“You’re kidding me,” she says while Miller and I are still on the front porch.
“You didn’t tell her Isaiah was staying here, huh?”
Miller groans. “I completely forgot.”
Entering the house I close the door behind us, only to find my brother looking like the biggest fucking dork sitting in the living room with a giant grin on his face. “I didn’t know you were staying here too.”
Kennedy rolls her eyes. “I never would have agreed to it if I knew you were here.”
Isaiah holds a hand over his heart. “You always know just what to say to make me fall, Kenny.”
I know how hard Kennedy has worked to be taken seriously. There’s not a guy on the team who doesn’t think she’s the best athletic trainer we have, but my brother can’t not flirt with her even if his life depended on it.
“Kennedy, do you want me to drive you back to the city?” I offer. “I can take you home if you don’t want to stay here.”
She turns back to analyze my brother. “No, it’s fine. Just don’t be weird about it, okay?”
Isaiah perks up. “So, it looks like we’re sharing the guest room. I’m a cuddler, Ken, and I prefer to be the little spoon.”
“I just asked you not to be weird about it.”
I gesture to the back door. “Isaiah, you’re in Miller’s van outside.”
Kennedy’s face splits in a victorious smile.
“Fine.” My brother punctuates the word. “But I’m making you breakfast in the morning, and you’re going to like it. How do you like your eggs?”
“Poached. Soft.”
“Wonderful,” he deadpans. “I guess I’ll go watch some YouTube videos on how to do that because I have no fucking clue how to poach an egg, but I can promise you, they’re going to be perfect. So, good luck not falling in love with me tomorrow, Kennedy Kay!”
Isaiah takes off to the backyard, rattling the house as he slides the door closed.
Kennedy turns back to us with a smile. “The guest room is this way?”
“First door on your right. Bathroom is across the hall.”
“Does your brother actually like her?” Miller quietly asks once her friend is out of earshot. “I can’t tell if he’s joking half the time or not.”
“Oh, he likes her. He only acts this fucking weird when he’s got a crush.” I slide my fingers between Miller’s, pulling her down the hall to my room. “Come with me.”
Opening the door, I let her wander in first. She takes her time looking around, never having been in here before. Her rules of our fling haven’t let us share a bed until that night in San Francisco when Max was sick. When we’re home, we have fun in her room and I tuck her into bed before coming back in here to sleep alone.
There’s not much to my bedroom. A dresser. An en-suite bathroom. A baby monitor and a picture of Max on the nightstand next to my bed.
There are a few more framed photos on my dresser. One of Isaiah and me the first time we played against each other in the majors, a few pictures of us as kids, and some with us and our mom. Then there’s one of only her.
Miller goes right to it, picking it up off the dresser, and I can physically see her sobering up as she looks at it. “She’s beautiful.”
“She was.”
“Mae, right?”
I nod, standing by the door and keeping my hands behind my back, beyond tempted to reach out and touch her. She looks good in here. In my room. In my home.
Miller puts the frame back, gently running her hands over the other pictures and taking her time looking at them all. “It’s always been just you and Isaiah, huh?”
“Since she died, yes.”
Her attention moves back to me. “You’re a good brother to him. Raising him the way you did. Sacrificing your childhood and college choice to stay close to home.”
“He’s my brother. I’d do anything for him.”
She smiles softly. “Just how you’d do anything for Max.”
“And you.”
Her eyes flick to mine and a shy blush warms her cheeks. She’s not one to be shy, but the girl is drunk and I’m seeing a whole new open side to her tonight because of it.
“I’d do anything for you,” I repeat. “You know that?”
“I think I’d do anything for you too.”
I’m not showing it on my face, but if I were to wear the expression my heart is feeling right now, I’d be grinning like an idiot.