Aiden does a fist pump that annoys Shea.
Ha. I’m well on my way to favorite son-in-law.
Shea slaps Aiden on the back fondly. “I’ll get you next time,” he jokes and then glances over at me. “Boon, maybe we can get you lessons so you can be competitive?”
Well, back to the bottom I go. I grin. “I’m here for the coffee and company.”
Aiden laughs. “He knows what he’s good at—running his mouth and drinking.”
That has all of us laughing. Shea gets in beside me as Aiden rides in the back seat of the cart. “Lunch?” Shea asks. “Or do you guys need to head back to pack?”
We leave tonight for Carolina for the Cup final. “I’m packed.”
Aiden nods. “I’m not, but it won’t take me long. Don’t need much but my lucky underwear.”
I laugh. “Posey is pissed I wouldn’t let her wash mine. They are rank.”
Aiden laughs. “Legit. Mine are too. Shelli ignores it. I’m surprised Posey isn’t.”
“She is, but she makes me put them in a plastic bag. With her thyroid shit, she’s sensitive to smells.”
Shea nods. “Yeah, Elli was always good with my crazy superstitions until she could smell them. Then it was an issue.” I hear him on that.
“Posey is driving me mad,” I admit, and Shea looks over at me as he turns up the cart path toward the country club. “She won’t relax. She’s on edge twenty-four seven. It’s giving me an ulcer.”
Aiden leans between us on his elbows. “Shelli is the same. She is obsessed with tapes.”
I point to him. “All fucking night long! I’m like, you need sleep, and she tells me to stuff it.”
Shea laughs as Aiden yells out, “Exactly! Like what the fuck, babe? I’m trying to make sure you’re good.”
“Right? And I’m in the wrong.”
“For real. As if that makes any sense. I’m the one on the ice, and she’s stressing more than I am!”
“Dude, you’re speaking to my soul right now.”
I’m lucky in the brother-in-law department. Aiden has always been my brother, but now that we're connected by the crazy of the Adler family, it makes it hard to be salty that he’s the favorite. I’ll always be his brother; we got each other. “You know what we should do? Trade. Stick them together, and then we can sleep.”
I laugh. “We know for next time.”
“Legit,” Aiden agrees as we bump knuckles, and Shea scoffs.
We both glance over at him.
“Oh, you two don’t even know yet.”
“That doesn’t sound supportive, Shea.”
He cracks up. “Let me tell you, these Fisher women—and yes, I use Elli’s maiden name because this is all that family’s crazy—are fierce, obsessive, and insanely competitive.”
He isn’t wrong, Shelli stabbed me with a fork when we played Forks a couple weeks ago. Posey didn’t talk to Ally for a week because she murdered her in Risk.
“I love my wife, I love my girls, but I will not play Monopoly with them. Not only does Elli steal from the bank, but Posey and Shelli will cry if you make them pay rent.”
I snort as Aiden nods. “I won’t play with Shelli either. Or Quinn, for that matter. He’s too damn smart and kills me at everything.”
Shea nods. “I’ll only play with Owen and Evan. They are level-headed and competitive but not to the point of bodily harm.”
“I’m surprised you’re not used to it with Emery and Stella,” I say to Aiden as I laugh, and he shakes his head.
“Dude, Shelli makes those girls look like puppies when it comes to games.”
We all laugh at that because, really, I’m more terrified of those girls than Shelli and Posey put together. The Brooks girls are sneaky and will stab you in the back. Shelli and Posey will stab you in the front and laugh in your face as they claim victory. “But hey, at least she’s not driving you crazy with wedding crap.”
Aiden chuckles. “No, I get it all. She doesn’t sleep, which makes her pissy when it’s time to make decisions. I’ve legit started saying yes to everything. I don’t even care.”
Shea gives him a dirty look. “Yeah, thanks for that. Now I have to pay an extra grand for everyone to have a skewer of shrimp.”
Aiden laughs bashfully as I nod. “I love shrimp.” Shea’s dirty look now pins me, and I hold up my hands. “Or I don’t.”
“Don’t worry, Shea. It’s almost here.”
“Let’s hope I don’t go broke before it comes.”
Aiden pats his back. “I pray for you daily.”
“Good, I need it,” Shea jokes as he parks the cart.
While we gather our things, I ask, “What did you do about Elli when she got riled up about things? I worry so much about Posey, with the baby and all.”
He shrugs. “A little advice. Just love them. They are both so headstrong, and they know what they want. As crazy as it drives you, there is no fixing it. It’s the way they are wired. Why have both of you stressing, fighting, and all that, when you can just let her be, and you do you?”