“And she’s good with kids?”
“Doubtful. She’s like a goddamn hurricane, but Monty’s adamant about me hiring her, so I don’t really have a choice.” Isaiah nods in understanding. “How the hell do you know about her? I’ve only just met her.”
“The team’s group chat is going off.” He holds up his phone and I adjust my glasses to look at it. “You should take it off mute every once in a while.”
Travis: Heard Max’s new nanny is a woman. Fucking finally, Ace.
Cody: Troy was cute, but his replacement is cuter. I think I saw her in the hallway earlier. I wouldn’t mind her being my nanny. Feed me. Tuck me into bed. Take my temperature too.
Isaiah: She’s not a nurse, you idiot.
Cody: I call dibs on her being my seatmate on the plane.
Travis: What the hell? That’s my seat.
Cody: Wait until you see her. You’ll understand.
Isaiah: You can have the plane seat. I call dibs on everything else.
An odd sense of annoyance rattles through me because this is Monty’s kid and Max’s new caretaker. She’s not here for them. They’re acting like a pack of starved dogs going after a single bone when, in reality, they have a buffet in every city we visit.
I would know. I used to have a buffet too.
“Okay.” I usher him off the stool. “You need to leave before she gets here.”
“No way. At least one of the Rhodeses needs to make a good impression and you’re too stressed and grumpy lately to do it.”
“If there’s one Rhodes I can count on making a good impression, it sure as hell isn’t going to be you. Max will do it.” My brows cinch. “And I’m not grumpy, you dick.”
I’m just tired. Tired of doing it all alone. Tired of feeling like I’m not doing enough.
“Really?” Isaiah asks with a huff of a laugh. “Because you used to be the happiest dude I knew, but I couldn’t tell you the last time I saw you genuinely having fun. Back in the day, you were a bigger flirt than me, with shockingly more game. When’s the last time you let that side come out?”
“There are ways to have fun other than screwing around in every city.”
Like watching the same YouTube video of farm animals singing and dancing on repeat. Or playing peekaboo behind a napkin for an hour straight in an attempt to get Max to stop crying while he’s teething. My new definitions of fun.
“Yeah, but that way is the most fun.” A smirk quirks on his lips.
In my twenties I was a massive flirt, and I did my fair share of fucking around, but responsibilities crept into my life again, shifting my priorities. The flirty side pops out occasionally, when I’m out at work events alone, but then the reminder of who’s waiting for me at home brings me back to reality and I squash my former self.
But I’m not getting into that conversation with my little brother right now because as much as I love him, he’ll never understand. Our teen years were terrible, but he has no idea just how hard they were because I sheltered him from it all. It’s what I do. I take care of my responsibilities.
“Are you feeling okay?” I ask.
“Huh?”
“You look sick. Maybe you should call out tonight. Stay home. Watch my son.”
He rolls his eyes. “Says the guy who plays once every five days.”
“Exactly. And look how much I get paid for it. I’m essential.”
Isaiah barks a laugh. “I’m the shortstop. I play every single game. There are four more starting pitchers waiting for their night.”
“Which is why I should retire early. The Warriors will be fine without me.”
His brown eyes narrow. “You’re just running in circles hoping one of your points sticks, huh?”
“Worth a shot.”
“If Monty’s daughter is anything like him, she’ll be great with Max. What are you so worried about?”
A knock at the door sounds, cutting off that conversation.
“You’ll see.”
Isaiah turns back to me with a mischievous smile. “Who is it?” he calls out in a sing-song voice.
Shut the fuck up, I mouth.
“Don’t curse in front of my nephew.”
“Your favorite person in Miami,” Miller deadpans from the hallway.
“Sexy voice,” Isaiah whispers, and I find myself annoyed that he noticed.
He opens the door, casually leaning on the frame and blocking my view of the girl in the hall, but I watch as his spine stiffens before his head whips around to me, slack jaw and wide brown eyes.