“They are,” Aiden said. “There is a bunch of finger food on the deck and the rest of the food is on the way. I’ve got staff delivering it.”

  “You didn’t make it?” Bryce said, frowning.

  “My staff is pretty good,” Aiden said, laughing. “You won’t go hungry.” Then he walked away to talk with a few people Bryce didn’t know.

  That left Ryder and him standing there and Bryce wanting to take off, but Cade made his way over, slapping him on the back. “The man of the hour,” Bryce said.

  “That is me. Dude, I can’t believe I’m getting married in a month.”

  “Neither can the rest of us,” his cousin Wyatt said, having been a few feet away and sneaking into the conversation. When Wyatt and Cade got together all hell seemed to break loose. “I’m still shocked you took the plunge.”

  “You guys have met Alex. Come on, there was no way I was letting her get away. You’ll understand when the time is right. Look at Sam.”

  “Oh, Bryce has his hands all over someone,” Wyatt said, laughing. “He might be getting there too.”

  Sometimes Wyatt was worse than Ryder. “You guys just love to make everything into sex.”

  “We’re men,” Ryder said.

  “So who’s the lucky lady?” Cade asked. “Are you bringing her to the wedding?”

  He hadn’t decided up until today, but now he knew he wanted her by his side. That he needed someone he could relax with since his brothers and cousins were all over his case it seemed.

  He never used to let it get to him before and he was wondering why it was so much now.

  A few hours had gone by and he managed to find himself sitting at a table with Drake and Noah. They hadn’t brought up Payton’s name once, which was surprising, but then Ella’s fiancé, Travis, came over and pulled out a chair to sit with them.

  Travis was a good guy. Huge, putting the rest of them to shame with the exception of his Uncle Gavin. “God, I need to get away from Cade. You guys are much more mellow.”

  Bryce laughed. “What’s he doing?”

  “It’s not what he’s doing, it’s he won’t shut up. Keeps talking about how happy he was his mother found Alex for him and she’s the best thing in his life. She makes him a better man. Blah, blah, I swear to God he’s shitfaced already and sounding like a chick.”

  “Cade never could hold his liquor like the rest of them,” Noah said.

  “So I hear you’re dating someone,” Travis said to him.

  “It seems to be the topic of discussion today for some reason. Everyone should be focusing on Cade and not me.”

  “We’re all sick of focusing on Cade,” Travis said, laughing. “So do we get to meet her next month? I heard she’s a sweetheart. Ella will be thrilled to know there is another woman among the cousins besides Jade and Dani.”

  It was nice to hear someone say Payton was sweet, but he wasn’t sure where it’d come from. At least it wasn’t about her being someone he didn’t normally date.

  “I’m sure Ella and Jade will get along with Payton just fine. She’s really nice. Who told you about her?” he asked.

  “Ella and I stopped over here last night and your mother was talking about her to Jolene and Gavin.” Travis brought his beer to his lips. “Just be happy you found her on your own and didn’t have to worry about being set up like the rest of us.”

  Bryce smirked, everyone knew the story behind how the Five all found their mates. “My parents wouldn’t dare. Besides, I’m sure you’ve heard that Payton is nothing like the normal women I date.”

  “Nope,” Travis said. “I didn’t hear that, just heard she was nice. Either way, Ella got all excited. She’s had her fill of bimbos that her brothers brought around over the years. She thinks everyone should be as sweet as her sisters-in-law are now. She was thrilled with Dani.”

  “Payton will probably fit in well.”

  “Ella won’t want to meet who Ryder might bring as a date,” Noah said. “If he brings someone.” Everyone laughed at the table.

  They all paused when Drake’s phone went off and he pulled it out of his pocket to hear him mumble, “Seriously. Doesn’t she ever take a damn day off?”

  “Who?” Noah asked.

  “Kara.” He waved his hand at Bryce and Travis. “An employee at work. She just sent me a meeting request for Monday. Good grief, nothing like starting my morning off wrong on Monday. I need another beer.” Drake stood up and walked away.

  Noah laughed, looked around and said, “She’s giving him fits at work from what I hear. I just stay out of it. I’ve got my hands full of miniature adults who think they know how the world works but can’t even wash behind their ears fully.”

  “Tell me about it,” Bryce said glad to be able to talk about something else other than his dating life.

  ***

  “So, how is it going with the matchmaking?” Gavin asked Grant.

  “Sam is all set. They just need to pick a date, but I don’t think they will wait long. Probably waiting to get the two weddings done this summer. Bryce seems to be falling into line. You heard Diane last night.”

  He hadn’t been happy that Diane was bragging about how well Bryce and Payton were doing, but the other part of him was thrilled he got one kid off the market and was hoping for another soon enough.

  “What about you, Garrett?” Gavin asked. “Any luck with your four? You know Jolene is just dying to meddle there too, but I’ve told her she has enough to occupy her with the weddings and babies.”

  “With any luck we’ll have some weddings and babies soon,” Grant said.

  “On my end,” Garrett said, “Drake is butting heads with a newer employee at work. It’s been interesting to watch.”

  “We’re pushing that one,” Grant said. “Every time the two of them are in the same room there is almost smoke coming from Drake’s ears. It’s been fun to watch, but I’m letting Garrett take the lead since I’ve got to keep an eye on Diane with Bryce.”

  “Those are the best ones,” Gavin said. “I’d say encourage it. Push them together even more and watch the sparks fly.”

  “If they don’t set the building on fire,” Garrett said, laughing.

  The Right Woman

  By the time they’d gotten home late Saturday night, Bryce was ready to crash into bed.

  It was after ten, and he’d dropped off Sam and Ryder who lived in the same development. It’s a good thing Sam was with him to help Ryder up who’d pretty much passed out in the backseat. His younger brother never could hold his liquor well.

  For Bryce it was a boon so he didn’t have to listen to the yapping from Ryder’s lips.

  Instead it gave Sam and him time to just talk about life in general. “So how are things going with Payton?” Sam had asked.

  “They’re going good. I’m not sure why everyone has to bring Payton up all the time. You’d think I’ve never dated when we know I date plenty.”

  Sam had snorted. “I don’t know about plenty, but you do date. It’s just like me; you didn’t really find anyone that you were serious about. Why is that?”

  He shrugged while he looked in the side mirrors and passed a car. “It’s there or it’s not. Guess it hasn’t been.”

  “But it is now?”

  “Not sure yet.”

  “You’re sure, but don’t want to say. How come?”

  Maybe it would have been better if Ryder was awake and he could change the subject. “Why hadn’t you found anyone before Dani?” he asked instead.

  “I hadn’t been looking. I don’t know if that is the case with you.”

  It wasn’t. He hadn’t been actively looking, but wasn’t opposed to it either. “Probably not. I guess it comes down to not finding the right woman.”

  “Because you have a style and a type and you kept going back to it even though it wasn’t working. I almost want to say you might have been torturing yourself, but I don’t know that your mind works that way.”

  “No, it doesn’t. I guess when it came down to it, my type is someone like me. Someone I could have intelligent conversations with, that didn’t bust on me for talking about things over their head and so on.”

  “Are you telling me that the fact your family has always picked on you has leveraged those decisions in your life? Geez, Bryce, that’s what family does. There isn’t any harm in it.”

  He hadn’t thought of it that way and didn’t want his brother to think it was the whole truth.

  “Not really. I mean, when you hear it all the time it’s hard to not feel that way too, but there was more to it.”

  “What then?” Sam asked.

  Should he tell his brother? Could he? “You know what it was like growing up. The girls who wanted to be with us because of our looks and brains. The money and the name.”

  “A name that really didn’t mean a lot when we were younger. Our father and uncle worked hard to build their company.”

  “I think it was more about our looks and our brains. How many girls wanted to be with you because they liked how hot you were and then wanted you to do their work for them, that saw what a success you’d be?”

  Sam laughed. “Not as many as you, I’m sure. But you’re different than me. So you’ve been taken advantage of by airheads, is that what you’re saying? That hot girls aren’t smart and only want one thing from you? That’s kind of sexist.”

  “No more sexist than you wanting airheads snapping their gum on your arm for years.”

  “You have me there,” Sam said. “The difference is I went for that type knowing it was all about fun. Is that how you went into things?”

  “No,” Bryce said. “I went into it thinking it’d be more and then when it wasn’t...”

  “You felt deceived. I still find it hard to believe that you had a few experiences like that and then all of a sudden you won’t date someone with those characteristics anymore. That you lumped everyone together in a category when you’re a prime example of what a genius doesn’t look like.”

  He cringed when he heard that word. Hating when it was applied to him. “Guess I’m not as smart as I thought I was.”

  “We all make mistakes and assumptions in life,” Sam said.

  Truer words had never been said.

  But he couldn’t tell Sam that it was hard to push away from those thoughts and opinions. That when he was in college Marcella used him like he knew she was going to.

  He’d known going in what she wanted and he worked with her on her lab. He’d gotten her a good grade. He’d even had one study session with her, because why not? He was studying anyway and she stopped into the library and sat down next to him.

  What he hated was the fact that she tried to give him “payment” for it. No she didn’t come out and use those words, but she was flirting and she offered and kept saying, “let’s go to my room, my roommate is gone.”

  He never had and he wouldn’t. Like he’d told his buddy Kyle back then, he thought more of himself.

  Too bad people made assumptions that Bryce was out to get laid and Marcella never corrected it and said they’d never done anything. Didn’t even hold hands, let alone kiss.

  She let the rumors fly like Mike Tyson’s fists in a fight thinking he wouldn’t care, like she was doing him a favor. That he might think he’d be the big man on campus when what he was was disgusted to be lumped in that category of men she spent time with.

  When word got out and Marcella ended up getting a B in her class from her D, he had no shortage of girls on his arm wanting help and offering to spend time with him.

  Some men might think it’d inflate their ego, but for him it was one big blow to it.

  That no one wanted him for him, but for what they could get out of him or where they’d thought he’d be in ten years.

  Worse yet that they thought so little of themselves and figured he did too.

  “Yeah, I guess we do,” Bryce said back.

  A few minutes of silence had gone by and Sam finally said, “If Payton makes you happy that is all that matters. Who cares what she looks like, if her interests are the same as yours, or if anyone approves. All that matters is what you feel inside.”

  Guess his older brother was smarter than him at times.

  Once he was back at his place and saw the time, he knew it was too late to call Payton so he showered and fell face-first down in bed. He’d texted her before he left Charlotte and they’d made plans for Sunday and that would be good enough for the weekend.

  If he was missing their Saturday together, their nights that they binge watched TV, ate takeout, and cuddled on the couch, well, he was keeping that to himself.

  Boring and dull, he was, but damn it felt good to do it with her.

  Too Much Testosterone

  Payton had managed to get a lot of chores done on Saturday so that she could spend some time with Bryce on Sunday before she had to go into Millie’s and prep for Monday.

  Even after her last visit with her mother, part of her felt like maybe she should introduce Bryce to her family. She wasn’t looking forward to it, but she didn’t want him to think she wasn’t taking their relationship seriously either.

  The truth was, this was probably the most serious relationship she’d ever had. It wasn’t the longest, but what she felt for him was definitely the strongest.

  She wasn’t sure what he felt, and though she wanted to ask, she told herself not to.

  Not when she still had so many doubts in her head about where they were heading short, let alone long term.

  But her Aunt Millie who managed to scare the crap out of her with that last dream—and in Payton’s mind it was a dream—reminded her to stop letting what other people say and do influence her. That she was her own person and to quit allowing others bring her down.

  She was trying to tell herself that and if she wanted to really believe it, then she had to believe there was a chance for her and Bryce.

  Rather than go to his house like she did on Friday nights and then stay until Sunday morning most times, Bryce was knocking on her door at nine Sunday.

  She opened it wide, then he stepped in and picked her up, gave her a tight hug and a massive kiss. “Wow. What was that for?” she asked, letting out a childish laugh. Boy, that felt good.

  “I missed you yesterday. I was stuck around too much testosterone and now needed some estrogen.”

  At least he didn’t say he needed a pretty face, or soft skin, or any other thing she’d heard before. “I think you just might want the brunch I’m going to serve you.”

  “Brunch?” he said. “That sounds fancy.”

  “I don’t know how fancy it is, but I thought I’d do something different. I’ve got a quiche in the oven and I made a small batch of cinnamon buns earlier.”

  “Have I told you cinnamon buns are one of my favorite things?”

  “You haven’t, but I’m not surprised. You’ve got a sweet tooth worse than a five-year-old diving into their bag of loot on Halloween night.”

  He laughed and kissed her on the lips, then made his way to her kitchen and helped himself to one of the big sticky concoctions on the counter.

  Her mother thought she worked herself to the bone, but the truth was, she’d always felt satisfaction over others eating her food. Satisfaction in life was something she hadn’t felt much of in other parts of her life.

  “Did you have anything you wanted to do today?” he asked her, licking the frosting off of his finger.

  “Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to stop over and meet my mother.”

  He paused for a moment, held her stare, and then shrugged. “Sure, if you want to.”

  “I get the feeling you might not want to though,” she said, starting to question her own sanity.

  “I don’t want you to feel the pressure to because you met my family if it’s not something you want. I know my mother put you on the spot a few weeks ago.”

  “And it’s been a few weeks,” she said, wondering if he thought she didn’t want to do it. “But it’s time. It’s just my life growing up was so different than yours.”

  “Yeah, you didn’t have any annoying siblings,” he said, taking another huge bite of his bun while she pulled the quiche out.

  “True. It’s more than that though. Just your dynamics. You had more, not just family, but money.”

  “Which means nothing,” he said to her.

  She’d like to believe that, but knew deep down it wasn’t true. No, she wasn’t poor growing up, but money had been tight at times. Her mother’s income as a teacher wasn’t wonderful and her father’s life insurance policy had only gone so far.

  “I guess. Let’s just leave it with it’s different. If you’re game for it, I’ll just call my mother and see if she’ll be around this afternoon.”

  They enjoyed the rest of the morning, ate their brunch, cleaned up her kitchen together and then drove to her mother’s house.

  They got out and walked up the few steps to the front porch, then opened the door. The house smelled of lemons and she knew her mother must have cleaned the hardwood floors again. One thing her mother did was clean a lot.

  Her mother came out of the kitchen wearing athletic shorts that were most likely from the men’s department, a T-shirt that had seen better days, and her short hair slightly messy like she’d been wiping the sweat from her forehead. Nothing like trying to make a great first impression.

  “Mom, this is Bryce Fierce. Bryce, my mother, Rachelle.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Bryce said, reaching his hand for hers.

  “Same,” her mother said. “Why don’t you come in and have a seat? Can I get you a drink? Some lemonade? Sorry I don’t have cookies to offer, that’s Payton’s specialty. She could have brought some, but I’m sure she didn’t think of that.”

  Of course her mother had to start with a compliment and then turn it into an insult at the same time. Why would she have expected anything different?

  “We just had a big brunch, Mom. I didn’t have any cookies in the house, just cinnamon buns, and I know they aren’t your favorite thing.”