“Shit,” Hudson said, and looking pained, he kicked off his shoes, shoved the bagel into his mouth, and still holding his coffee, he untucked his shirt. He was leanly muscled, emphasis on the lean. Without the shirt tucked in, his pants sagged down on his hips, revealing a strip of pink satin beneath.

Women’s panties.

Gray grinned.

Hudson shook his head. He’d had to wear the women’s panties or lose a bet. The Kincaid brothers had a long-running joke that had started out with a tie Gray had gotten as a gag gift. It’d had penises on it. Gray loved to have it delivered to either Hud or Aidan, and the rule was that the recipient had to be seen wearing it before he could deliver it to one of the others.

Penny—not a supporter of the penis tie—had nipped that shit in the bud when she’d shoved the thing into the office paper shredder.

After that they’d switched to underwear. Aidan couldn’t remember why, exactly, other than that it was funny. Now, once a month or so, whoever had last been punk’d would purchase and have delivered a particularly embarrassing pair of undies, and they had to have proof that they were worn the day post delivery no matter what.

Gray, who’d sent this particular pair, shook his head. “Dude, pull your pants back up, what if Penny walks in?” So far they’d managed to keep her out of the loop on the undies thing. No sense in bothering her …

At Gray’s question, Hudson just shrugged—which loosely translated meant, Penny isn’t here, so why should I worry? At the movement, his pants sagged beneath his ass. Completely unself-conscious, Hudson frog-marched through the place with his pants still at his ankles, vanishing into his room.

Aidan’s stomach rumbled loudly, and Gray tossed Aidan the package of salami. “Feed that beast. And how did that last call turn out? The kid?”

Aidan shoved some of the meat into his mouth. “Got him home to his hysterical mom in one piece. Can’t say the same for the husband, though. He was supposed to be watching their son while Mom was out shopping. He’d gotten into the game, and the kid walked out the door right beneath his nose.”

Gray winced. “That’s going to hurt.” He took the salami back from Aidan and grabbed some bread and a knife. He added mustard, mayo, cheese, lettuce, and some tomato, then handed the sandwich to Aidan.

Aidan wasn’t the only caretaker in the family. He looked down at the sandwich. “Aren’t you going to cut off the crusts for me, Mom?”

“Bite me, bitch.”

“I should,” Aidan said. “Explain the Lily thing.”

“I did.”

“How about in a way that actually makes sense,” Aidan said.

“The salon needed an experienced stylist and cosmetologist,” Gray told him. “I told you Jonathan was looking for someone.”