Oh, and of course a healthy amount of bear claws. For obvious reasons.
“It was no trouble,” Asher says as he takes a quick glance to get eyes on Adalyn, who's currently coloring with my niece. “I’m in offseason mode. Fucking love July.”
“Speak for yourself,” Theo says. “This month I swear is the longest fucking month of the season. I’ve never been so happy to get a rainout game as I was today.”
“Mother Nature and her fucking rain can go fuck herself,” Beau says with a grumble.
“Yeah, sorry about that,” I say, glad Adalyn’s across the room. She’d have a field day billing him for all the f-bombs. “Last weekend was tough.”
Last weekend was the first time I watched Beau play in a major tournament—and apparently it’s one of two he’s never won. Gabi and I were glued to our televisions all weekend as Beau took the lead into the final day. Unfortunately though, theskies opened up and rain came down hard and fast on the back nine. Because there was never any lightning, play continued.
Beau ended up losing by two shots.
“Fucking bullshit is what it was,” he groans. “They should’ve stopped the tournament for inclement weather. It was a fucking major, not some podunk bank’s invitational.”
“Aww… is someone still upset they lost? Doesn’t matter if he’s thirty-five or fifteen, poor Beau Devereaux still can’t handle losing.”
I watch as Beau’s eyes turn to fire as Shelby walks in front of us, mocking him the way I’ve learned only she can. I’ve only been in a room with them one other time, but I swear, if I didn’t know from Gabi that they vehemently hate each other, I’d put money on them being three seconds away from fucking.
I watchedGeneral Hospitalgrowing up. I know that look before the enemies become lovers.
“Rich coming from the woman who withdrew from a tournament last month because of a toe injury.”
“Fuck you. It wasn’t a toe, it was my finger. How the hell am I supposed to grip a golf club with my finger double in size?”
“You wouldn’t hurt your finger if it wasn’t always stuck up your ass.”
Now it’s Shelby’s turn to narrow her eyes. As for myself, Theo, and Asher? We just take a step back, and I think we all wish we had some popcorn.
“Fuck you, Devereaux.”
“You wish, darlin’.”
“Shrew.”
“Asshole.”
The two stare at each other for a few more seconds, before Shelby spins on a heel and storms back to Gabi and Hannah. Beau doesn’t say anything else and bolts off in the other direction, leaving the three of us slackjawed.
“We’re asking him about this next Poker Club, right?” Theo asks. “Because there definitely was a thing there.”
“Fuck yes we are,” Asher says just as Adalyn starts sprinting across the bakery. “Adalyn! No! No more candy!”
Theo and I share a laugh before we part ways. Since I’m by the cookie table, I do a quick once over to make sure nothing needs replacing, when I feel an arm come around my waist.
“I can’t believe my baby boy is going to be a dad.”
I smile as I turn to my mom, wrapping her in a tight hug. “Believe me, neither can I.”
When Gabi and I were planning this, we wanted to do it quickly. Even though it was killing both of us that we didn’t know, we also wanted to make sure we had time to get our families and friends here. Unfortunately for Gabi, her parents couldn’t make it as they had a summer-long travel schedule that they were in the middle of. They did say they’d reroute through Tennessee on their way back to Louisiana to make sure they were here for the baby shower, though.
Yes, Gabi was disappointed, but both Shelby and Hannah were able to make it. The three of them had a girls’ night last night, my only duty being to bring them pizza and refreshments before seeing myself out. Which was fine. I hadn’t seen my mom, sister, or niece in months, and it gave us the time we needed to catch up.
“I’m proud of you,” she says as Hannah starts gathering everyone together for the reveal. “You did good.”
I laugh. “That wasn’t your tune when I told you what happened.”
She shrugs. “I’ve had time to process. And meet Gabi. That helped a lot. She’s wonderful, Maddox.”
