Comeback (The Holland Brothers Book 3)

“Did you see Sabrina last night?” Brogan asks with a big smirk Tuesday morning when I come out of my room for breakfast.

“No. She probably got in late.”

He’s still grinning.

“I’m not some sort of creeper waiting up to knock on her door late at night for a quick…” I trail off when his brows lift. “I mean a tender, loving fuck.”

Now it’s my turn to grin. Look at that, I figured out how to mess with him the same way he’s been doing to me. While we were hanging out watching TV last night, he kept looking up true crime stories about friends and roommates and letting me know all the clever ways they’d been killed. And this morning he sent me a video on how to plan the perfect murder.

“Okay. You made your point.” He grimaces. “I don’t know if it’s worse because she’s my sister or because I’ve seen your pale, white ass so often I can get a vivid picture.”

“It’s too early for this,” I say with a laugh as I head to the coffee pot and pour a mug for myself.

“Temporary truce?”

“Sure,” I say, sipping the hot liquid. In truth, I did want to stay up and see Sabrina when she got home, but I figured the last thing she wanted after working all night was to have me knocking on her door at two in the morning.

“I was thinking.”

“Always a scary opening to any conversation with you,” I deadpan.

He flips me off. “What do you think about spending the day doing some community service?”

“Is there some team thing I’m not aware of?” It’s our one day off this week and I’m grateful for the break.

“No. Although let’s circle back to that.”

“What’s the thing?” I ask. We do a lot of work in the community with the Mavericks, and we’ve talked about doing more, but I can’t guess what he has in mind on a random Tuesday morning.

“I stopped by Sabrina’s studio yesterday.”

“Right.”

“It needs a lot of fucking work.”

“That’s an understatement,” I say, feeling bad admitting it. She took on a lot and I have no doubt she’ll make it look great but it’s a big job.

Brogan tips his head and grins at me.

“You want to go help her?” I stand tall, already feeling more awake.

“Ding, ding, ding. You in?”

“Definitely.”

“You just want an excuse to see her, right?”

I roll my eyes. “Can’t a guy just want to do a good deed for his best friend’s sister?”

“He can, but it’s more believable when he’s not picturing her naked.”

“Circling back…” I prompt him.

“Nice deflection.”

“Thank you.” We’re both grinning now, and it feels good to be joking around like normal. He’s been cool about the whole thing, but I did worry that wouldn’t be the case.

“There is a ton to do. Painting, flooring, building shit…” He trails off. “All the guys on the team like her and I bet we could get a lot of them to help. We could knock out a huge chunk of her list in a few hours.”

I’m nodding along and I can’t stop smiling. He’s right. Fuck, I wish I would have thought of it.

“I’ll text the team and see who’s free.” He pulls out his phone. “Unless you think that’s something a boyfriend should do.”

I flip him off as I walk backward toward the bathroom to shower and get ready. Maybe I should be concerned about how excited I am to spend the day doing manual labor, but I’m not. Sabrina will be there.

As Brogan predicted, a lot of the guys on the team show up to help. We’re standing in a parking lot two blocks down and we’re getting more than a few looks from people trying to figure out what’s happening. I wouldn’t say people instantly recognize us around the city, but if you put six or seven big dudes in one area, it just sort of draws the eye.

“Go ahead,” Brogan says to me with a grin. “We’ll wait for Tripp and Merrick.”

“It’s cool. We can all go together.”

He laughs, probably picking up on the excited energy that is making it hard for me to stand still. Grinning, he hands me one of the extra coffees we picked up on the way. “Go say hey to your girl.”

“Thanks.” I lift the cup and then head up the street to the studio. My pulse picks up speed the closer I get. The door is open, and music plays from somewhere inside.

Sabrina has her back to me, both hands gripping the end of a long paint roller as she works on rolling the white paint onto a wall. She shakes her hips from side to side as she works.

I step inside and take her in. Her hair is pulled up in a ponytail, and she’s wearing a baggy T-shirt that nearly hides the small shorts underneath.

While I’m trying to decide how to get her attention without scaring her, she turns to dip the roller into the tray on the floor.

Her mouth opens and pulls into a smile before she says, “Hi.”

I tip my head to her. Fuck. Twenty-four hours and I forgot how beautiful she is. I clear my throat. “Hey.”

“What are you doing here?”

“It’s our day off. I thought you might need some help.”

“I can think of a lot better ways to enjoy your day off.”

“True, but you’re not there.”

She laughs and a slight blush pinks her cheeks. Sabrina’s gaze drops to the coffee in my hand. “Is that for me?”

“Yeah.”

I hand it to her, and she takes it in one hand and with the other fists my T-shirt and tugs me forward. She presses her lips to mine in a chaste kiss, but lets her mouth linger there after as she says, “Thank you.”

I kiss her again. “You’re welcome.”

She pulls back but continues staring at me. “I missed you last night.”

She was only home for about an hour between working here and going to Lilac and I had to share her with Brogan and London. I don’t know how I’m going to get some time alone with her, but it’s a top priority.

“Same. I tried to stay awake, but I guess I passed out.”

“It was late. The rock gods were going strong.”

“You could have woken me up.”

“I wasn’t sure if we were there.” She looks adorably bashful. An uncertain Sabrina is something new.

“You weren’t sure if we were where?”

“A place where I can sneak into your room at night. We haven’t even been on a date.”

“Baby, you can sneak into my room any time you like.” But she’s right. She deserves a real date. I steal another kiss, dropping my hands to either side of her neck.

The vibration of footsteps and the low noise that sounds like someone is clearing their throat has me pulling back sooner than I’d like.

I glance over my shoulder to see Brogan, Tripp, Merrick, Cody, Slade, and even a couple of new rookies standing in the doorway of the studio.

“What is happening?” Sabrina moves to stand beside me, eyes wide with confusion as she looks from them to me.

Brogan lifts both brows. “Arch didn’t tell you?”

“I was busy.” I run a hand along my jaw and hide the grin pulling at my lips.

“Yeah, I saw.” Brogan’s tone is dry as he steps forward and hugs his sister. He shoots me a playful glare and then says, “We’re here to help.”

“You are all here to help?” The surprise on her face has us all smiling at her.

“We heard you might need a few good men to help around here.” Slade steps forward and lifts one beefy arm, kissing his bicep.

Sabrina’s expression softens. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything.” Brogan waves everyone forward. “Just tell us what needs to be done.”

While Sabrina rattles off the things on her list, the guys start moving toward different spots. Merrick and the rookies decide to paint, and Tripp and Cody take off to go pick up the flooring she ordered.

“What do you need me to do?” Slade asks.

“Are you any good with plumbing?” she asks hopefully. “The sink in the bathroom is leaking. I tried to tighten the bolt thing, but I’m not strong enough.”

“On it.” He picks up a toolbox I hadn’t realized he brought in with him and struts to the back, leaving me and Brogan alone with her.

“You guys…” Sabrina stares between us. “This is too much. I can’t believe you got them to come help.”

“It was all Brogan,” I say. “He has a way of convincing people to do things.”

He shakes his head. “I didn’t have to convince anyone. They were all happy to help.”

“Still. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he says, looking every bit the proud big brother.

She takes in the busy studio around us and blows out a breath. “I don’t know what we’re going to do now.”

“Arch and I are going to get some music going in here. Do you know where you want the speakers and studio equipment.”

“I don’t have any of that yet.”

“You do now.” Brogan tips his head to me. “Archer picked it out. It’s out in the truck.”

It hadn’t felt like a big deal at the time, but the way she looks at me has me shifting my weight from one foot to the other and avoiding her direct gaze.

“Thank you.” She steps to me and wraps her arms around my neck, pressing her body against mine.

I catch Brogan’s gaze behind her. He salutes me and turns on his heel to head back outside to start bringing in the stereo equipment.

“You’re welcome.” I hug her back, keeping her close and brushing my lips over hers again. I hear someone catcall behind us, probably Tripp. Sabrina’s lips curve into a smile and she giggles into my mouth before she pulls back.

“Come on,” I say. “You can help me.”

That way I can kiss her a whole lot more.