Free Theirs by Hazel Gower

all sticky.”
    Blake moaned and kissed her neck, muttering, “No, let her sleep. We will clean up the sheets and her later. It looks like today is going to be a lazy day, just the three of us. We will ring and organise real estate and lunch somewhere nice tomorrow. I’m sure she said she works Tuesday to Thursday.”
    Brian smiled at his brother and kissed Susie’s lips before detangling himself. “That’s a good idea. I’ll go get some stuff from my house, grab my laptop, and be back with spare clothes. Do you want me to drop by your place and pick up some of your stuff?” Blake nodded, and Brian reached down to his discarded shorts and pulled them on, mentally ticking off the things he had to do.
    ****
    After getting everything he and Blake would need for the next couple of days, Brian walked back into Susie’s house to hear her yelling. Speeding up his pace, he found Susie with her hands on her hips, eyes flashing with fire as she glared at Blake. “I’m not going to. I haven’t even known you two for a week.” She turned on him, eyeing him like she expected him to pounce. “I knew there had to be a downside to this deal. Two male points of view, two males bossing me around, and two males ganging up on me.”
    Brian dropped the bags behind the lounge, and placed his laptop on the lamp table. Raising his hands in surrender, he slowly moved towards her. “I haven’t been here for the last hour and a half, so maybe I should hear what’s going on before you condemn me.”
    She scrunched up her nose as she looked up at him before she dramatically sighed. “All right. We have basically just met, and Mr. Do-as-I-Say over there tells me that tomorrow we’ll be looking for houses to buy. And I should have a look and see what I like for us. What the hell are you two thinking? I can’t move in with you. For one, as I said before, I only met you less then forty-eight hours ago. Secondly, what will people think if they see me move in with not one but two guys? And thirdly…well, one and two should be enough, and I’m human and not used to all this fast movement. I love this house. I have a huge mortgage and I pay it all by myself. I’m not moving.”
    “Sweetheart, this place is too small for all of us. Isn’t it, Brian?”
    Looking around at the small townhouse, Brian nodded. “Sorry, honey. There’s barely enough room for us to walk around.” She huffed at them and ran her fingers through her hair, groaning at the sticky tangles she hadn’t been able to get out.
    Brian waited for her to continue. Inching closer to her, he glanced at Blake who sat at a computer desk behind her. Raising his eyebrow, he asked, “Has he found anything?”
    She nodded, and a frustrated whine left her as she stomped to her room. He followed, watching as she grabbed the brush, turned and smacked straight into him. “I, um, it was fun earlier. Um, fun is not the right word.” He watched as she turned bright red and buried her head in her hands against his chest and mumbled, “Now my hair and certain body parts are paying for it, and I wake up, after only an hour nap, to find Blake on my computer laughing at my work.” Brian gave an inward groan, cursing his brother as tears hit his shirt.
    Moving them back to the lounge room, he sat on the couch, placed Susie on his lap, and started brushing her hair.
    Blake grunted. “I didn’t laugh at her work.”
    Brian glared at his brother, silently telling him to shut up. “I am laughing at what she does when she’s not a childcare worker. I knew there had to be a reason why she accepted us so quickly. You will never guess what she does.”
    Brian could hear Susie grinding her teeth, and he would bet everything he owned the look she gave Blake was deadly. “Honey, you want to tell me what you do when you’re not looking after other people’s children?”
    She moaned, and turned her heated glance at him, before she mumbled, “I’m a writer.”
    It took a second to click. Then