Aw, hell. “No, Beau. Don’t even think about it. You’re not going over there and beating the hell out of his dad just because he called your niece a nerd.”

“I’m not going to maim him or anything.” He shrugged. “Might rough him up a little so that he might be inclined to teach his brat some fucking manners.”

“She has to learn to interact with other kids, Beau, and to deal with them herself. We didn’t raise a wimp,” I told him with a wink, which made his stoic face almost crack into a grin. “I do plan to mention it to her teacher so she can keep her eye on the little boy.”

He seemed mollified by that. “Okay, but if he gives her any more shit, you let me know.”

“I will, bro, and thank you.” I stood and gave him a kiss on the cheek, which he made a show of wiping off. “Hey, don’t wipe my kiss off. You should bronze that cheek.” I leaned in to kiss him again, and he jumped up and ran from me. I chased him around the couch with my lips puckered, making little kissy noises, both of us laughing like little kids.

Bode walked in the front door without knocking and announced, “Well, this is just fucking weird.”

I stopped chasing my brother and explained, “I kissed his cheek, and he wiped it off.”

“Bruh, that’s cold,” Bode said. He grabbed me around the waist with one long, muscular arm and pulled me to him. “If you need someone to kiss, I’m available, Blaire. I may be hard as nails on the outside, but I have a soft, gooey center.”

“Don’t talk to Blaire about your goo,” Beau fumed, but Bode just gave me a big smacking kiss on the lips. “Goddammit, that’s my sister!”

“I think it’s time we told him, don’t you, sugar britches?” Bode asked me, his arm still around my waist and a faint, teasing smile playing across his lips.

I let out a dramatic sigh. “Yeah, he’s going to find out sooner or later.”

Cam and Carrie came in from the hallway, dressed in their Gi, Cam’s with a black belt, and Carrie’s with a green. “What’s all the racket out here? I’m trying to teach this pipsqueak to kick some ass.”

Bode said, “We were just announcing to Beau that Blaire and I have been having a torrid love affair. It’s really quite delicious and scandalous. Right, my little honey pot?”

“That’s right, dumpling doodle,” I said, nuzzling his face and kissing his cheek. Beau gagged and tossed up both middle fingers before stalking into the kitchen, and the rest of us erupted in laughter.

Cam shook his head and led Carrie back into the dojo with a chuckle still on his lips…