Wet (Elemental 1) (2 page)

Georgia was laughing, and she lifted one hand to drop it on
Brooke’s shoulder. “Oh, no, sweetie,” she said, her tone teasing. “They’re
quads
. The two at the table are Dean and
Logan, and in addition to Blake, they have another brother named Nate.”

“Quads?” Brooke repeated, shocked.
Wait,
she thought, giving herself a mental headshake,
why does it even matter? So what if Blake
has three nearly identical brothers?
There was something seriously wrong
with her head.

Brooke was yanked out of her internal critique by a nudge
from her friend. “I think that’s their food on the bar,” she said. “Go make
friends. Maybe they’ll put in a good word for you with Blake.”

This time, Brooke did roll her eyes as she started forward.
“I’m not even going to mention it,” she replied, already moving toward the
freshly prepared food. Behind her, Georgia laughed.

Chapter Two

“How was your first week of school?” Lillian Hawke asked as
she handed a bottle of water to her first-born.

 
“I’ve had worse, I
suppose. I’m just glad I’m finally in the home stretch.”

It was late Saturday afternoon, and since it was also the
last Saturday of the month, the Hawke family was gathering for their
traditional family dinner. Blake, like usual, was the first of his brothers to
arrive, and since his father and younger sister were at the store, he had a few
minutes alone with his mother.

Lillian crossed her slack-covered legs as she settled
comfortably on her favorite chair. She rubbed at an invisible spot along the
cuff of her beige, long-sleeved blouse. “Before you know it, it’ll be over and
you’ll be wondering what on earth you’re going to do with yourself next.”

Blake grinned around the bottle he’d been about to take a
drink from and pulled it down long enough to ask, “You mean like Nate?”

His mother shook her head faintly, a smile tugging at her
lips. “Precisely.” In the silence that followed her reply, as Blake took a long
swallow of his water, the distant, familiar rumble of a motorcycle could be
heard pulling up to the house. “It sounds like your brother’s here.”

“I’m surprised,” Blake admitted, setting his bottle on the
coffee table in front of him. “Nate’s usually late.” Muffled voices floated to
them a moment later, indicating that the roar of Nate’s motorcycle had most
likely covered the sound of another impending vehicle. “Sounds like Dad and
Angie are home, too.”

Lillian pushed to her feet, and Blake easily followed suit,
hanging back and letting her lead the way down the hall.

“—get anything good?” Nate was asking as the trio stepped
into the house a minute later.

“When was the last time we ate something that wasn’t good?”
Christopher Hawke, their father, laughed as he shut the door behind them.

Nate shrugged out of his leather jacket and hung it on the
coat rack in the entry way before moving and tugging at one of the bags in his
sister’s hands. “Let me see,” he said.

Angela shifted away from Nate at the same time as she held
out the bag in her other hand. “The stuff for tonight’s dinner is in this bag,
not that one, Snoopy.”

“Wait,” Nate replied, “I thought I saw brownie mix in that
bag. Give it back.”

“Nope.” Angela deftly dodged her brother’s outstretched
hand and maneuvering around him. “Eric’s birthday is coming up. I’m going to
make him brownies.”

Blake joined the conversation with a teasing grin. “You
can’t start baking for a man until you’re married to him, Angie. Sorry.”

Angela rolled her eyes. “Keep dreaming, Blake.” To her
mother, she said, “Is it okay if I keep this stuff in the kitchen for a couple
of days?”

“Of course,” Lillian said with a smile.

As Angela skirted around her family and disappeared down
the hall, Nate crossed his arms over his chest and declared, “I still don’t
know how I feel about that guy.”

Lillian rolled her eyes at her son’s comment and gestured
to the hallway. “Eric’s a fine young man, Nate. You and your brothers need to
try not to scare him off.”

“Your mother’s right,” Christopher added, falling into step
behind his sons.

Blake raised an eyebrow at him over his shoulder. “You,
too?”

Christopher laughed. “I see him more often than you do,
remember?”

Blake shifted his gaze, meeting his brother’s eyes, before
they both sighed and shook their heads. Hesitantly, Blake asked, “He’s not
coming to dinner, is he?”

It was Angela who answered him, having caught up with them
as they returned to the living room. “Of course he is. He should be here in a
few minutes, so you’d better be nice or you’re off my Christmas list, got it?”

“Gee, Angie,” Nate began teasingly. He moved toward her and
looped an arm around her shoulders. “Christmas is so far away, I’m sure I could
wiggle my way back into your good graces by then.”

Angela narrowed her eyes in a futile gesture and shoved
Nate off her. “Oh no, I have a memory like a steel trap, I wouldn’t forget.”
The front door opened before Nate could retort, and Angela used the opportunity
to dart around him and claim a spot on the couch.

“We’re in here!” Christopher called from the loveseat.

Two sets of footsteps indicated that both of the remaining Hawke
siblings had arrived, and then Dean and Logan were walking into view. Dean
smirked and moved to the couch, dropping a hand on his sister’s hair and
deliberately ruffling it. “How’s my favorite sister?”

“The same as yesterday,” Angela replied, reaching up as
soon as her head was released in order to fix her hair. Looking past her
nearest brother, she added, “Hey, Logan.”

Logan moved around Dean and claimed a seat beside Angela as
he said, “Hey.”

“So what’s for dinner?” Dean asked, stepping back a foot and
shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Angie’s boyfriend,” Blake replied with a laugh.

Dean ignored his sister’s pointed glare. “That’s
unfortunate. I prefer brunettes.”

“Boys,” Lillian called pointedly from her chair.

Christopher interrupted her would-be lecture, saying, “Ah,
let them get it out of their systems now. Maybe that way they’ll behave when he
gets here.”

“Wait,” Dean said. “What’s-his-name’s actually coming for
dinner?”

“Yes,” Angela and Lillian replied simultaneously.

At Dean’s irritated look, Nate nodded and said, “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 his gaze settled on
Brooke.

With a shrug, she replied, “Maybe because you don’t come in
often enough? If it’s any consolation, I’ve only seen those two once before
today.”

Jumping into the conversation, Dean said, “And really, the
more important question here is: how do you two know each other?”

Raising an eyebrow at his sibling, Blake explained, “We
have a class together.”

Nate almost looked disappointed. “That’s so … ordinary.”

Brooke laughed softly at their exchange. “Yep, just about
as ordinary as you come. Now then, not that I don’t love your company, but I’m
afraid I need to know what to feed you.”

She completely missed the shared smirks the brothers
exchanged before Blake obligingly ordered his lunch.

Brooke had walked off, headed to the back to put their
order in, when Dean smirked and declared, “Please tell me you haven’t called
dibs yet.”

The other three turned raised eyebrows to him, and Blake
slowly asked, “What?”

“Oh, come on,” Dean said pointedly. “Don’t tell me you
haven’t noticed. She looks like she’d be fun.”

Nate’s head hit his hands and Logan released a deep sigh,
closing his eyes and shaking his head.

Blake narrowed his eyes on his brother and said firmly,
“No.”

It was Dean’s turn to cock an eyebrow. “So you
have
called dibs?”

“I haven’t called anything,” Blake said. “But she’s my
partner for the semester, so I’m telling you to leave her alone.”

Attempting to lighten the mood, Nate looked back to Dean
and said, “Yeah, besides, she’s blonde. Didn’t you just say last night that you
prefer brunettes?”

Dean grinned. “That was last night, Nate. It’s a new day.”

“He’s got a point, Blake,” Logan declared with a mocking
smirk. When Blake silently raised an eyebrow, Logan said, “He’ll have forgotten
all about your classmate by tomorrow.”

Dean rolled his eyes as his brothers laughed
good-naturedly.

****

Brooke watched the Hawke brothers leave a short while
later, pursing her lips in thought. When they were walking side-by-side like
they were, it was easy to see both the similarities and the differences between
them. They were exactly the same height—tall, over six feet at least—and they
had the same dark brown hair and bright blue eyes.

But while Blake’s features were a little more angular,
Logan’s were strong and broad. And Nate and
Dean’s
were somewhere in between—not as angular as Blake’s, but not as broad as
Logan’s. While Logan was the definition of broad-shouldered and probably a
dream come true for any football coach in America, both Blake and Nate were
more towards lean and narrow-shouldered. Like swimmers. Dean was more
broad-shouldered than the two of them, but even he wasn’t in the same league as
Logan.

And if she’d thought Blake’s hair was slightly shaggy
(probably just in need of a haircut), then Nate’s was definitely shaggy. Blake’s
was long enough to blow in a breeze, just a little, as it danced over his
forehead and covered the tops of his ears, even teasing the line of his jacket
collar where it met his neck. Nate’s hair, however, nearly covered his ears,
and definitely overlapped his jacket collar. Dean’s hair was more like what she
imagined Blake’s would be like if he got that haircut and spiked it just a
little. And Logan’s was the shortest out of all of them—just long enough to
assure the world that it was there, and show off what color it was.

Despite the fact that they were all sexy, Brooke found
herself focusing mostly on Blake. Comparing his own brothers to him.

They didn’t stack up.

When the brothers reached the doorway, Blake held it open
until the others had slipped through, and then he turned, meeting her gaze one
last time and smiling.

Brooke’s face heated instantly, and she lifted one hand in
an awkward wave as he stepped through the door. She couldn’t believe he’d
caught her staring.

****

“Brooke!” Georgia declared later that evening as she popped
her head into the back room. “Could you do me a huge favor? The food’s ready
for five, but the people sitting at two are giving me a hard time, and I can’t
serve it
and
handle two.”

“Sure, sure.” Brooke was already re-tying her apron around
her waist. “Go deal with two, and I’ll grab the food.”