Now it made sense why Mom and Dad had opted to skip.
They probably suspected this dinner would get rowdy.
It did.
Eloise convinced everyone to try her sangria, promising that no one would die. There’d been a lot of grimaces but the pitcher was empty and my sisters were hammered.
“Let’s build a fire.” Talia shoved out of her seat on the deck that overlooked the backyard. She staggered the first few steps toward the staircase that led to the firepit.
“Yes!” Lyla cheered. “And do s’mores.”
“No.” I shook my head. “It’s too dry for a fire.”
“You’re no fun,” Eloise slurred from her chair beside mine. Her eyelids were barely open to slits. “Winn, your boyfriend is a bummer.”
She giggled from her seat on my lap. “He’s not so bad.”
“No offense, Winn,” Mateo said from his seat beside Eloise, “but your opinion doesn’t count. You’re the only one who will get to see Fun Griff tonight.”
“Eww.” Talia gagged.
“Too far, Mateo.” Lyla cringed.
Winn buried her face in my shoulder and laughed.
“Mateo, remember when Griff was the fun brother?” Eloise asked.
“Griff was never fun.”
“Excuse me.” I leaned forward to shoot him a glare. “I bought you beer when you were underage.”
Mateo scoffed. “When I was twenty. Six days before I turned twenty-one. That’s not fun.”
Winn sat up straight. “Contributing to the delinquency of minors?”
“Don’t listen.” I covered her ears with my palms. “You guys are fucking killing me tonight.”
Knox walked out from the house with two fresh beers, handing one to me. “Sounds like you need this.”
“Thanks,” I muttered. “I’m going to start locking the goddamn door.”
Winn snuggled deeper, kissing my cheek. “You’re having fun.”
“Yeah, I am.” I grinned, holding her close as she yawned.
The sun had set hours ago. The stars were putting on their nightly show, twinkling down from their throne in the midnight sky.
I was beat, and even though tomorrow—today—was Sunday, my task list was long. But I didn’t want to be anywhere else but in this chair with Winn on my lap, listening as my brothers and sisters razzed me ruthlessly.
“What else can we tell Winn?” Lyla asked.
“Nothing,” I grumbled. “You’ve done enough.”
Any embarrassing story from my life, they’d told it. Shitheads.
“What about that time he got caught freshman year with that girl under the bleachers at the football game?” Mateo asked.
“No, thanks.” Winn waved him off. “Let’s skip that one, please.”
“That wasn’t me,” I said. “That was Knox.”
“And that was a fun night.” Knox laughed. “I lost my virginity that night.”
“Way too much information.” Eloise stood from her chair. “I need to go to bed.”
“I’ll help.” I nudged Winn, both of us standing to help, because Eloise looked like she was five seconds from passing out.
“Where’s everyone sleeping?” Mateo asked.
As they started debating who got which bedroom, I led Eloise inside with Winn following.
The entryway split my house in half with the kitchen at the back. In one half was the living room, the office and the master. In the other, three guest bedrooms and two bathrooms.
The architect I’d hired to design this place had made a joke once about the need for abundant bedrooms. We’d met in town to discuss blueprints, and during that lunch meeting, each one of my siblings and my parents had stopped over to offer their opinions.
For years, I’d lived in the loft apartment above the barn at Mom and Dad’s. It was where Mateo lived at the moment. But as I’d gotten older, it had been time to build my own house.
Knowing that this was my forever home, I’d spent the money. I’d given myself plenty of space, not just for the family I might have, but for the one I already did.
The first guest room had three twins, two bunked on top and one below beside a dresser. The walls were planked in a distressed barnwood, much like the siding that covered my actual barn. The gray and brown striations gave it enough character that I hadn’t needed to buy art.
I pulled back the blankets on a bottom bed, making space for Eloise to sink down.
“I’ll get her a glass of water.” Winn slipped out while I helped my sister take off her shoes.
“I love her, Griffin.” Eloise gave me a dreamy smile. “But when you marry her and have babies, don’t get rid of my bunk beds.”
“Okay.” I chuckled, tucking her in. Much like I’d tucked her in as a kid when I’d babysat for Mom and Dad to have a date night.
Winn returned with a glass of water. “Good night, Eloise.”
“Night, Winn.”
I kissed my sister’s forehead, then eased out of the room, hitting the light.
“Come on, baby.” I took Winn’s hand and led her down the hallway, past the living room and kitchen to our side of the house.
The master bedroom’s vaulted ceilings were lined with thick, wooden beams like those in the living room. The fireplace in the corner of the bedroom had a floor-to-ceiling stone hearth. Large-paned doors opened to the farthest end of the deck—my other siblings were still talking and laughing outside.
The moment I closed the door behind us, Winn began undoing the buttons of the flannel she’d stolen from the walk-in closet earlier when she’d gotten cold outside.
“I’m beat,” she said. “I hope they don’t care that we disappeared.”
“They won’t.” I took over for her, undoing the buttons. Then I eased the shirt off her shoulders, letting it pool at her feet.
“I forgot how this is.”
“What is?”
“Family gatherings.”
“You mean you forgot how loud and obnoxious they can be?”
“And wonderful and entertaining.”
I put my hands in her hair, kneading her scalp. “Did you have these sort of nights with your parents?”
“We did.” She gave me a sad smile, her head lolling into my touch. “It was with their friends, since they didn’t have siblings, but as a kid, they’d host summer barbeques and everyone would laugh for hours and hours. Like tonight. This was fun. I needed it.”
“I’m glad.”
“Did you have fun?”
“I did. Though some of those stories weren’t exactly ones I wanted you to hear.”
She laughed. “You really streaked down Main Street with a gorilla mask over your head?”
“Yep,” I muttered.
Knox had told her all about how I’d lost a bet my senior year and the price was a naked sprint down Main. Thankfully, there’d been no stipulation that I had to keep my head exposed, so I’d borrowed the mask from a buddy’s Halloween costume stash.
“To this day, I don’t think Mom knows it was me.”
“I want to be there the day she finds out.”
My heart swelled. “You will be.”