “That would be
wonderful. Mr. Brentley, can you pass the green beans?”
    Mel glanced down at the
plate near her arm that her father picked up and handed to Brian. It would have
been easier for her to hand it to Andre but he wouldn’t look her direction.
    Obviously being with
her at her parents’ house for Christmas made him so uncomfortable that he could
barely stand to be around her, and she felt sick. If only she could excuse
herself like she did as a teenager and hide out until Andre left.
    “Can