He felt his face heat and cleared his throat. “Great.” Deacon had better show, or Mitch would wring his thick neck.
“Simon too?” Becca asked.
She sounded nervous, which made him feel better. Good to know he wasn’t the only one so off-kilter. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking. “Yeah, the kid too. And bring your suits if you want to swim. I have an indoor pool.”
She quirked a brow. “Must be nice.”
“I guess. I haven’t tried it yet. Been too busy.”
“Yeah? Doing what?” Nora asked.
Becca watched him, waiting.
Mooning over your cousin, he wanted to say.Trying to think of how to reintegrate into normal society,was another truth. One that sounded as if it came from a guy who was too full of himself. But living as an NFL star under scrutiny in a big city and living as an ex-football player in a small town were two very different realities.
“Acclimating to town has taken some time.”
“When did you get here?” Nora asked.
“Mid-September.” It hadn’t been all that long, come to think of it. But long enough he should have had some sense of direction with what to do with his life. His investments ran themselves. What did Mitch do except coach a bunch of teenage football players? And even that was just as a favor to his brother.
A guy could only exercise, ski, and watch movies for so long before he grew totally unmotivated. Even his books had begun to bore him. And then he’d met Becca…
“Oh, that’s not that long.” Nora looked over his shoulder. “Ah, my man approaches.”
Deacon glared at him as he joined them, pasted an insincere smile on his face, then lowered his voice. “Seriously? You pulled me into this because you’re too big a pus—ah, lamebrain—to deal with Linda Madison?” He nodded to Becca and did a double take at Nora. “Oh. So this is the woman I’m lusting after? Nice to meet you.”
Nora laughed. “Hi, Deacon. Do you want to get married now or have kids first? I’m not too traditional, so I could go either way.”
While his brother’s eyes grew wider, Nora, Mitch, and Becca laughed.
“I like your cousin,” Mitch told Becca. “Anyone who can intimidate my brother is cool with me.”
“Don’t get her started,” Becca warned. “Although she did force Linda to give up her seat two weeks ago.”
“It was a thing of beauty,” Nora said. She continued to stare at Deacon. “You know, I’ve seen you around town and at the games, but you’re much taller up close.”
Deacon frowned.
What the hell was his brother’s problem now? Before Deacon could ruin things, Mitch said, “I’ll text you directions to the party. Anything you guys don’t like to eat?”
Deacon glanced at him in bemusement.
Nora answered, “We love everything except onions. But we really love chocolate. And Becca’s cinnamon rolls. We’ll bring them. Oh, and have a lot of food. Simon never stops eating.”
“Neither does Deacon,” Mitch said.
His brother kept frowning at him.
Mitch sighed. “Okay, we’ll see you guys tomorrow night at five. I’m going to go get yelled at in private. Bye.” He left before Becca could change her mind, dragging his brother with him.
As he neared Simon, he caught the kid’s eye and glanced at the girl in question.
Simon gave a subtle nod.
Mitch stopped. “Hey, Simon. Great game.” He pumped the kid’s hand. To the other boys, also freshmen, he made small talk. The girl stared at him in awe, he was sorry to say. “Oh, hey, my bad. I didn’t mean to take up your time.”
She elbowed Simon in the side.
