I passed off the beer to a customer and traded it for some cash, then stuck it in the till before taking the next order from a woman dressed in a top that accentuated the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra and whose skirt could also be used for a rubber band. She gave me a look that indicated she wanted more from me than a gin and tonic.

On a few occasions in the past, I’d offered a little dick on the side. When I first opened the place, I’d been young and horny. Owning a bar was like shooting fish in a barrel when it came to easy pussy.

This customer was beautiful. They often were. But tonight, I gave her a wink and an extra lime wedge and nothing else.

My mind was on Astrid the baker. Why she made my dick ache, I had no idea. I didn’t take her for stupid nor shallow. I wasn’t a dick. Just because she didn’t wear makeup or flaunt the breasts that God gave her didn’t mean she wasn’t appealing.

For some reason, she was too appealing. That was a problem.

I didn’t date. I didn’t have relationships. They were too dangerous. Too clingy. Too… everything. I liked things simple. Easy. No strings attached fun.

Because of this, I was totally fine with being Astrid’s wingman at her family thing. I could handle an ex. I could tackle a crazy family.

Everyone loved me, but I didn’t love in return.

Except my family. No one fucked with them. We Mannings stuck together, but I didn’t want a wife or kids. I had a dog, Maple, and she’d had the kids, a big new litter of puppies that made my niece insanely happy.

That was all the procreating that I’d be a part of.

I had a feeling my brothers would be popping out kids soon. I’d learned Sawyer had been bought at the auction by the preschool teacher who had kneed him in the nuts earlier in the week. Even took her for ice cream after the event instead of heading to the store for an athletic cup. If that wasn’t love, I had no idea what it was.

Huck had been bought by Sarah O’Banyon and yeah, he was whipped. He’d been that way for years, but it seemed the auction had given him a second chance where she was concerned, even if that included breaking his headboard because she’d been scorned enough to handcuff him to it. He had shit to work through where she was concerned, but a second chance wasn’t going to be ignored.