Reggie was known as a home run hitter, and his presence had been sadly missed, according to Mack.
They sat at a table in the back of the Slow Boat Tavern in Hillman City, near Mack’s place, drinking some phenomenal beer and eating shelled peanuts.
Mack complained, “I mean, Brad was up, and he was so focused on shaking his ass for Avery that he struck out. Twice.”
“Asshole.” Brad scowled. “The guy pitching struck out a ton of people.”
“Not me,” Tex said.
“Not me either.” Mack shook his head. “We needed you, Reg. What the hell?”
Reggie did his best to pretend their curiosity wasn’t making him damn uncomfortable. “I told you. I was helping my dad out with some stuff.”
“Stuff? What stuff?”
Reggie glared at Mack, who glared back.
Tex and Brad shared a sly look.
“What?” Reggie asked them. “What’s that about?”
“We know where you were.” Tex nodded.
“At home,” he immediately responded. “I mean, at my dad’s.”Shit.
“Uh-huh.” Tex put his hand out, and Mack swore before slapping down a five-dollar bill on it.
“Hey.” Reggie hated when they bet on him. Typically, in their group, they bet on the guy screwing up with women. Reggie bet on Brad, Tex, and Mack quite often. But as he rarely dated since his breakup, he wasn’t used to being the center of attention.
“I’m surprised at you, Reggie.” Brad shook his head. “So how is… What’s her name, Mack?”
“Maggie,” Mack grumbled. “Cost me five bucks.”
“Look, you losers, I wasn’t with Maggie.” Not exactly. The morning, sure, but technically, he wasn’t lying about the afternoon. “I wasn’t in the mood for a game, okay? I lied about being at my dad’s. Bam. You caught me.”
Tex smirked. “You know who else caught you? Lisa, when she, Nadia, and your dad showed up to check on your supposedly sick ass for brunch, and guess who they found there, Brad?”
“I don’t know, Tex. Who? Who did they find with Reggie?”
Reggie put his head down on the table.Freakin’ loudmouthed, can’t-keep-a-secret Lisa.
“Why, they found Maggie and her cute-as-a-button daughter, Emily!” Tex smiled, his voice super loud considering there wasn’t too much of a crowd to talk over.
Mack punched Reggie on the shoulder. “How could you?”
Reggie groaned. “This is why I didn’t want to tell you guys the truth. You fucking nag.”
“Who’s nagging? I’m clearly disappointed with you. That’s not nagging.”
Reggie sat up and wiped a hand over his face, not looking forward to the smug assholes watching him with overly dramatic disappointment.
“I heard brunch went well.” Tex sipped an IPA.
“How the hell are you so tight with my sister? Does Bree know about this?” Reggie couldn’t see Tex’s girlfriend being okay with that.
Tex sighed. “Ah, Reggie. Bree loves and trusts me. My friendship with your sister is a thing of beauty. We like to look at each other, realizing how damn gorgeous we are. We stare for hours, then we go our separate ways.”
Everyone stared at him.
