“Huh,” Maverick said, crossing one leg over another, then doing the same with his arms. He rubbed his hands together and hit me with a look that was so much like our dad I had to do a double-take. His forehead was creased, and there was a defined eleven between his eyebrows, but I knew whatever he was about to say was going to be important. “Seems to me you shouldn’t dismiss something that makes you happy.”
Shit.
He scratched his short beard and shrugged his shoulders like it was the easiest thing in the world to change something engrained so deep in my body it was a part of me. It wasn’t like he was one to talk about being in a relationship. He was more FUBAR’ed than all of us combined.
“Don’t you try to turn the tables and mention what happened with Autumn and me,” he said, pointing his finger in my face like I’d mention something that painful. “This is you, man, and you’re a fool if you’re throwing away a chance at something real. Trust me. I’m heading out.”
He clapped me on the back and high-tailed it out the door.
“Mom invited us to dinner tonight. Don’t forget,” Miller yelled as Maverick lifted his hand in a halfhearted goodbye, leaving the three of us in stunned silence.
“He needs to get laid,” Miller said, plopping down on the couch still covered with plastic wrap.
“He needs to stop living in the past,” Magnum added, sitting beside him and shrugging his shoulders with a groan.
“He needs to let her go.”
The two of them looked at me, and I wedged myself between them on the couch, laying my head back and closing my eyes. “Wait, mom invited us to dinner?” I snapped my eyes open and looked between them.
“Yeah, didn’t you see the group text? She has some big announcement she wants to share, and I’ll bet she invited your girl.” Miller leaned over and punched me in the shoulder with a grin. “What do you think she wants to tell us?”
I took my phone out of my pocket and scrolled through the missed texts, scrubbing my hand over my face. “Who knows?”
My phone buzzed while I was scrolling, and when I saw Jenna’s name, I smiled.
“That’s the face I was talking about. I don’t know what your hang-up is, but whenever you’re ready to admit how you feel about this chick, we’re here.”
“Shut up, Miller. It’s not like you’re in a relationship.”
“I’m not. But the difference, little brother, is when I’m ready, I’m going all in. She won’t know what hit her.”
I shoulder-checked him and stood up, heading to the kitchen before checking the message.
Jenna: Hey you. Your mom texted and invited me to dinner. She said she needed more estrogen.
Me: Ha! That sounds like something she’d say. My brothers will be there too. Want me to pick you up from the clinic?
Jenna: No. That’s okay. I’ll meet you at her house at six.
Me: Sounds good. See you then. Has your day been okay so far?
Jenna: Could be better.
Me: Anything I can do?
Jenna: Give me like three to five more days, then you can ravage me.
Me: Consider it done, Dr. Cutie. See you tonight.
I pocketed my phone and looked at Miller, who was still staring at me with that stupid-ass grin on his face.
“Is she coming tonight?”
“Yeah, she’ll be there.”
“Want to get a beer before dinner?”
I looked at my watch, then at Magnum, who was sitting on the couch.
