“She’s on your team,” Josh said.
Mad swore. “I knew you’d say that.”
Hailey bounded to their side. She turned to Jake and smiled politely. “Nice to see you again, Jake.”
He was surprised Hailey knew which twin he was right away. Jake had on a T-shirt and basketball shorts same as Josh. Of course, there were some differences. Jake’s shirt was designer and new; Josh’s was worn and faded. Jake only had light stubble, and his twin had a couple days’ growth.
Jake smiled, about to have some fun at his twin’s expense. “You too. Dinner was great.” At Josh’s dark look, he added, “Really great. We should go out—oof.” Josh elbowed him hard. Worth it.
“You went out with Jake?” Mad barked.
Hailey smiled politely at Jake and then turned to Mad. “Yes, it was a business dinner. We talked about Dat Cloud.”
Mad socked her on the shoulder.
“Ow!” Hailey exclaimed and socked her back. “Stop treating me like one of your guy friends! Women don’t punch each other.”
Mad grinned. “When did this happen?”
“We’ll talk later,” Hailey said, giving him and Josh a sunny smile. “Ready to get your butts kicked? Mad’s been teaching me mad skills.” She grinned at her own joke.
Mad rolled her eyes.
“Why are you here?” Josh asked Hailey point blank. “Planning some future weddings?”
She threw an arm around Mad’s shoulders. “Mad and I are friends. I want to experience her favorite thing. Sports.”
Mad blushed and then snarled at Josh, “Don’t be a dick.”
Josh headed toward the court. Jake followed behind with Hailey and Mad, wanting to ask Hailey about Jenny.
Hailey turned to Mad. “So Campbell order by age is Jake, Josh, Ty, Alex, Logan, and then you.”
“Yup,” Mad said.
“And now all the Campbells are here,” Hailey said. “Who are we missing from the brothers from another mother?”
Jake chuckled. She sounded so formal about their blood brothers.
Mad sighed. “I told you already. Would you like us all to wear name tags?”
“No, no. I’m very good with names.” Hailey pointed at the guys still doing layups, ticking their names off as she pointed to each one. “Ethan, Ben, Marcus. Zach’s missing. Did I get it right?”
“You get a gold star,” Mad said dryly. She took off and stole the ball from Marcus, who was tall and wide, coming in under his arm and catching him by surprise. She shot from center court and the ball went in with a swish. A brief smile flashed on her face before she retrieved the ball and started dribbling with some fancy footwork, showing off.
Hailey tapped her pink fingernail against her pink lips. “Wait, I think we’re missing another one. That only makes four non-Campbell men.” She turned to him. “Right?”
“Parker,” Jake said. “He’s overseas with the air force. She doesn’t like to talk about him because, you know, she worries.”
“They’re close?” Hailey asked.
“Course. We grew up together.”
“No, I mean romantically.”
He felt queasy just thinking that. None of their friends ever crossed that line. That was the rule. Ty, in particular, had made sure Park knew Mad was off-limits because Park had always gone out of his way to include her in their games when the rest of them thought she was nothing but a shrimp who made them lose. Damn, they were jerks back then. It couldn’t have been easy being the youngest and the only girl. He watched Mad shoot another swishing basket and then trash-talk Marcus. Hell, it couldn’t have been all bad because look at her now. She was a great athlete, strong and confident.
“Hey, Wonder Twin,” Ty, his younger brother by two years, said as he jogged over to him. He was a bulkier version of Jake with a buzz cut, dark tan, and a white T-shirt with the sleeves cut off to show off his bulging muscles and tribal tattoos. Ty grabbed him in a hug that involved a lot of pounding on the back. That was Ty. Very physical. It was why he was drawn to stunt work. “Two weekends in a row, Jake? Sounds like a woman.”
Hailey let out a weird squeak, flushed bright pink, and ran over to Mad.
“What’s the deal with her?” Ty asked, his gaze following Hailey’s ass. He turned back to Jake. “Who’s she with?”
“Mad.”
“I know Mad said that, but…”
“You don’t think Mad could have a friend like her?”
Ty turned to watch Mad trying to teach Hailey how to dribble with her fingertips while Hailey kept complaining about it messing up her nail polish. He turned back. “No.”