Wet (Elemental 1) Read Free Page A

“Yeah,
that’s how I feel.”
    “And his name is Eric,” Angela added, turning her attention
directly to Dean. “Please don’t be an ass.”
    “Angela,” Lillian scolded with a frown.
    Dean held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, fine,
I’ll try to behave.”
    The words were barely out of his mouth when the doorbell
rang, announcing the arrival of their guest.
    Angela stood up immediately. “I’ll get it. Compose
yourselves, will you, please?” She disappeared down the hall without waiting
for their response.
    Christopher looked to his three still-standing sons and
gestured to the remaining seats. “You might want to consider sitting, or your
sister will probably accuse you of trying to intimidate her boyfriend again.”
    “I’ll stand,” Dean insisted.
    Blake shook his head and moved behind Dean, putting his
hand to Dean’s shoulders and shoving. “Come on, sit down already. You’ll only
upset her.”
    Obediently, Dean allowed Blake to steer him towards the
couch, and Nate silently sat on Blake’s other side. The seat Angela had
previously occupied was still open, as well as the seat beside their father and
the one remaining chair. And then Angela led her boyfriend of just over a year
into the large living room.
    Eric Matthews walked comfortably beside the youngest member
of the Hawke family, hands casually in his pockets and eyes aimed forward. His
dirty-blond hair was styled as it always was, with a little too much gel and
thin, combed spikes. The soon-to-be-eighteen-year-old’s posture matched the
expression in his eyes. He was comfortable beside Angela, and did not fear her
older brothers.
    “It’s so good you could join us, Eric,” Lillian said with a
smile, standing and moving forward to greet him.
    Eric embraced her quickly. “Thank you for having me, Mrs.
Hawke.”
    “Please, make yourself comfortable,” Lillian continued,
gesturing wide before turning back to her chair. “Christopher was just about to
start dinner.”
    Christopher pushed to his feet easily, recognizing the
hint, and smiled as well. “Hope you like meat, because that’s what we’re
having. I was thinking a good old-fashioned steak dinner sounded like just the
right thing.”
    “That sounds delicious,” Eric assured his host with an
inclination of his head.
    “Come on.” Angela took her boyfriend’s hand and guided him
toward the newly vacated loveseat as Christopher stepped out of the room.
    Once everyone was settled, Lillian swept her eyes around
the room before asking, “Now then, what’s new with everyone?”
    ****
    Blake met up with his brothers again the following afternoon
at Earl’s Diner. For once, he was the last to arrive, so he simply smiled at
the girl behind the register before moving toward the booth they’d snagged.
When he reached them, he raised an eyebrow at Dean, who was sitting in the
center of their side, and said, “You’re going to have to slide over, bro.”
    Dean grinned back at him and shook his head. “Nah, since
you were late, we figured you should have to sit on the floor.”
    Resisting the urge to smack his brother upside the head,
Blake replied, “You make me sit on the floor once, I’ll make you sit on the
floor every single time you’re late from now on.”
    As Dean quickly slid to the inside of the booth, Nate
laughed. “He got you there, Dean.”
    “Shut up.” Dean rolled his eyes.
    Blake was barely settled in his seat when someone he hadn’t
expected to see until the following morning was suddenly standing beside their
table.
    “Well, hello there,” Brooke declared with a smile as she
lowered her writing tablet.
    The brothers all looked over, and Blake couldn’t help but
return the smile. “Hey,” he said. “It’s only natural we run into each other now
that we’ve already met, right?”
    “Makes sense to me,” Brooke agreed.
    “Hold up,” Nate interrupted, leaning forward and glancing
between them. “How come I’ve never met you?” he asked as