When We Run (Mason Brothers Book #4)

Chapter 9

CADE

She’s holding her coffee with both hands so tightly that I’m afraid she might crush the cup. On a whim, I asked Danica to take a walk with me, but I have a strange feeling in my gut that she was regretting this and I wish I knew why. “Do you live around here?”

She whips her head up and faces me, almost shocked like she forgot that we were walking together. “Yeah, yeah I’m from Denver.”

“I’m familiar with the place.” That gets a little smile from her, so I know I’m on the right track. “I’m from Glenwood Springs, you’ve probably never heard of it before.”

“No, I don’t think I have. Where is it?”

“It’s about two and a half hours from Denver. Pretty small town. We’re kind of known for things like river rafting and some springs,” I wink in her direction, “Obviously.”

She giggled,” Does it have a stoplight?”

“Yes, Miss Thing, it has a few stoplights, for your information. It’s grown a lot from when I was a kid, but there’s a lot about it that is a stereotypical small town though.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“We have this long Main Street that is the focal point of the town. There also aren’t a lot of fast food or chain places. We like to support our local shops more, like the diner.”

“We visit this diner in Denver that is downtown, one of those greasy places where the cast iron skillets are probably from the original owner.”

I rub my stomach and groan, “You know the food is good at a place like that. Those places don’t stay around unless they have comfort food.”

“I agree. That’s why we go and I eat a double stack of pancakes with extra butter and syrup. It’s my “fuck you mom” meal.”

“You don’t get along with your mom?”

Danica shrugs, “We have our moments, but she tries too much to put me into this little square that she thinks would make me perfect. “

“That sounds rough. My parents are pretty great. Growing up I knew they were my parents and not my friends, but they were always super supportive. Even as adults they have an open door policy and do what they can to support me.”

“That sounds sweet. I take it you have a great relationship with them.”

“Yep,” I pop the p at the end of the word. “We do Sunday breakfast almost every week. They’re even doing it tomorrow even though all the guys are gone.”

“So those were really all your brothers at the bar, like real-life brothers? Not “we’re college buds” brothers?” She used air quotes and dropped her voice a few octaves.

I throw my head back and bark out a laugh, “That was great, do it again.”

“No, don’t make fun of me.” She gives me a little shove and I trip over the sidewalk a bit and have to regain my pace. She throws me one of those cute smiles my way again.

“I’m sorry, pretty girl. I won’t do it again. To answer your question, yes those are all my real-life brothers. The only one who wasn’t was my sister’s fiance, so he’ll be one of those real-life brothers soon too.”

“Five kids?” She gasps. “That’s a big family. Bet you drove your parents crazy.”

“We still do, but we’re close. We’re all a little different and have our own personalities, but at the end of the day we’re all Masons.”