“Merry Christmas, boys.” She goes around me and hugs them all.
“Ruby’s blocking us from the room,” Hayes says like some tattletale on the playground.
“Oh, it’s okay if you want to join us. It’s just the four of us watching the game.”
“It’s their girl time.” I narrow my eyes at the three men likedon’t you dare accept her invite.
Kyleigh waves me off. “Go ahead. No one is going to care, but whoever sat in Parker’s highchair and broke it owes me a new one.” Her eyebrows raise.
Easton holds up his hands. “Not me.” He kisses my cheek before walking around me to the door.
I roll my eyes. He’s way too affectionate. Gotta be that huge loving family he’s always rattling on about. They come and visit sometimes. Way too nice for the likes of me.
“Wasn’t me who broke it.” Decker pats me on the shoulder. “Just a beer when you get time, Ruby. Thanks.”
I practically growl and stare down Hayes. He pulls out his phone and his thumbs move across the screen.
“Done. New chair will be here tomorrow.” He flashes his perfectly white teeth at us as though he’s charming. If he weren’t the league’s best catcher, I bet money he’d be a model. He’s gonna be trouble. I can feel it in my bones.
Kyleigh nods, satisfied, but when Hayes gets to the back room door, he turns. “You know, an argument could be madethat it’s technicallyourroom now and all the baby stuff needs to go.”
I laugh at the scathing look Kyleigh gives him, and he ducks into the room.
“They’re entitled pricks,” I mumble, heading back to the bar.
“Pricks you’ll grow to love,” Kyleigh says. “Let’s remember how you felt about the Falcons at first.”
I grunt as she follows me behind the bar. Sometimes Kyleigh grabs the drinks for the room to help out since she worked here for a brief moment in time. Tonight she fills a glass with ice. I watch her out of the corner of my eye. She pours a soda with lime, which is Rowan’s drink. He’s not here, so why the hell isn’t she ordering her usual wine or mixed drink?
She looks at me and I cock my eyebrow.
“Still breastfeeding,” she whispers.
Yeah, except there have been plenty of times she’s had a drink and told me she’d just pump and dump. And the fact that she didn’t order a drink from me when I was in the room a minute ago? Yeah, my radar is pinging.
I glance at her stomach, and her cheeks go red before she turns and goes back to the back room.
Tedi comes out two minutes later and points down the hall. I nod, and she disappears into my office, probably to pump.
I serve a couple of guys their beers and glance toward the far end of the bar. Eloise is there. She waves at me, so I walk down, grabbing her favorite seltzer on the way. I crack it open and place it in front of her.
“Oh, could I have a water please?” She stares at the seltzer, biting her lip.
Note to self: do not drink the water on their street. Not that it matters for me since those days are long gone.
I fill her a glass of water and she smiles, leaving the seltzer on the bar and only taking the water.
Yep, pregnant. I’m not about to call her out though. It’s her business when she wants to share. Still, my heart pricks at the thought of another baby joining their group.
I finally relax a little, not feeling like I have to guard the back room so hard. Those Colts boys are dumbasses, but they’ll protect the girls if anyone tries to go in there. Otherwise, their husbands will beat the living shit out of some baseball players.
A while later, I catch a group of four women eyeing the back room door while sneaking glances at the rest of the room.
I step out from behind the bar, plant myself in front of them, and hold up my hand. “Nope.”
“Oh, can we not go in there?” the blonde asks, doing her best innocent act.
I roll my eyes and shoo them away with my hand.
