More Than Anything (Broken Pieces 1)

“Hey, Harrison Chapman! Focus up.” Harris lifted his head. Spencer’s brother, team captain Mason—in town for the weekend so that his wife could attend Daff’s baby shower—was giving him a million instructions, and Harris tried to keep up, but his mind and his heart just weren’t in it.

“Don’t embarrass me.”

The cool voice, coming from beside him, finally succeeded in provoking some kind of reaction from Harris.

“Shut up, Greyson,” he seethed. “I’m a better player than you’ll ever be.”

“Doubtful.”

“You’ve always been terrible at sports.”

“We’ll see about that.” The twins had never been competitive—they were much too different for that. But with those words, the proverbial gauntlet had been flung down for the first time in their lives, and Harris felt a surge of adrenaline at the prospect of wiping the floor with his arrogant brother.

“Oh my God, they suck,” Daff said with way too much glee in her voice as they watched the older team get soundly trounced by the teens. “Spence should stick to rugby or cricket . . . football is not his sport.”

“Sam’s not too bad,” Lia said loyally and then winced when an extremely talented sixteen-year-old stole the ball away from her fiancé and went on to score seconds later. It was the younger team’s third goal. In the fifteenth minute of the first half.

“God, I wish I could drink,” Daff said, her voice filled with yearning. “This is going to be a long night.”

Tina only half listened to the sisters bantering back and forth; her eyes kept tracking back to Harris. He was magnificent. He wore a pair of shorts that ended just above his knees and a roomy team jersey. His loose-limbed, rangy body was perfect. On a field full of beautiful men, one of whom was his identical twin, Harrison Chapman was by far the best-looking man out there.

She missed him. In the week since he’d shown up on her doorstep, he’d entrenched himself so completely into her life that not having coffee with him in the mornings started her day off wrong. What the heck was that even about? How could she miss him after only three mornings? How could she regret no longer binge-watching Game of Thrones with him when they had done that only once? How could she yearn for his presence in her bed when she had only shared it with him that one night?

She was being ridiculous. She knew that. Ten years of anger and antipathy toward the man, and she found herself longing for him after just five days of—she wasn’t even sure what to make of those five days. Everything had just been different between her and Harris.

It wasn’t logical . . . it made no sense, but emotions rarely did.

She just wanted to move past whatever this was and carry on with her life. Her life that would not, and never could, include Harrison Chapman.

“Oh, thank God,” Daisy—youngest sister to Daff and Lia—breathed seconds before everybody in the stands applauded. Tina blinked and watched as the group of men all thumped Greyson on his back. He didn’t look too pleased with all the overly familiar physical contact, but he accepted it without protest.

“What happened?” Tina asked, even though it was self-evident.

“Dishy Twin Number One scored a goal,” Daff said.

“But only because Dishy Twin Number Two passed him that zinger,” Daisy elaborated.

“Well, at least it won’t be a complete washout,” Lia said. “I don’t think I’d be able to deal with Sam’s sulking if that were to happen.”

It was the first vaguely negative thing Tina had ever heard Lia say, and she stared at the other woman in surprise. Lia laughed when she noticed her expression.

“That Englishman can be a total baby.” She laughed. “Sick, injured, or slighted, and suddenly he’s like a bear with a sore paw. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”

“They’re all like that.” Daff chuckled. “Guys, I mean.”

“Do you think so?” Tina asked before she could stop herself.

“Yeah, I mean, you know that,” Daff said with a laugh. “You and DT Two—you guys have a thing, right?”

Tina went bright red and shook her head, unable to bring herself to verbalize the negative response to that question.

“Jeez, Daff, that’s none of your business,” Lia rebuked mildly, and Daff rolled her eyes.

“Anybody can see it. You’re with DT Two, and Libby is having all kinds of drama with DT One. They had a huge argument right on Main Road yesterday.”

They did?

That was news to Tina. Libby wasn’t here tonight because she was overseeing dinner service. Ever since Tina had finally opened up and been honest with Libby last week, their friendship had been back on an even keel. Tina still had only minimal exposure to Clara, but Libby was no longer resentful of that. Her babysitting arrangement with Greyson seemed to be going well, and even though Libby continued to keep her husband at a distance, she no longer tried to curb his access to Clara.