Wet (Elemental 1) Read Free

home, too.”
    Lillian pushed to her feet, and Blake easily followed suit,
hanging back and letting her lead the way down the hall.
    “—get anything good?” Nate was asking as the trio stepped
into the house a minute later.
    “When was the last time we ate something that wasn’t good?”
Christopher Hawke, their father, laughed as he shut the door behind them.
    Nate shrugged out of his leather jacket and hung it on the
coat rack in the entry way before moving and tugging at one of the bags in his
sister’s hands. “Let me see,” he said.
    Angela shifted away from Nate at the same time as she held
out the bag in her other hand. “The stuff for tonight’s dinner is in this bag,
not that one, Snoopy.”
    “Wait,” Nate replied, “I thought I saw brownie mix in that
bag. Give it back.”
    “Nope.” Angela deftly dodged her brother’s outstretched
hand and maneuvering around him. “Eric’s birthday is coming up. I’m going to
make him brownies.”
    Blake joined the conversation with a teasing grin. “You
can’t start baking for a man until you’re married to him, Angie. Sorry.”
    Angela rolled her eyes. “Keep dreaming, Blake.” To her
mother, she said, “Is it okay if I keep this stuff in the kitchen for a couple
of days?”
    “Of course,” Lillian said with a smile.
    As Angela skirted around her family and disappeared down
the hall, Nate crossed his arms over his chest and declared, “I still don’t
know how I feel about that guy.”
    Lillian rolled her eyes at her son’s comment and gestured
to the hallway. “Eric’s a fine young man, Nate. You and your brothers need to
try not to scare him off.”
    “Your mother’s right,” Christopher added, falling into step
behind his sons.
    Blake raised an eyebrow at him over his shoulder. “You,
too?”
    Christopher laughed. “I see him more often than you do,
remember?”
    Blake shifted his gaze, meeting his brother’s eyes, before
they both sighed and shook their heads. Hesitantly, Blake asked, “He’s not
coming to dinner, is he?”
    It was Angela who answered him, having caught up with them
as they returned to the living room. “Of course he is. He should be here in a
few minutes, so you’d better be nice or you’re off my Christmas list, got it?”
    “Gee, Angie,” Nate began teasingly. He moved toward her and
looped an arm around her shoulders. “Christmas is so far away, I’m sure I could
wiggle my way back into your good graces by then.”
    Angela narrowed her eyes in a futile gesture and shoved
Nate off her. “Oh no, I have a memory like a steel trap, I wouldn’t forget.”
The front door opened before Nate could retort, and Angela used the opportunity
to dart around him and claim a spot on the couch.
    “We’re in here!” Christopher called from the loveseat.
    Two sets of footsteps indicated that both of the remaining Hawke
siblings had arrived, and then Dean and Logan were walking into view. Dean
smirked and moved to the couch, dropping a hand on his sister’s hair and
deliberately ruffling it. “How’s my favorite sister?”
    “The same as yesterday,” Angela replied, reaching up as
soon as her head was released in order to fix her hair. Looking past her
nearest brother, she added, “Hey, Logan.”
    Logan moved around Dean and claimed a seat beside Angela as
he said, “Hey.”
    “So what’s for dinner?” Dean asked, stepping back a foot and
shoving his hands in his pockets.
    “Angie’s boyfriend,” Blake replied with a laugh.
    Dean ignored his sister’s pointed glare. “That’s
unfortunate. I prefer brunettes.”
    “Boys,” Lillian called pointedly from her chair.
    Christopher interrupted her would-be lecture, saying, “Ah,
let them get it out of their systems now. Maybe that way they’ll behave when he
gets here.”
    “Wait,” Dean said. “What’s-his-name’s actually coming for
dinner?”
    “Yes,” Angela and Lillian replied simultaneously.
    At Dean’s irritated look, Nate nodded and said,