Sorry, brother.
—Text from Jamie to Maverick
“Come on, kid, we’re making a pit stop.” I swing the Escalade into a spot in front of Hopeless Romantics, my cousin Dillan’s bookstore, and shut off the ignition. “I’ve got to pick something up.”
Jonah looks at me in that way only a twelve-year-old can.Annoyed. “Seriously, man? At a girly looking bookstore? What the hell?” he grumbles and pulls his hat down lower, like he’s worried someone will recognize him on his way in. “Does the Big Brothers & Big Sisters program know you’re torturing me like this?”
I started working with Jonah in the offseason once I was traded to the Kings, and even if I couldn’t spend as much time with him during the season as I wished I could, we still managed to fit it in. His mom is a sweet woman, who works two jobs and worries constantly about Jonah getting into trouble when she’s not around. Which I could definitely see happening if the kid gets bored. Not someone who’s great at sitting still.
“I’m pretty sure they’d be okay with it. Who knows, maybe you’ll find a book to read in there. Have you readLord of the Rings? OrPercy Jackson and The Lightning Thief?” I straighten his hat before we get out of the car. “Books can be pretty cool, you know.”
“Listen, man. I know you get street cred from being the baddest dude on the football field, but evenyoudon’t have enough juice to pull off getting caught going into a pink bookstore. People are going to think you like this stuff.” His eyes dart left and right before he shakes his head and hightails it into the store. Probably hoping no one catches him doing it.
“I do like this stuff,” I tell him as I walk in behind him and smile at Dillan and Kaleigh scanning books behind the counter. “Ladies.”
Jonah’s jaw drops, and he side-eyes me. “You didn’t tell me there’d be hot girls in here, Murphy.”
Dillan puts down her book and shoots a megawatt smile his way. “Yeah well, I’m not really a girl. I’m his cousin.” She offers him her hand. “Dillan. Nice to meet you.”
He looks at her hand and then at me before deciding there’s no harm in shaking it. “Jonah.”
“Nice to meet you, Jonah.” She motions next to her to the small woman with the purple streak in her blonde hair. “This is my friend, Kaleigh.”
Kaleigh laughs. “I’m a girl.”
Jonah nods with the confidence of someone twice his age. “Nice hair.”
She twirls the purple strands around her fingers, knowing exactly what’s she’s doing, and Jonah blushes before she even speaks. “Thanks, cutie.”
“So ladies, I know you focus on romance, but I’m pretty sure you’ve got a few other genres stocked too. Anything my man here might be interested in?” I barely get the words out before Dillan rounds the corner, beaming with excitement.
Books are her favorite language, and my cousin has made them her whole life and her whole business. Between the shop and the best-selling romantasy series she launched last year, she’s got us all reading about shadow daddies and dragon-riding badasses on the regular.
I catch Jonah before he follows behind Dillon. “Do not hit on her,” I warn, and the fucker’s grin makes me laugh.Twelve going on twenty-seven.
“Hey, Jamie.” Kaleigh gets my attention. “I saw Ryker yesterday, and he mentioned that your house guest’s sister is three months old...” I nod but don’t say anything. It doesn’t seem like she’s looking for an answer as she grabs something from the backroom and comes back out with her hands full. “My sister insists she’s absolutely done having babies and said I could give these to Ashton if I wanted to.”
The normally loud woman looks unsure as she hands me two tote bags filled with clothes. “I’m not trying to overstep or anything, but I read between the lines of what you and Ryker were saying, and it sounds like maybe...” She hesitates, fisting the bags. “Whatever. Just let her know, if she wants these, my niece barely wore them, she was growing so fast.”
“Thanks, Kaleigh. I’m sure she’ll appreciate them.” She might not appreciate me giving them to her, but I’ll just keep that part to myself.
Kaleigh props her hand on her hips and goes from smiling to glaring in a heartbeat. “Why are you guys basically hiding her?”
“Dramatic much, blondie?” I tease. “We’re not hiding her. She’s just a little... overwhelmed.”
“Ryker says she doesn’t like you,” she challenges as Jonah and Dillan come back with the entireHarry Pottercollection in hand, and I pass Dillan my credit card.
I swear to God I’m surrounded by gossipy little dicks. “Yeah well, Ryker’s got a big mouth, but he’s not wrong.”
“Wrong about what?” Dillan asks as she rings me up for the books.
“Jamie’s newest roommate hates him,” Kaleigh announces like it’s big news.
“Smart girl,” my cousin laughs. “We’re going to meet her eventually, Jamie.”
“You act like that’s a threat, Dillan. She’s Finn’s best friend, not mine,” I remind her as she hands Jonah the books in a Hopeless Romantics bag.
“Whatever you say, Jameson.”
