Hissy Fit (The Southern Gentleman #1)(19)

He’d died in the middle of that field, and despite the coach at the time, as well as my own father, giving him CPR, he hadn’t made it.

Gavin’s passing was also why almost every single sports complex in all the schools had defibrillators—just in case something tragic like that happened again.

“Shit,” he murmured. “I should’ve put two and two together.”

I smiled and looked down at my lap. “It’s hard for that to happen. I was always very shy and introverted while Gavin was the life of the party. We didn’t look like each other, and we certainly didn’t hang out with each other. It’s easy to see how you missed it.”

He looked at me with a wry smile on his face. “Gavin Crusie is an unusual name. There is only one set of Crusies in this town, and that’s your family. Everyone knows the Crusies…I should’ve put two and two together. Trust me. I feel stupid.”

My lips twitched. “You were a big kahuna star quarterback Superman for the Sooners at the time of his accident. There’s no way that you would’ve known when you were busy winning the…” I trailed off, wondering if I should relay my obsession with him.

“I know,” he murmured. “We may have won the college championships, but it’s hard not to hear about that happening. My whole family told me. It was a big deal.”

It was a big deal.

In fact, it still was a big deal.

Every time baseball season came around again, my family made a big production about making sure that they got each player a HeartGuard shirt in the area, college and high school—at least Croft did, anyway.

Croft was a lawyer and had been one for two years when Gavin had passed. He had money to burn, and he used it to make sure that nobody in Gun Barrel ever had to get the same call that he did that fateful day.

It was surreal, watching your brother—who was at peak health—fall to his knees and then to his face. Then, to attend his funeral just two days later.

I’d literally been talking to him twenty minutes before that game and had asked him if he could help me with my car the next morning. He’d tweaked my nose and given me a kiss on the cheek before running out on the field.

I could still remember the way he’d squeeze my head in between his massive arms when he gave me hugs just like it was yesterday, and not years ago.

“I’m sorry, Raleigh,” Ezra whispered into the quiet cab.

I smiled. “He died doing what he loved…we lost him too soon, but who can say that they literally went out doing the one thing that made them happiest in the world?”

Ezra’s smile was wistful. “I see where you’re coming from, but still.”

I patted his hand that was resting on the console between us, then felt like it’d been scalded when he quickly turned his hand over and captured mine.

“Are you still hungry, honey?” he asked.

I nodded. I was.

Talking about Gavin didn’t make me as sad as it used to, but that was to be expected.

Now, hearing about my baby brother just made me smile and remember the good times.

There would always be a little bit bad with the good, but you couldn’t have flowers without first dealing with the rain.

“How about El Rincon?” he rumbled, not letting my hand go.

I grinned. “El Rincon’s is fine…but I think I’d still rather take you up on the pizza if you don’t mind.”

His eyes warmed as he glanced over at me. “Cool.”

That’s how, thirty minutes and a pizza later, I found myself curled up on one side of the couch, watching The Deadliest Catch with a slice of deliciousness in my hand.

“I’d probably fall right the heck over and never be found again,” I murmured, watching as the guys on the boat slipped and slithered while they tried to do their job in the pouring rain and rough seas.

“Even I probably wouldn’t be able to hack that,” he admitted. “They have a hefty sum they make from that, however. For the money? I might do it—if I didn’t have a family to worry about at home.”

I looked over at him. “You have a family in here somewhere that you’re hiding?”

I’d looked around his place when I’d gotten there, and what I’d found was a whole bunch of nothing.

He had a one-bedroom, one-bath mother-in-law suite with a small kitchenette. Hell, it didn’t even have a closet. Just the bare necessities.

All his clothes were in a cube-like storage system—I would know because I’d snooped when he’d gone into the bathroom and taken a quick shower—there was officially nowhere he could hide anybody in this place.

He hooked his thumb up and said, “Cady—my sister. She lives on the other side of this wall with Grady, Moira, Colton, and Johnson.”

“Didn’t your sister have four?” I asked.

He nodded. “They do—Maden. He’s in college now in Alabama.”

I shook my head. “I want all my kids to be close together. Three of them. I think an age gap like the one your sister and Grady have with their kids might very well kill me.”

He snorted. “I think it killed Cady a little bit inside, too. But, Moira is a cute, perfect kid. Literally, if they had to end on one, Moira was the best way to tie up that chapter in their lives.”

I grinned. “Did she have her tubes tied?”