Holidays with the Walker Brothers

📖 Excerpt

Zane

Thanksgiving Day

?Are you serious right now?? I exclaimed as my eardrums were assaulted with tunes that didn?t quite fit the celebration.

?What?? Brendon asked defensively, a devilish grin on his face.

?Christmas music?? I prompted, although the question wasn?t necessary now that the room had erupted in a chorus about white Christmas.

?Yup, time to get in the spirit,? Braydon chimed in as he jogged down the stairs carrying a large cardboard box, wearing that same exasperating smirk as his twin?s.

?Spirit of what? We just finished Thanksgiving dinner. Can?t we make it through one holiday before you move on to the next??

I waited for one of them to respond, but the twins were obviously enjoying my reaction.

Note to self: keep your mouth shut.

My attention turned to Ethan as he sauntered into the room from the kitchen, a handful of cookies in one hand. With his ball cap turned backward on his head and a glum expression on his face, Ethan looked pretty much the same as he did every day. With the exception that he obviously decided to dress up for the occasion. Well, dressed up as far as Ethan?s standards went. A navy T-shirt and a pair of faded Levi?s seemed to be his version of holiday casual versus the grunge we were used to him being decked out in.

But that was about as good as it got for Ethan. The guy seriously needed to shave. I knew the whole scruffy thing was a fashion statement, but someone needed to tell him that the mountain-man look wasn?t all that popular.

?Mom wants us to put up the tree,? Ethan informed me.

Tossing my hands in the air, I feigned aggravation. I knew this was the next part of the traditional Thanksgiving get-together, but what fun would it be if I couldn?t harass my brothers even just a little bit.

?What are you waitin? for, then?? I asked Ethan, watching my brother closely. If I wasn?t mistaken, he didn?t sound at all enthused about the idea, either. Then again, Ethan didn?t spend much time smiling these days, I noticed.

With a mouth full of cookie, Ethan glared at me. ?When you start workin?, I will.?

Ethan was the one who wouldn?t put up with my antics. Didn?t stop me from making the effort to get my brothers riled up.

Glaring at three of my six brothers, I shook my head in mock exasperation before sneaking a peek through the wide opening that led to the kitchen. There she was, the most beautiful woman in the world, and she was looking right at me. Ever since we finished cleaning up the Thanksgiving meal about half an hour ago, V had been sitting with the other women, chatting it up over coffee. And I had been making faces at her from the living room, trying to make her laugh.

It seemed to be working.

I inconspicuously glanced down at my watch, checking to see if I had any chance of cutting out early. Six thirty. Okay, so maybe I was jumping the gun a little. We?d only been at my parents? house for an hour and a half, and appropriate social etiquette had us visiting at least two hours, especially after the spectacular spread my mother had just spent the day preparing.

And it seemed as though V was having a fantastic time, so it wasn?t like I could just swoop in and pull her out of the conversation to take her home and ravish her. Although I had to give myself credit, because that was the best idea I'd come up with all day. Then again, if she happened to take a bathroom break any time in the near future, I might just corner her then. Yep, unquestionably a better idea.

Maybe I should get her some more coffee.

Remembering where I was, I tore my gaze off V and looked around the room. I was stuck for the time being, so I had better make the best of it. Putting the tree up on Thanksgiving was a family tradition, but I just wanted to go home, get V naked, and observe all that I was thankful for in an entirely different way.

Obviously, that wasn?t going to happen.

Travis, Gage, and Beau chose that moment to come banging down the stairs, boots thudding on hardwood, boxes scraping down the wall as all three of them carried their weight in boxes labeled CHRISTMAS.

Great.

No getting out of it now. We were apparently going to be putting up the tree.

?Wanna give us a hand?? Travis barked from halfway down the stairs.

?No, not really,? I joked, purposely keeping my expression stern. ?From the looks of it, you could use a little exercise. You gettin? a little soft around the middle there??

My comment earned me a glare from my oldest brother and a chuckle from Gage, who was just two steps behind Travis.

?Where?s Sawyer?? I asked when I realized my brother was missing. Actually, now that I thought about it, two of them were MIA. ?And where?s Kaleb? Why don?t they have to help??

?Oh, trust me, they?re already workin?,? Ethan said with a huge grin. ?Sawyer grabbed Pop and Kaleb to help with decorations outside. Said he wanted to get this over with.?

Well, that made sense. Not that I actually cared where they were, but I was going to ensure they had to work if I did. After all, that?s what brothers were for.

Once the boxes were settled in the middle of the living room floor, I knew there was no getting out of this. If I didn?t contribute, my brothers would ensure I felt their pain, one way or another, so as I grabbed one of the boxes out of Travis?s hand, I smiled. The sooner I got to work, the sooner I could get my lovely fianc?e home and naked.

Then again? If I had to guess, V was going to want to put up our Christmas tree when we got back home. Only we didn?t have one yet. Which meant she was going to want to go get one. And that would lead to more and more time spent doing something other than ravishing her sinfully delicious body.

Who came up with these holidays anyway?

There had to be an easier way to do this. Why hadn?t someone come up with Christmas in a box already? Complete with a pop-up tree and a turkey dinner. Seemed simple enough.

As for my parents, they might not subscribe to the quick-and-easy version I was hoping for, but they had thankfully opted for an artificial tree years ago, and last year they had picked up a new one on clearance after the holidays. Or at least that?s what I assumed they had done, considering the box the tree came in was brand-new and had a clearance sticker plastered on the front. Didn?t take a rocket scientist?

?You feelin? all right?? Beau asked me from across the room.

?Me? Sure. Why??

?Then get your ass over here and help out,? Brendon instructed, never looking up from the box he was opening.

With an exaggerated huff, I resigned myself to helping out. Didn?t mean I had to stop pretending that I wasn?t actually enjoying myself.

?Wanna give us a hand?? Travis barked from halfway down the stairs.

?No, not really,? Zane joked, purposely keeping his expression stern. ?From the looks of it, you could use a little exercise. You gettin? a little soft around the middle there??

His comment earned him a glare from his oldest brother and a chuckle from Gage, who was just two steps behind Travis.

?Where?s Sawyer?? Zane asked when he realized his brother was missing. Actually, now that he thought about it, two of them were MIA. ?And where?s Kaleb? Why don?t they have to help??

?Oh, trust me, they?re already working,? Ethan said with a huge grin. ?Sawyer grabbed Dad and Kaleb to help with decorations outside. Said he wanted to get this over with.?

Well, that made sense. Not that Zane actually cared where they were, but he was going to ensure they had to work if he did. After all, that?s what brothers were for.

Once the boxes were settled in the middle of the living room floor, Zane knew there was no getting out of this. If he didn?t contribute, his brothers would ensure he felt their pain, one way or another, so as he grabbed one of the boxes out of Travis?s hand, he smiled. The sooner he got to work, the sooner he could get his lovely fianc?e home and naked.

Then again? If he had to guess, V was going to want to put up their Christmas tree when they got back home. Only they didn?t have one yet. Which meant she was going to want to go get one. And that would lead to more and more time spent doing something other than ravishing her sinfully delicious body.

Who came up with these holidays anyway?

There had to be an easier way to do this. Why hadn?t someone come up with Christmas in a box already? Complete with a pop-up tree and a turkey dinner. Seemed simple enough.

As for Zane?s parents, they might not subscribe to the quick and easy version Zane was hoping for, but they had thankfully opted for an artificial tree years ago, and last year they had picked up a new one on clearance after the holidays. Or at least that?s what he assumed they had done, considering the box the tree came in was brand new and had a clearance sticker plastered on the front. Didn?t take a rocket scientist?

?You feeling all right?? Beau asked Zane from across the room.

?Me? Sure. Why??

?Then get your ass over here and help out,? Brendon instructed, never looking up from the box he was opening.

With an exaggerated huff, Zane resigned himself to helping out. Didn?t mean he had to stop pretending that he wasn?t actually enjoying himself.