The Hot Mess and the Heartthrob(85)

He pretends to wipe a tear from his eye. “Aw, hell. It’s true. My baby brother’s growing up.”

“He means you’ve got this,” Lila says.

“If she’ll take him back. Look at him. Doesn’t know how to use a razor, wears pants so tight he has to sleep in them since he can’t get them off. And Cash is still single. Everyone knows he was the hot one in Bro Code.”

“Look at you, trying to be the funny one.” I tip my beer back too. Three more hours until the shop closes. Dammit. That’s forever. “Also, if she had her pick of the five of us, she’d take Davis. Her cash registers would never go down and her kids would never be able to lock her out of her apartment.”

“Speaking of…” Tripp eyes me.

I eye him right back.

And we have a silent stand-off over the last thing Tripp’s aware of Davis finding out in that sneaky way he has of finding out things.

In addition to being a melodramatic ass for missing Ingrid the past few weeks, I’ve changed the subject every time Tripp’s brought up Mom dating the car guy.

Not my news to share.

Especially if he was dumb enough to not see what was in front of his own eyes at the wedding.

Guess it’s true.

He only has eyes for Lila.

Tripp cracks first. “Stan Sheldon and I had a nice long chat yesterday.”

And I choke on my beer.

Lila stifles a whimper. Pretty sure she’s trying not to laugh.

“I was going to wait Mom out. Let her have her fun. Decide if he was worth introducing to us. But the guy had the nerve to call and ask about sponsoring a car giveaway if any of our players hit a billboard he’s proposing in center field,” Tripp continues.

I wipe my mouth on my sleeve. “What…how did that go?”

“We’re putting a massive ad for his car empire up in center field. Raffling off another car next season with all proceeds going to a children’s hospital. Getting use of a car for the mascots to ride around in for between-inning shenanigans. And he swears the one and only time he met our mother, he personally showed her around three car lots and gave her the same deal he would’ve given to either of us, which would’ve been basically the best deal he gives to his own kids, but he’s not dating her, he would never date her without asking our permission first, and swore up and down that he knew she was out of his league.”

To be a fly on the wall in that conversation… “So you went easy on him?”

“Who the fuck is she dating?”

“Daddy? Did you say the fuck word?” James calls.

“No, James, I said I need Uncle Levi to get me a fork.”

“Fork fark ferk!” Emma chants.

Tripp sighs.

Lila squeezes her lips tighter together, but her green eyes are dancing and her shoulders are shaking like she’s barely holding her laughter in.

“You know you’re gonna have to apologize to Stan,” I tell Tripp. “And probably make Mom and Davis apologize too. And then apologize to your team manager. If you were more approachable, he wouldn’t be sneaking around with Mom the way he is.”

He’s muttering to himself, eyes squeezed closed again, and even Lila’s not laughing anymore.

“You wouldn’t have hired him if he wasn’t a decent guy, right?” I offer.

“And here I thought I had at least twenty years before worrying about someone on the team dating one of my family members. My head coach and my mother? Jesus.”

I glance out at the yard again, where James and Emma are both chasing the dog with arms full of leaves now. “Gives you perspective on how they feel, doesn’t it?” I say with a nod to the kids.

I wonder how Ingrid’s girls would feel about their mom dating.

And it’s not the first time it’s crossed my mind.

Hudson’s closer to James and Emma’s ages. He’d notice I’m there, but I don’t think he’d read a lot into it. I’d be one more person to play with.

Zoe, though?

She’s smart.

And Piper? She wears her heart on her sleeve over her hockey pads. It took approximately three seconds to figure that out the day I watched them all.

“No.” Tripp shakes his head, glaring at me. “This is nothing like what preschoolers go through when their parent starts dating. Because I know what he’s doing to my mother.”

Lila rubs his back. “We’re going to have to pretend we don’t.”

“They’re definitely not doing anything to each other,” I agree. “Dinner. That’s it. Hands to themselves.”

“He’s fired,” Tripp announces.

Lila stifles another smile. “No, he’s not.”

“He is in my mind until I get a grip on this.” He tilts his head toward me. “What are you grinning about? You have no idea if the woman you’re in love with will take you back.”

He’s not wrong.

I can do all the right things, and it still might not be enough.

And I wouldn’t blame Ingrid one bit.

Sending my mom and calling in favors aren’t the same as someone who’s there day in and day out, doing the hard work right alongside her.

Her life is busy. It’s full.

And I might not add enough to it to be worthwhile.