We watch as the guys welcome Jordie back into their group, and my heart swells. My coaching staff works hard to make sure we’re training good men, not just good athletes. I don’t tolerate bullying, and my number one rule is to treat everyone equally.
They don’t care that Jordie’s a girl. They recognize her talent and know she’ll make our team better.
“You think the school board will give us any shit for this?” my offensive coordinator asks, and I scoff.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass. I’ll go to bat for this kid. She deserves the same opportunity as the boys, and we’re going to give it to her. Not to mention, having two extremely talented receivers will really open up our offense. I invite anyone who doubts her to come watch.”
Lopez grins. “That’s what I like to hear. We’ve got a chance at the playoffs this year since we have options now.” He nudges me with his elbow. “Hey, did you hear the NFL is backing a new professional women’s football league?”
I watch as the young lady in question tosses the ball around with one of our backup quarterbacks. “I sure did, and mark my words, Manny, Jordie McNamara is going to be an absolute superstar.”
CHAPTER ONE
The love of my life
Phoenix
ONE YEAR LATER
“Wow! It looks so pretty,” I slur, looking up at the streamers of toilet paper draping from every tree in my father’s yard.
“Shh,” my twin brother, Helix, warns. “We don’t want to wake up Dad.”
I sling an arm around his neck and accidentally whack him in the ear, making him yelp. “Shhhhhhhh,” I repeat. “You’re gonna wake up Dad.”
“That’s what I just said, dip-ass.”
“You’re a dip-ass.” I’m really good at comebacks when I’m drunk. My gaze goes back to our handiwork all over the massive yard. We used so many packs of TP to create this masterpiece. “Dad’s gonna think the toilet paper fairy came to visit him. I think he’ll be excited.”
“I’m more concerned about what he left under his pillow to earn a visit from the toilet paper fairy,” Helix replies, which cracks me up.
“You’re so funny,” I tell him. “And you’re damn handsome too.”
“You’re just saying that because we’re identical twins,” he says wryly. Helix is funnier than most people think. His sense of humor is just dryer than most because he’s absolutely brilliant. But he’s the best brother in the world.
Our older brother, Remington, is pretty awesome too, but Helix and I actually shared a womb for almost nine months, so we have that twin bond thing. He’s going to be my best man at my wedding tomorrow.
“Have we done enough hoodrat shit for you?” he asks, tugging at the chest of his dark shirt. The Texas heat has our clothes sticking to our bodies, even at night. “Because we probably need to get back to the hotel so you can get your beauty sleep, Mr. Groom.”
I think about it for a second and then nod. “Yep, I think my inner hoodrat has been pacified. Can we drink the rest of Remi’s scotch on the way back?”
“Hell yes, we can. He’s probably going to be pissed though. I think that stuff costs, like, a thousand dollars an ounce or something.”
When I stumble a little, Helix wraps an arm around my waist and leads me from our father’s expansive yard and out to our brother’s car. Remi’s driver, Antonio, smirks and opens the back door for us.
“I’m not so sure Remi will be mad. He’ll probably be in a pretty good mood because he’s getting his,” I lower my voice, “you-know-what wet right now with that redhead.”
We’d gone to a nightclub in downtown Houston for my bachelor party earlier, and we had a whole discussion about how Remi has society women flocking to him all the time. He’s going to be the CEO of our family’s company, Hale Cosmetics, after our father retires, and all the ladies in our circle want to bag a CEO.
So we made a stupid little wager that he couldn’t take home a woman without all the signs of wealth he always shows… the Patek Philippe watch, the designer clothing, the personal driver. Remi removed his expensive watch, he and Helix switched shoes and shirts, and then he headed downstairs to a redheaded beauty seated at a table by herself.
Lo and behold, they hit it off. Sure, I lost the bet, but I’m happy for Remi. He’s always so serious, and it was awesome to see him laughing with a woman. The two of them left together some time later.
“Guess we’ll have the whole suite to ourselves then,” Helix says, taking a swig straight from the bottle of scotch before lifting it in a toast. “To a happy marriage!”
I grin and take the bottle. “To me and Beatrice, the love of my life.” Then I drain the rest of it in one gulp.
With as much as I drank last night, I really should feel worse than I do. To be honest, it was pretty rough at first, but Helix brought me ibuprofen and about two gallons of water as soon as I woke up. Now I’m feeling energized from a combination of the meds, the water, and sheer excitement. I guess love conquers all, including hangovers.
