“So what’s been going down about that shitwhistle—sorry, Ally—who broke into Jay’s house and hurt you?” Nina demanded, turning to look at Blue.
“Shitwhistle is a cool word. I need to re?—”
“You absolutely do not need to remember that,” Phoebe said, giving her daughter a mock glare.
“I’m getting a lawyer onto it. Dan’s also sent word to the cops in New York to question my old boss, as they could be involved.” Are involved, Blue thought.
Dan had told her not to make contact with them and to let him handle it. It had gone against every instinct inside her to agree.
She’d given those assholes years of her life and loyalty, and this was how they thanked her.
“Bastards,” Nina hissed, taking another long slurp of her drink.
“Phoebe and Jonathan, shouldn’t you be over there?” Nina asked, pointing to the other set of bleachers. They were both dressed in Levelers clothing.
“Nina, honey, we can support a winning team and still sit with the losers,” Jonathan said, making Phoebe hoot with laughter.
“Says the man wearing a giant hand and mask,” Blue drawled.
“Well now, would you look who has just arrived,” Leah said.
“Who?” Ally demanded, taking a slice of apple from the container Cill handed her. Sadie got one too.
There was so much to learn about parenting, Blue thought. Thankfully there were books on the subject. Plus, she had an army of parents to ask if she ran into trouble, which she undoubtedly would.
“It’s Jay,” Ally whispered in Blue’s ear.
She looked left and then right and found him walking to where the team was warming up. Tall, fit, and ridiculously hot, if Blue had needed a sign that this was her man, what was going on inside her chest was a clear indication.
Jay’s back.She felt the ridiculous urge to smile but swallowed it down.
“Should make for a fun game,” Cill said, sending Phoebe a wink.
Jay moved like he always did—with easy, loose-limbed confidence, his baseball cap pulled low as he crossed the grass. He wore gray shorts and a faded Leaders shirt. He looked like he belonged there and not in the suit she knew he’d have worn while away from Lyntacky.
She was grateful for her sunglasses because no one knew what she was thinking, and they were definitely looking at her. She knew that too.
Her brothers were throwing a ball off to the side, and they turned as if sensing Jay. Lynx was soon standing with his hands on his hips, Finch beside him, both watching Jay approach. Neither moved to greet him. Jay stopped a few feet from her brothers. Even from the bleachers, Blue could see the tension in his shoulders.
She knew Lynx said something first because his hands moved.
“Your brother is hot,” Nina said.
“You’ve already said that, Nina,” Blue informed her, watching the scene playing out before her.
“Yeah, well, put in a good word for me, then.”
“I’ll think about it,” Blue muttered, wishing she could hear what was being said down below.
She saw Jay’s lips move, and then Finch’s.
Blue’s fingers tightened around the M&M’s bag until it crinkled loudly.
She couldn’t hear the words, but she knew her brothers. She knew the protective anger in their posture, the way Finch’s chin lifted slightly when he was ready to fight, and the way Lynx’s arms crossed when he was drawing a line.
They’d already come at Jay once, and now that he’d left her, they wouldn’t hesitate to do it again. She wasn’t having that.
Jay ran a hand over the back of his neck as he spoke again.
