She snorted.“Am I blind?Anyone can see the chemistry between you guys.”
News to him.“It’s not like that.”
Marley looked at him, raised an eyebrow.“You might be quiet, but I can still read you like a book, and don’t you ever forget it.”
“It’s not like that,” he insisted, protectiveness flashing through him.Cassie would hate that Marley was thinking along those lines.Even if it was true.
“Okay, fine, it’s not,” his sister said quickly.Too quickly.A dead giveaway that she didn’t mean it.
“She’s...”He fumbled to find the right words.“She’s a professional, and she’s really careful about maintaining her reputation.”He wasn’t going to spell out the rest, was only answering because both Gavin and Decker were busy talking to their ladies.
“I’m sure she is, being the only female bodyguard they have.That’s gotta be tough.You okay, though?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
She shrugged.“No reason.Not that you would tell me if you weren’t.”She shook her head.“How’d you wind up being so quiet and private, anyway?”
“Let me introduce you to my twin.”
Gavin glanced over as they both chuckled.“What?What about me?”
“Nothin’.”
“I’ll tell you what,” Decker said on Gavin’s other side.“Maybe if you quit hollerin’ like a damned lunatic every time Carly has a play, she’d make more of ’em.”
“What the hell’s that mean?”Gavin said.
“You’re makin’ her nervous,” Decker answered.
“It’s called being supportive.”
“Well, try being supportive in a quieter way then.”
Tristan smothered a laugh.
“What?”Gavin demanded.“You think he’s right?I’m making her nervous?”
“Maybe dial it back just a bit.”
Gavin scowled at him, then Decker, and muttered to himself as he folded his arms and stared back out at the court where the players were setting up again.
“Come on, Carls!Get it, baby girl,” Tristan called out.
Gavin’s head snapped around, his stare accusing.“Why do you get to yell, and I can’t?”
“Because like I’ve told you so many times before, I’m the funcle.It’s my right.”
“He’s not wrong,” Marley said, rubbing Gavin’s shoulder.“Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize,” Autumn said.“He needed to hear it.All right, let’s go, ladies!”
All of them cheered and whistled in support.
This, Tristan thought with a swell of pride.This was what he’d been missing for so long.What he’d been craving deep down for most of his life.Being together as a unit.The banter and laughter.The deep, unshakable bond of family they’d all gone without for too long.Knowing that they were finally together again.Trusting that they all had each other’s backs from now on, no matter what.
The old wounds and resentments were already healing, had begun to fade almost as soon as they’d all moved here to be together.
It made him think of Cassie and the walls she kept around herself.She didn’t realize it, but he understood walls better than most.
