“I was so mad at you for being a super-dirty man-whore. I looked up to you my entire life, and then you became someone I didn’t know.”
“It cost me a lot, Stevie. Not just my relationship with you and Mom.”
“I know, and I don’t want to keep dredging up that past and making us wallow in it. I’m just telling you how it impacted me.”
“Well, I think we’re even, now that there’s a video of you making out with one of my teammates.”
I cock a brow. “Not quite the same as a threesome in a hot tub, RJ, and you know it.”
He makes a face. “Let’s never bring up either of those things ever again.”
“Deal.”
We’re both silent for a while before RJ speaks again. “I think when we tried to fix things between us, maybe we swung too far in the opposite direction, especially after Dad passed.”
“I can see that. I just want RJ my brother, not this weird dad-bro hybrid. I love that you have my back, even when I make stupid mistakes, but more than anything I want to feel like we’re equals, not like I’m the kid sister you need to take care of.”
“I can’t promise I won’t be protective, because that’s just me, and if Bishop screws you over, I’ll beat his ass, but I’m going to do my best to just be your brother.”
“You can’t beat his ass.”
“I actually have his permission.”
“Why would he give you permission to do something like that?”
RJ gives me his “come off it” look. “Because he has it bad for you.”
“You really think so?”
“I don’t think, I know. And can we address the fact that you hooked up with the one guy on my team I hate?”
“It’s not a hookup, and you let me move in across the hall from him, so you have no one to blame but yourself.”
“I knew I should’ve moved you into the pool house when I had the chance.”
“Hindsight is such a bitch, isn’t it?” I consider my lack of foresight with Bishop. “The whole team is back?”
“Yeah. Bishop couldn’t get off the plane fast enough.”
“So he’s probably home now?”
“There’s a good chance. You want me to drop you off at the condo?” RJ offers.
I don’t want to make Bishop wait any longer than I already have. “I think home would be a good place for me to go.”
He turns the car around, and I send a message to Pattie and Jules that I’ll have to take a rain check on brunch. It’s time to stop burying my head in the sand.
I send Bishop the message I should have days ago.CHAPTER 27
UNDERWEAR DECLARATIONS
Bishop
Things I should have done before leaving for a series of away games:rescheduled my cleaner to come the day before I get home;
done my laundry (or had my cleaner do it);
changed my goddamn bedsheets;
ordered a bunch of shit to prove to Stevie that I’m it for her and she’s it for me, and fuck everyone else and what they think;
shaved my balls.Things I did before I left for the series of away games: none of the above.
So as much as I want to knock on Stevie’s door and force her to deal with me the second I arrive on the penthouse floor, I have a bunch of shit to take care of.
Nolan is sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating carrots and some kind of dip.
I take in the pigsty that is my apartment. “Nice of you to pick up after yourself while I was gone.”
“I’m taking it you still haven’t talked to Stevie,” he says through a mouthful of chewed-up vegetables.
“Not yet.” I pause and pick up the can sitting on the coffee table, ready to give my brother hell because it’s barely noon and he’s drinking, until I read the label. “Since when do you drink nonalcoholic beer?”
“Uh, since the past week, I guess.” Nolan runs his hands over his thighs, almost like he’s nervous.
“Did something happen while I was away?” Nolan drinks light beer most of the time, and he always balks at me when I get him a six-pack of the fake-out stuff, since he’s really not supposed to drink at all.
“I had an incident a while back.” He chews on a nail.
“What kind of incident?”
“I misplaced my insulin, and Stevie helped me out.”
“What? When the fuck did that happen?” And why the hell didn’t Stevie say anything to me?
“It was during your last away series, before the viral video. I asked her not to say anything because I didn’t want you to worry more than you already do. She took me to urgent care, and we had a talk about me taking better care of myself.”
I motion between us. “You and I have that fucking talk all the damn time.”
He shrugs. “I know. I guess I just never really realized how hard it was on you. Or how selfish I was being until she pointed it out. So I figured it would be a good idea to take better care of myself so I can keep being a pain in your ass for as long as possible.”