I wipe the sweat from my face and shrug like the smug bastard I am.
“We’re playing like that, huh? I see how it is,” the cocky fucker taunts as he grabs his water and grins. “I can still kick your ass.”
“You’d have to catch me first?—”
“Pretty sure we all know I’d kick both your wrinkly, old asses,”Ryker jokes as he joins us, his towel draped over the top of his head and a shit-eating grin spread wide across his face.“Probably have saggy balls too.”
“Fuck you.”Mav shakes his head and throws an arm around his brother as we head out of the training facility and toward the driveway.“Now, I’ll let you keep your balls attached to your body if you can tell me what the hell is going on with your roomie here.”
“Delusional,”Ryker signsbut I can already tell he’s about to side with his brother.“Ashton’s been ignoring him.”
Douche.
“Not exactly,”I grumble. Should have known the dick would rat me out.
“Then what, exactly?”Mav pushes harder as we stop next to his car.
Ryker glances between us like he’s watching a tennis match and he’s bored.“The hot ballerina doesn’t give him the time of day... Sound familiar, Mav? You two and your damn dancers are exhausting. And as much as I’d love to stand here and dissect Murphy’s lack of a love life, I’ve got better things to do.”
“Like what?” Mav and I both ask.
“Whatever.”He flips us off.“I’ve got to shower and pack. Mom threatened to stop by and do it for me when I talked to her earlier.”
Mav crosses his arms over his chest and looks down the one inch he’s got over his brother.“Never good when you’ve got to remind Mommy you’re a man, little brother.”
“Like she didn’t do your laundry until you met Emmie.”This time, both Ryker’s middle fingers go up as he walks away.
“She stopped doing my laundry when I moved out,” Mav grumbles without shame.
The Kingston-Beneventi crew is about to leave for their annual three-week trip to the family’s private island before football season starts. Not exactly a rough life. And while I’d normally head down with them for part of the trip, this year I’ve got better things to focus on.
Like the woman hiding inside my house somewhere.
“Have fun on the island, shithead.” I smack Mav’s shoulder and push him just a little bit because, seriously, what are friends for? “Try not to get caught having sex by your kid this year.”
Mav’s chest shakes with silent laughter. “Listen, Rosie still thinks I was helping Emmie put aloe on her sunburn.” He shakes his head, and his mouth tips up. “Thank fuck, she bought it.”
“I’m sure there’ll be plenty of other chances to scar her throughout her life,” I remind him. “Seriously, man. Have fun. I’ll see you when you get back.”
“You really not going to tell me what was bothering you earlier?” He opens the door and throws his gym bag in the backseat of his SUV. “Has something changed with you and Ashton?”
I look over at my house... at the dim light shining in her bedroom window and wish Ryker was wrong, but he’s not. Not completely. “It’s a fluid situation.”
“Don’t give me that shit, Jamie. Everyone else might let you get away with it, but they haven’t known you your whole damn life. They don’t know you were half in love with that girl in high school. They didn’t watch you pull away from her after Evandied. They weren’t there when you pulled away from all of us. How many women have you been into over the past decade?”
“Fuck, man. It’s complicated,” I admit, not liking the way it sounds coming from him.
“No, it’s not. Answer the question.”
Loyal fucking asshole.
“For more than a night?” I ask, but here’s the thing, I don’t need clarification.
His answer doesn’t matter because mine is the same either way.
But Maverick sees through it anyway. “Doesshematter, Murph? Does she matter to you?”
“She’s always mattered. I’m just the asshole who let her think she didn’t.” I look at the house again.
