I grinned, unsuccessfully trying to ignore the way my body reacted to his words. This man was a walking danger for me. I’d planned to serve ice cream for dessert, but to my astonishment, I realized I didn’t have enough.

“Change of plans,” I told the room at large. “I’m going to buy a pie real quick.”

There was a bakery nearby, and their pies were to die for. Before I left, I pulled Carter a little further away, whispering, “I’m sorry for the interrogation.”

“It’s all good. Nothing April’s and Peyton’s dates won’t hear from me.” He winked at me.

“Just ignore any sentence including the words serious or future, okay?”

Carter didn’t answer. He simply nodded, but his jaw seemed tight.

***

Carter

Once we headed out to Val’s backyard, I went straight to the case with badminton rackets. When Will joined me, I didn’t think anything of it. When Jace appeared on my other side, I suspected I was about to be cornered.

“Val told us you have two nieces,” Jace said.

“April and Peyton. They’re great girls. Both on their way to becoming troublemakers.”

“Ah, we’ve had a few of those in our family.”

“Hailey, right?”

“No, I was the resident troublemaker,” Jace corrected. “Though Hailey will try to claim that title for herself. Don’t believe her.”

Will cocked a brow. “I busted both of your asses and covered for you in equal measure.”

Jace smirked. “Yeah, but you never knew which one was the bad influence, did you?”

I laughed, imagining Val putting up with all the Connors under one roof.

Jace turned to Will, hooking his thumb at him. “Don’t let this one fool you with his ex-detective past. He was quite a troublemaker himself.”

“I know. Val told me.”

“She said that?” Will looked crestfallen. “What else?”

I held up my hands in surrender. “Ask her. I can feel you guys turning against me just because I’m relaying the information. Don’t shoot the messenger.”

“Nah, we’re not.” Jace spoke good-naturedly, then added as an afterthought, “Unless you break our sister’s heart.”

“I’m not planning to.”

A muscle jumped in my neck as I remembered what Val had said before leaving to buy pie. Just ignore any sentence including the words serious or future, okay? Was it just a playful warning because she knew there was a chance I’d be cornered? Or did she truly not want more from me than a good time?

My jaw ticked. I certainly wasn’t planning to let her go.

Hailey appeared out of thin air next to me. “They’re hazing you, aren’t they?”

“They were starting to.”

She glared at her brothers. Jace held up his hands in surrender. “We’re your brothers. It’s what we do.”

“What he said,” Will added.