Page 25 of Falling for Forever

“They loved you when you weren’t spending all your spare time with me.”

How he assured her with gentle touches and soft caresses was enough to make her go wild. He tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. “It’s going to be fine. And then after dinner, we can go out for a treat.”

“Oooh. Tell me more,” she said as she leaned into his side. They strode toward the house toward a meal she was definitely not ready for. If her brothers gave Chet any trouble, she wasn’t against hightailing it out of there.

Thankfully, Jason had minded his own business. He knew all about what was going on between Chet and his little sister, but he hadn’t come to talk to her about it. “Has Jason talked to you?” She blurted out the question before she’d thought it through.

Chet made a thoughtful sound. “He talks to me all the time.”

She nudged him playfully just as he opened the front door to grant them access to the house. “You know what I mean. Has he talked to you about us? Like, is he giving you any trouble when I’m not around?”

Chet frowned. “Should he be?”

Relief washed over her. Tate and Jason were good brothers. They could be a little overprotective for their own good. “No. I just didn’t want him bothering you.”

“Who’s bothering Chet?” Tate boomed as they reached the kitchen.

Lydia’s hand tightened around Chet’s. She wasn’t sure if it was for her own security or to reassure Chet. Either way, when he squeezed her hand back, it meant more than he’d likely ever know.

She smiled at her brother, and it was forced. “No one. Yet.” The following look she shot him meant business. And when Tate grinned and blocked both of them from reaching their seats at the table, she groaned inwardly.

“So, you’re dating my sister.”

She tugged on him, forcing him around her annoying brother. “Don’t mind him.”

“That’s right. Don’t mind me,” Tate called after him, still grinning. “If you’re dating my sister, you’re part of the family, which means one thing.”

Chet stopped and glanced at Tate. “What’s that?”

Tate dragged him into his arms, forcing him to release Lydia’s hand, and he ruffled his hair. “All’s fair and all that jazz.”

Lydia groaned. “That quote is only for relationships. You can’t say that about him joining the family.”

“Wait, who’s joining the family?”

“No one!” Lydia huffed, her hands in the air at Jason’s comment. “Tate is just giving Chet a hard time.”

Thankfully, Tate had released Chet, but he was still acting every bit her big brother. “That’s because this one isn’t giving it to him bad enough.” He jerked a thumb toward Jason. “It’s our job to protect our little sister.”

Jason gave Tate a bored look while Chet went stiff beside Lydia. “I don’t need to give him a hard time because he’s a good guy. Are you telling me you want to scare off one of the only good ones left in this town?”

That caught more than one person at the table off guard. Lydia groaned once more and covered her face with her hands. “We’ve only just started dating. Can we not? Aren’t you guys supposed to be scaring off all prospects to weed out the weaklings?”

“Hey!” Chet argued, though he was enjoying himself.

“Welcome to the circus,” Lydia grumbled.

He beamed at her and pulled her close to kiss her temple before releasing her to pull out her chair for her.

They got several approving looks from others in the room at that and the conversation moved elsewhere.

They’d been going on more dates, each one better than the last. And thank goodness none quite as eventful as their first one. They still laughed about it whenever it got too quiet between them.

“Are you going to tell them we watched the season premiere of Love Is Blind without them?” Chet asked, leaning close, his minty breath grazing her skin.

“Absolutely not. Rylee would disown me if she found out.”

“You sure it’s not Tate who’d do the disowning? Based on how interested he is… could go either way.”