He wraps his arm around my neck, grinning at his mom. “See? She finds me sexy either way.”
Fallon is not happy with that answer and is about to argue more, when I see my brothers have arrived. “Oh, Owen and Evan are here. Excuse me.”
“Save me!” Aiden yells to me as I walk away, but I just wave, blowing him a kiss.
For some reason, my baby brothers don’t look like babies anymore. Both are huge in their own right, taking after our father with dark hair but our mom’s blazing green eyes. Both wear fitted slacks with button-down shirts, Owen in pink, while Evan went for a light blue. Evan has a beard coming in, and Owen looks so big. It brings tears to my eyes; I feel like weeks ago their voices were breaking and squeaky.
Owen sees me first, and I’m met with a loud “Wow-wee!”
I squeal happily as I wrap my arms around him while he does the same.
“Hey, sis!”
“Hey,” I gush as I hug him tightly. “It’s so great to see you.” I let him go to hug Evan.
“You too,” Evan says quietly as he hugs me close. “You’re absolutely stunning, sis.”
I beam up at my brother. If I’m honest, he’s my favorite. He’s a kind soul, quiet, and for some reason, I’m always worried about him. He isn’t like Owen, loud and obnoxious. Evan’s the one watching and waiting to make a move. “Thank you. I’m so glad y’all could come back.”
Owen snorts a laugh. “Like we could miss this circus.”
I cut him a look that has him holding up his hands. “Ah! Yeah, Mom. I’m coming!”
He runs off, and I roll my eyes as I lace my fingers with Evan’s, “Good. I wanted to see you by yourself anyway.”
He smiles sweetly at me. “I know I’m your favorite.”
“You are. Though Quinn can give you a run for your money.”
He scoffs. “He’s smarter, but that’s it.”
“He’s smarter than all of us.” I joke about our baby brother. “So, tell me. Carolina? Love it or leave it?”
He shrugs, but the anxiety is coming off him in waves. “I honestly don’t know. We were supposed to stay with Nico Merryweather, but he’s worried we’re going to sleep with his…daughter? Or whoever she is. So we got thrown to Amelia and Chandler, but by God, those twins don’t stop crying. So then we were gonna stay with our mentor, Kirby Litman, but he had a family matter come up, and now we’re in a hotel.”
“Can you not go to Grandma’s house?”
“We’re talking about doing that. Amelia is using it as storage, so she’s having it cleaned out for us.”
“Awesome,” I declare since I was about to lose my shit. “Should have called me. I would have found you somewhere.”
“I can’t have Momma or Sissy taking care of me.”
“Why not?” I ask, and he laughs. “Fine. Do you, big adult man.”
“Whoa, don’t get ahead of yourself,” he teases, and I grin.
“So, do you love it, the team?”
“Yeah, everyone is awesome,” he says, but I know he’s lying. “We made friends with the other rookie, d’Artagnan—”
“You’re kidding? Isn’t that from a movie?”
“Yeah, Three Musketeers,” he laughs. “I call him Dart. I can’t with his name.”
I snort. “That’s fun.”
“He’s a cool dude, smart on the ice, but he doesn’t have the legs Owen and I do, so we’ll see what happens.”
I eye him. On the outside, he’s got this with no problem, but I know my brother and I know he’s struggling. It didn’t take Nico to tell me that; I would have known the moment I saw him. I take ahold of his wrist, grinning up at him. “I’m always here for you.”
He nods slowly. “I know. I promise I’m good, Shell.”
“Okay. I can find you an awesome therapist there.”
“I’m using the team one. I may actually start in this program for athletes with anxiety.”
I cock my head. “Wait. Isn’t Lucy and Benji’s daughter, Angie, a part of that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I just asked to join it.”
“Wow, that’s awesome. I’m very proud of you.”
He smiles. “Don’t know if it will work, but I’m hopeful.”
“Me too,” I say, squeezing his wrist. “Aiden is going to talk to you.”
He rolls his eyes. “At least it ain’t Mom.”
“That’s what Aiden said.”
Evan laughs, showing his gorgeous smile and squinty eyes, along with some adorable dimples. “That’s why I like that guy.”
“Good. I’m in love with him.”
“No shit, Shell. Everyone knows,” he teases, pulling me in for a close hug. “Don’t worry about me,” he whispers in my ear. “I got this.”
“I know, but as your older sister, I worry.”
“I know, which is why I love you so damn much.”
“Same here.”
We part, and I feel so much better. But then Evan makes a face. “Please tell me there are carbs here.”
I snort. “Yes. Dying at Mom’s?”