Chapter 1 I'd fallen asleep in the basement again. It was basically our hangout spot. My brothers and cousins spent hours down here playing video games or watching movies, and I usually joined just to have something to do. I never really cared about the games or the movies. I just liked being near them. They meant everything to me. All four of them. My two older brothers, Tripp and Rhys, and my cousins, Ashby and Dash. They were all in their early twenties, between twenty-one and twenty-four. I was the youngest at eighteen. The baby of the family. The only girl left, as harsh as that sounded. Mom died when I was two. Aunt Laureen, Ashby and Dash's mom, passed away giving birth to Dash. So yeah, that made me the only woman in the family. And honestly? I liked it that way. I never really knew Mom or Aunt Laureen, so there wasn't anything to really miss. I know it sounds cold, but I'm not heartless. I loved my family. All of them. Dad. Uncle Odin. The boys. Loved them so much it sometimes felt like too much. I stretched out on the couch and let out a yawn, sighing as the tension left my body. God, that felt good. I looked around the room, not surprised by how clean they had left it. All four controllers they used last night were neatly placed on their charging station, and both remotes were placed side by side in the middle of the coffee table. The blanket Dash had covered his legs with was folded perfectly. They liked to be tidy. Unfortunately for them, I wasn't. I left the blanket I had slept with on the couch, crumpled up, and ready for me to get back under once we came down here again tonight. I knew we would, because there wasn't much else to do out here anyway. And we rarely left the house. We lived on an old farm. We didn't have animals or anything, but we owned quite a big piece of land. On it, there was this house, an old barn right down the gravel road, and a small lake near the edge of the forest. We didn't have direct neighbors, and the nearest town was a ten-minute drive away. We had our peace and quiet, and we loved it, and we only ever left to go to work. Dad and Odin bought it when I was around ten, and when we moved in, we knew we'd never leave this place. There was another place we liked to call home. We owned a motorcycle repair shop called The Old. We all worked there. Well, I'd officially start working there after the summer, because I just graduated high school, and wasn't going to college. None of us went to college besides Dad and Odin. The guys and I didn't see a point when all we wanted was to stay here forever, anyway. We loved our family, loved The Old. So why leave and start a whole new life with people we probably wouldn't even like? Some would say we took the easy road. Not caring about our education or future. But we simply chose happiness over a life filled with stress and uncertainty. While all the others repaired bikes, I sat at the front desk and did the administrative work. I've been doing it for about three years now, and I was fucking good at it. I also took care of phone calls, emails, and other customer-related stuff, and customers loved me. Odin often said I was the reason why The Old was one of the best repair shops in all of Montana. And I liked to think that's true. I headed upstairs and into the kitchen to find Dash sitting at the counter, eating a bowl of cereal. He looked up when he noticed me, and his bright, boyish grin made me smile right back at him. "Morning," he said, reaching out for me to pull me to him. I let him and leaned right into his side as he gave me a hug. "Morning. You left me in the basement again." Dash pressed multiple kisses to the top of my head, tightening his arm around me. He wasn't letting go until he was satisfied. "Sorry about that. We didn't want to wake you," he explained. His lips were on my forehead, then on my cheek, pressing more kisses to my skin. "You also slept way too long. We're gonna be late." I scrunched my nose and tried to free myself from him. Even though I didn't want to. If it were up to me, we'd spend all day cuddling and kissing. Between all of the guys, Dash was the sweetest. He was closest to my age at twenty-one, and while the others were only one to three years older, they also saw him as the baby of the family. Not like they saw me, of course. But, still...he would always be the one they'd protect first unless I was around. "Why didn't you wake me?" I asked, finally managing to get away from him. I looked at the clock. It was almost nine, and The Old was already open. The others had probably left a while ago. "You looked way too peaceful. Did you have a nice dream?" He continued to eat his cereal while I grabbed a now cold roll from the basket on the kitchen counter. "Hm, I don't remember." I bit into it and watched him while I chewed and swallowed. "Will you wait for me? I have to take a shower first." "Yeah, but hurry." I nodded and decided to finish my roll upstairs. There were ten bedrooms in this house, but we were only seven people. We each had our separate room, and the ones we didn't use were filled with either clothes, books, or board games. Truthfully, no room in this house was just someone's. Often, the guys ended up in Tripp's room where they talked until late and eventually fell asleep in his bed or on his couch. Other times we all sat in Odin's room because he had the nicest view of the prettiest sunsets. We also sat outside on the porch a lot, especially on warm summer nights. Those are my favorite. I made my way down the hall to my bedroom, and after quickly finishing my roll, I went to take a shower and got dressed. A white, ruffled mini skirt with hidden shorts underneath, and a light blue baby tee would do the job for today. I wanted to be comfortable at the shop. Nobody really cared how I dressed at the shop, and the people who cared the least were the men who came in to get their motorcycles checked. They loved seeing me at the front desk and often stayed to talk to me. Rhys once joked about me being the reason why they were able to raise their prices for their services, because these men would pay any amount as long as I sat at the front desk, batting my eyelashes at them. I didn't mind. If me being there profited us, I would do it forever. Once I put on some light makeup and brushed my hair, I headed downstairs to put on my worn down boots. "Dash, I'm ready!" "Coming!" We headed out and got into his truck to drive to The Old. *** The cool air from the AC hit me right in the face. It felt nice, but I'd have to move over soon before I would catch a cold. The morning had been busy, with the guys, Dad, and Odin running around the garage, fixing and working on bikes. During that time, I sat at the front desk and picked up some calls, wrote a couple of emails, and also refilled the fridge with beers and sodas. For lunch, Dad made me order burgers and fries, and the food got delivered shortly after. We didn't really eat at the dining table in the break room together. We just all took our burgers and fries and sat-or stood-close to where we needed to get back to work once finished. The only time we ate together as a family was at dinner. And that was okay for all of us. It was three-thirty in the afternoon now, and I decided I needed a short break. Nobody was coming in, so I walked over to the workshop and leaned against the Harley Tripp was currently working on. As the oldest at twenty-four, he took this job extremely seriously. He worked hard, was always at the workshop first, and stayed late when he didn't even have to. He loved motorcycles but didn't really drive them. He just liked to repair them. Fix and sometimes remodel them. "What are you doing?" I asked sweetly, looking down at him as he squatted in front of the back tire. He didn't look up. "I'm working, Lissy." "I know." I pursed my lips, tilting my head to the side. "But, like, what are you doing. Specifically." He finally glanced up at me, smirking faintly. His hands were covered in grease, and there was a smudge on his cheek he had no intention of cleaning before he got home. "Rear tire's off balance. I'm trying to realign it without having to pull the whole damn thing apart," he said, and then turned back to his task. I smiled, watching his hands move with careful precision. "You always make it look easy." "It's not," he replied simply. "You just think it is because I don't complain. Unlike someone else." That was a dig at Rhys who often muttered and cursed when things didn't go his way. Rhys was a perfectionist. "I heard that," he grumbled from a few feet away. I smiled to myself. All of them were so different, yet so similar. Tripp was quiet and focused. The kind of guy who never wasted words and always knew exactly what he was doing. He could be intimidating to most people, but not to me. I'd grown up with his calm silence and learned how to read him like a book. And at this very moment, he wanted me to leave him alone. So I did. I walked over to Rhys who was the most stubborn out of us three siblings. He also always had a lot to say, and he never once held back words. He was direct and intense. Sometimes even a bit crazy and wild. He tightened a bolt, then gave me his full attention. "You okay?" "Yeah. Just needed a break. My butt's numb from sitting." He raised an eyebrow. "You want something to do?" "Not really," I said with a teasing grin. He shook his head but didn't argue. "You just came here to annoy us then?" I gasped. "I came here for a brother-sister bonding moment, actually. How dare you?" That earned me a laugh. "Fine," he said. "You can hand me that wrench over there. The long one." I grabbed it and handed it to him without hesitation, but that was all the help he would get from me. "Thanks." He gave me a small nod, then went back to work. "All right," I said with a happy sigh. "Keep getting your hands dirty, boys, while I sit in the AC and look pretty." Everyone chuckled, and I grinned at their reaction. They loved me. Small moments like these proved it. And I loved them. The bond we had was special. Way different than any other family. And I didn't expect anyone to understand it. "Fair enough," Odin said, looking over at me. "Did you hear anything from Davis about his bike? He said he'll send an email once he's back in town." I shook my head. "Nope, no email from him. Do you want me to send him a quick message to check in?" He thought about it for a while, then nodded. "Yeah. Ask him how much longer we'll have to keep his bike in our garage because we need the space." "Okay. Anything else?" I asked, looking around. They shook their heads, and I went to the front desk, ready to dive right back into work. Discover our latest featured short drama reel. Watch now and enjoy the story!