“The girls are going to freak when they hear.” Another niece or nephew to add to the family. I already couldn’t wait to spoil them rotten like the others.
While I was happy for Trevor and Tasha, a small pang ricocheted through my chest. I wanted what they had. I’ve seen firsthand the lives my brothers built and the love they all had. It’s something I’ve always craved and wanted…but I wasn’t sure it was meant for me. That kind of future seemed out of the question.
Before my thoughts could spiral, I shoved them into the corner of my mind.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love that I know first, but why tell me? Why not tell Wyatt, Bryton, or Landon?”
“Like any of them can keep a secret from their wives.”I silently agreed with that one. Knowing them, they’d spill the beans after a few days.“Plus, you aren’t here to be a little shit and tell everyone.”
I gasped. “I would never!”
I totally would.
“Uh, huh.”
“Well, I promise not to say anything. That way, you can surprise everyone in a few weeks.” I may like to stir shit amongst our friends, but I’d never go back on a promise. This was Trevor and Tasha’s news to tell.
“I really am happy for you guys.”
“Thanks, Maty.”
“Make sure to tell Tasha I’ll be her next baby daddy if she wants.”
“Fuck off.”Trevor huffed out a laugh before the line went dead with a click.
“Dude,she tried to put her hand down the back of my shorts,” I said into my gaming headset, my eyes moving around the screen as my hands pressed the buttons on my controller.
It was eight o’clock, and instead of being out at the club with my teammates, I was here in my spare room, gaming with my old college friends and roommates.
“Wait, how old was she?” my friend, Jude, asked. He wasn’t a football player like me, but spent his time in college in the dugout. Immediately after graduating, hewas swiped up to play professional baseball, he was that good.
“She was at least eighty.” Laughter rang through the headset. One of them paused the game, guffawing too hard to continue playing. “Yeah, okay, keep it up.”
“Dude.”Oliver, our resident professional soccer player, snorted. He was currently in Spain playing for a team there, so the fact he was able to get on was a rarity.
“Only Mateo would get groped by someone old enough to be his grandma,”Jude laughed, the sound crackling in my ears.
“Don’t act like it hasn’t happened to you,” I shot back.
“Jude loves when fans fall all over him,”Elliot commented. He was the only one here that wasn’t a professional athlete. He played football with me in university, but he only did it to keep his scholarship. The dude was actually a tech genius, so when it came to being drafted, he opted out and started his own business instead, which was doing incredible.
“What can I say?”Jude’s smug tone had us all laughing.“But, seriously, Mateo, that's too funny,”he said.“And now you know you have options.”
“You should have gotten her number,”Oliver joked, finally unpausing the game.
I moved my character through the abandoned building inCall of Dutywhile I answered. “See, even the old ladies want a piece of me.”
“Typical Mateo. Our resident playboy,”Elliot said, his voice slightly distracted as he tried to kill me on the screen.
“I’m not our resident playboy,” I defended myself.
“You’ve never had a serious relationship,”Elliot pointed out.
“So? Jude is worse than I am.”
“Well, Jude has a reason to not be in a relationship,”Oliver said, followed by afuck yesas he killed Elliot.
“And I don’t?” Was this pick-on-Mateo night?
