Heartthrob (The Bennett Brothers 3)

“You didn’t come back here until after five this morning.”

“You keeping tabs on me?”

“No, but I am fiercely protective of Bizzy and now Claire. Please tell me you didn’t fuck her and leave her.”

His words stab right through my gut, but I keep a straight face, trying to calm the irritation stirring inside.

“Better watch your mouth, Nick. You’re jumping to the wrong conclusion.”

Wrong conclusion? Jesus, this has become my repetitive phrase today.

“What conclusion should I jump to?”

“Nothing. After you left the bar, she had one more drink. I took her home and hung out. When I left, she was in her bed, and I locked up before coming back here.”

“You hung out? Isn’t that code word for fucking?”

I zip my bag a little too aggressively, the zinging cutting through the air. “Not in my vocabulary.”

He stares at me, narrowing his eyes in a way that reminds me so much of our brother, Shaw, I know it’s useless to try and deflect.

“Hung out meaning we talked about medical school, my training, my internship, and we laughed about stories of the three of you over the last year. Shit like that.”

He jerks his head. “You laughed?”

“You’re a dickhead.”

His lips tip into a cocky grin. “No, really, you rarely laugh nowadays. Even Bizzy mentioned you seem too serious lately.”

“Well, I have a lot on my mind. With Claire, you have no choice but to laugh.”

“She’s a nutcase.”

“I noticed that.”

“No, listen to me, Mathis.” His voice takes on the serious tone again. “She’s a free-spirit, a wild card, a handful. She’s not your type. She’d drive you insane in the first week.”

Seems the brotherly instinct has kicked in and he sees the same things I do. “You have nothing to worry about. I was getting to know her a little. She’s been in your life for a while, and everyone had met her but me.”

“How is it you haven’t met her before this weekend?”

“Probably because my ass has been in medical school and doing an internship.”

“Overachiever,” he jokes, and any tension from earlier is gone.

“Slacker,” I throw back.

“Is this slacker finally going to get you to some of my games?”

“I’ve been to your games, and I’ve watched every one you’ve ever played.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” I tell him with sincerity. “I’m going to be here every chance I get for the famous Nick Bennett’s senior season. I promise.”

“Good, I’m counting on you to run interference with Shaw. He’s already on my last nerve about the draft.”

“He’s keeping his promise to you and Bizzy, and you will have the best fucking Sports Agent in the damn league.”