Anyone going to ask if I want to have book club at my house?
Dillan
Nope. Ashton won’t come to book club at West End.
Lexie
Yeah, we spent brunch trying to convince her last week.
Kaleigh
Yup. It didn’t work. So we’re bringing book club to her.
Jamie
Glad to know I get a say in what happens in my own house.
Dillan
Glad to know you love us . . .
“Don’t act like you won’t let the girls do whatever they want,”Ryker challenges as his quarterback spikes the ball in the end zone, winning the epic game ofMaddenwe’ve been battling out.
If anyone thought football players don’t want to think about the game in the offseason, they’d be wrong. We eat it, breathe it, and live it. Relaxing by playing it on a big-screen video game, where half the players on the screen are guys we’ve played with—either in college or on one of the teams we’ve played for since—isn’t even weird.
“Fuck off, man. You’re not any better.”I toss the remote to the couch and check my phone to make sure Dillan hasn’t invited half the damn town too. Her older sister, Lilah, is on bed rest until she pops her first baby out, making her and her husband, Killian, down for the count, but there’s a ton more people in ourinner circle Dillan could add to the list. Though I don’t think she will. Not this time.
Ryker’s not wrong. I rarely tell the girls no if they want something, but it’s not like my cousins aren’t badass little beasts who’d rather do it all themselves anyway. Dillan can joke all she wants, but she knows I appreciate the way she’s forcing her friendship on Ashton because that girl is as stubborn as they come, and the only friend she thinks she has in this town is my brother. At least, the only one she’ll accept any help from. Every time Ryker or I offer, she politely declines. Well really, every time Ryker offers, she’s polite. Polite isn’t in her vocabulary if it’s me.
I knew Dillan would force a friendship on her, though, and I was right.
Finn might be the genius brother, but I’m not as much of an idiot as people think I am.
Ryker looks at me, curious. Too damn observant.
“You told Dillan to make friends, didn’t you?”he accuses, but he doesn’t need an answer. He already knows. “Fuck, man. How bad do you have it for this girl?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,”I groan and take a pull of my beer.
“I know I’m not Maverick, Murph, but I don’t need to be your best friend to know you. You’ve been off your game from the minute Finn walked into the house with that girl and that baby.”
I crack my neck and stand.“Do you have a point, man?”
“You like being the easygoing guy, Murph. You always have. And with Lilah and Killer preoccupied, and Mav with his head so far up Emmie’s ass no one’s seen him in weeks, none of your people are here to call you out on your shit. So I guess I’m going to have to do it. Consider this me calling you on your bullshit. You’ve got feelings for that girl upstairs, and she wantsto hate you real fucking bad, but I don’t think she does. I think there’s more to hot ballerina than that,”he challenges, and I fucking cringe.
“Hot ballerina?” I snap. “Watch it, asshole.”
“Pretty sure you called Emmie hot nanny for months just to force Maverick’s hand.”Fuck. I did do that.“I’m thinking it’s about time your hand gets forced.”Ryker tosses the remote to the coffee table and grabs his beer.“She’s walking through every day in a fog. She’s taking care of Kyrie and trying to hold her shit together with tape and glue and sheer strength. You care about her, so you might want to figure out how to be her friend. Because I’m betting you’re the reason Dillan and Lexie are forcing their friendship on her. If you think she needs one, I’d say it’s time you man the fuck up, brother.”
“Has anybody ever told you you’re an observant motherfucker?”I bitch and hand him my empty beer.
He takes it with a laugh.“Am I your trash bitch too?”
“How about you throw that out for me while I go make a new friend?”
Pretty sure I hear a muttereddickheadas I walk out of the room.
Ashton
