“I may have insinuated she was holding us up.”
Emma groaned. “Sean, you’re always the one—“
“I get it, Ems.” Sean ground his teeth.
“Did you at least apologize?” she asked.
“She hasn’t come outside yet or I would've.”
Emma held up her phone and waved it at him. Sean grunted. Tyler clapped him on the shoulder then walked around to the side door and got in.
“Is there a reason you’re in the backseat, buddy?” Brett asked as Tyler slid in next to Emma. “Plenty of space there in the middle.”
“The middle makes me carsick.” Tyler grinned, then did something to make Emma squeal.
Brett laughed at the expression on Sean’s face. “Sorry. Couldn’t help myself.”
“Just get in. I’ll—“ Before Sean could finish his sentence, Kelty strode out the door carrying her duffel, a flannel, and a hatchet.
“Good luck with that.” Brett followed after Tyler and climbed into the van. He scanned the seats, noting that the middle bench was empty but hesitating since Penny was sitting alone next to the window in the front.
“Do you mind if I sit here?” he asked. “Purely to avoid hearing whatever is happening back there between Tyler and Emma.”
Penny grinned. “Why do you think I chose this bench?”
Brett slid in next to her, making sure there was plenty of space between the two of them. “Who else is coming, do you know?”
Penny shook her head. “Kelty said she was texting Fly and his girlfriend and a couple other people from the team.”
“Maybe they just haven't arrived yet?”
A few minutes later, that question was answered as Kelty and Sean got in the driver and passenger seat and motioned for them to shut the door.
“Is this all of us?” Brett asked.
Sean turned on the engine. “Yeah, turns out we didn't need a vehicle quite this large, but none of our cars hold six, so it's still a good thing I got it.”
“What happened to the other people from the team?” Penny asked, her voice a little higher than usual.
“A couple of them said they were going to come and then ditched last night,” Kelty answered.
Penny looked as if she was going to say something else but held her tongue. Brett had a good idea of what thoughts were tumbling around in her head. It was him and Penny and two couples who were disturbingly in love with one another. Mostly just Emma and Tyler. Not that Sean and Kelty weren't in love, but they were past the honeymoon stage.
“Well, this will be great.” Penny exhaled and held her waist pack a little tighter.
As they drove out of the cul-de-sac, Brett lowered his voice. “A loonie says Sean throws a punch.”
Penny turned with a grin. “Kelty told me he and Tyler already had it out during a game.”
“It was epic. Tyler still hasn’t given up on pushing Sean’s buttons.”
She shifted to lean in closer. “But they’re friends, right?”
“Good friends.” Tyler and Sean had gotten along swimmingly right up until Tyler showed interest in his younger sister Emma. Now that he’d proven he was in it for the long haul, Tyler and Sean spent more time together than most of the guys on the team. Though that probably had more to do with Kelty and Emma planning things than any motivation on their part.
“I’ve never understood that. Why are you all so aggressive?” Penny asked.
Brett feigned offense and held up his hands to make air quotes. “You all?”
