“Who’s Mackenzie?”
“The girl you stole the muffins from.” I glance at the text and smile when I see her confirm the date for Saturday night. I ended up texting her last night before I went to bed, not wanting to give myself a chance to back out of it. I know I need to do this and prove to myself I can move forward.
“You got a girl’s number?” He stops with his muffin in midair and blinks in surprise like he didn’t hear me right.
“Ryder got a girl’s number?” Miles walks in the cottage doors, and I groan into my coffee. His dark hair is sticking up and he’s only wearing black boxer briefs as he grins at me. I would bet my car he just Ubered a girl home and came straight from bed to get some breakfast.
“It’s not a big deal. We both wanted the last of the muffins, and I thought she was cute, so I asked her out.” I try to play it off, but my brothers are not going to let this go. I’m just as surprised as they are that I actually did it.
“It’s a huge deal,” Jake says, grinning. “It’s about damn time.”
“Ryder is back in the game!” Miles throws his arm around me and puts me in a headlock, ruffling my hair.
I easily get out of it and shove him off of me. “Jesus, you act like a fucking kid most of the time, and you’re older than me.”
Miles laughs and pours himself some coffee. “I act like a man when it counts. Trust me, the girls get the grownup version in the bedroom. Nothing wrong with not taking life too seriously. You two could learn from me. Even uptight Travis has turned a new leaf and is fun again. Of course, if I were married to a girlthat looked like Sophia, I would be walking around with a damn smile on my face all the time too.”
“You do know that’s your sister-in-law you’re talking about, right?”
“Yep,” he grins. “Sophia loves me and knows I’m joking around. It’s also been fun as hell to get Travis riled up for the past year. I don’t think it will ever get old,” he laughs.
“Speaking of Sophia and Travis, when are they coming?” Jake finishes his muffin and refills his coffee.
“They will be here Friday, which means you two idiots have exactly five days to get this place ready for them.” Travis and his wife, Sophia, are spending the summer with us again. They did it last summer once they got back from their honeymoon. Our parents and Savi even stayed for a bit. Max had the time of his life having all of us here, and I look forward to spending some time with my nephew. It’s what this place is for, anyway.
“Don’t forget that we are hosting the Fourth of July here for Sophia’s brother and all of her friends, so we will need to get the other bedrooms ready next month for them,” I remind my brothers. “They’re still waiting to see if Skye and Cole can fly in.” We met them at Travis’s wedding and got along great with them, so hopefully, they can make it.
“We’ll have the house ready. I’m looking forward to having them here this summer, especially the party on the Fourth.” Jake eyes Miles, and they both start grinning.
“You guys have already started buying fireworks, haven’t you?” I look between the two of them, and they bust out laughing.
“Wait until you see what we got. We had to go big this year because we’re the hosts. Crystal Isle fireworks won’t hold a candle to Blue Haven’s.” Miles’s eyes light up with excitement.
“How the hell did you buy them so early? It’s not even June.”
“Online. You can buy anything online. When the fireworks tents go up, we’ll get the rest of them,” Jake grins.
“Just make sure you’re safer this time. You about caught your dick on fire when it went the wrong direction and almost landed on you.” I look at Miles and can’t hide the amusement in my eyes.
Jake busts out laughing. “I’ve never seen him run so fast in my life.”
“Can you blame me? You might as well bury me in the ground if my dick falls off. There would be no point in living anymore.”
“You could always wear a strap-on,” Jake says, barely getting the words out between his laughing fit. “They make them in hot pink, too. It would look good on you, and women love pink.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just suggest that a strap-on would even come close to what my dick can do. I’m also going to try and forget why you would even know what colors they come in. Should I be worried that yours isn’t working?” Miles can’t stop his grin.
“Mine is definitely working. It’s got five-star ratings across the board. I can’t help it that ads pop up on my browser, and I see the different colors advertised.” Jake shrugs his shoulders.
“You do know that your ads are based on your browsing history, right?” Miles ducks when Jake throws the dish towel at him.
“I’m going to hit the weights before I go to work,” I laugh, shaking my head and walking to the garage. When we all moved in, my brothers and I turned part of it into a home gym. I love being able to walk in here anytime I want and not have to deal with sharing my space with others.
“We haven’t forgotten about your date!” I hear Jake yell as I leave the room. “We want to hear all about the grocery store girl!”
I close the door on them and put on my headphones to drown out their laughter. I glance down at my phone to put on my playlist when I see Mackenzie’s text. Smiling, I open it up and reread it.
Mackenzie
