My First Glance: An On My Own Prequel

said as he slid off the stool and prowled towards his wife. There was no other word for it. Cameron prowled. He was like a cat on the hunt, and his prize was right in front of him. His wife leaned her head back and grinned, then practically moaned right there in the middle of the bar as her husband laid one on her.
I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my Sprite. It sucked that I worked in the bar my family owned and I wasn’t even allowed to taste the wares.
“Get a room,” Brendon said as he walked in, sliding on his jacket. He had worked at the bar that morning, but I knew he had meetings with potential clients later. He was smooth, wore a three-piece suit better than anyone I had ever seen on TV, and had a wicked grin for his wife—and another for everyone else.
“I’ll get a room. Maybe the office upstairs,” Cameron said, leering at his wife.
Violet blushed, even as she rolled her eyes. “You need to behave.”
“And when has that ever happened?” Brendon asked, snorting.
My smile widened. “It is true. He is the least behaved out of all of us.”
“Ouch,” Cameron said, his eyes going wide in mock-affront. “I can’t believe you said that when Aiden’s in the kitchen in the back, and we all know he’s the worst of us.”
“I can hear you,” Aiden said as he slid two plates across the open window pass-through.
The Connolly Brewery was family-owned and operated, even though I hadn’t known about it until I was forced to move back to Colorado. It was a long story that I tried not to think about in detail too often. But all in all, it meant that I now lived with my brother, Cameron; his wife, Violet; and occasionally slept in the spare bedrooms of my other two brothers and their wives. I needed to move out, and though I had tried the dorms at my university in downtown Denver, it hadn’t worked out.
I hadn’t been a normal eighteen-year-old—or nineteen-year-old, for that matter. While everyone had wanted to party and have fun and enjoy life, I’d been forced to focus on other things. I had wanted to join in but living at home and saving money while still working had been the best for me.
And all of that brought me back to why I was sitting in a bar. I had a few things to ask my siblings, and I was petrified that they wouldn’t agree. I blinked myself out of my thoughts as someone moved closer to me.
“You look like you have a lot on your mind,” Violet said as she tapped my nose with a finger. She smiled softly, and I lowered my shoulders, tension releasing from my body. My sisters-in-law could do that. They saw right through to your soul. It was a little nerve-wracking sometimes. But at other times? It was perfect.
“Talk to me,” she whispered.
I would…just not right then. I needed time. Or maybe I just needed the spine to do it. Instead, I smiled. “I thought that was Cameron’s line,” I said, not wanting to get into that conversation yet. I needed to do a few things first. I had to formulate my thoughts, and frankly, I wasn’t sure I could.
An email burned a hole in my pocket where my phone rested, and I was terrified that I might continue hiding from what it said.
Violet gave me a look that said she’d talk to me soon about what was bothering me. “You know, the kid is right,” Violet said as she turned on her husband. “You should talk to me.”
Something in her tone made my brows rise, and I looked over at Brendon. He shook his head. He didn’t know what she was talking about either.
“Okay, would you like to tell me what’s going on in that mind of yours? You’re starting to scare me.” Cameron straightened as he spoke, and I was grateful that even though we were in the bar, only our family and Beckham, the bartender that should practically be family, were there. It was right after the lunch rush, and I knew the next rush would be there in a minute, and I’d have to work at waiting tables. For now, though, we had a moment of peace.
Violet just shook her head. “Well, let me see. What exactly are you saying is wrong with me? Am I being weird?”
I winced and slowly moved away from Violet, just in case she took a swing. A gentle one because it was Violet, and she would never hurt us, but Cameron did tend to have that effect on people.
“That’s not what I said,” Cameron grumbled. “Well, just that you’ve looked tired recently, and you’re acting cagey. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
I took a few more steps back and bumped into Brendon, who just grinned. I frowned, wondering why he would be smiling, and then I took a good look at Violet and beamed. Violet looked over at us and rolled her eyes.
“You know, for a brilliant man, one that I love, sometimes you are so dense. I think your brothers understand.”
“I know I do,” Aiden said as he made his way over to my other side.
“What? What do you understand?” Cameron asked, scowling.
“Let me see. You say I look tired. And that I’m being cagey—meaning that maybe I wasn’t feeling very well, and I needed a moment to think. And it had nothing to do with my migraines. Hmm, I wonder what it could be.”
Cameron’s eyes lit up, and he took a staggering step back, shaking his head. Then he wrapped his arms around her and spun her around the bar.
“I think he got it,” I said dryly, and Aiden and Brendon started clapping, Beckham joining in.
“We’re having a baby?” Cameron asked and spun her around some more.
“We are. However, I am a little nauseous, so maybe you should stop spinning me.”
“Shit,” Cameron said before setting her