America's Geekheart (Bro Code #2)(55)

Three hundred unread emails, ninety-eight unread texts since midnight.

Time to get a new number again. And a new email address.

And this time I’m really only giving it to the guys. And Ellie and my parents. And Charlie.

And Vaughn, out of necessity.

Maybe.

But definitely Sarah.

I shower quickly and pull on my favorite RYDE jeans and an old Bro Code T-shirt, because glory days, man. Plus, this one’s super soft. And it already has mustard stains on it.

My mom’s in the kitchen making honey puff pancakes and bacon. I drop a kiss on Sarah’s head partly to make Judson’s cheek twitch but more because she smells like honey again and I’m ridiculously glad to see her. She schooled me in Donkey Kong yesterday afternoon before begging off to hang out with Mackenzie for the baseball game, and I missed her.

I also miss my mom, so I wrap her in a huge hug. “Have I ever told you you’re my favorite woman in the entire universe?”

“Beckett Ryder, that is no way to talk in front of the best shot I have of ever getting you married off,” she hisses.

“He’s not wrong though,” my dad tells her from the table in the dining nook, which is really like a quarter of the entire room, and is big enough to seat twenty. “You are the best woman in the entire universe.”

She blushes and shoos me out of the kitchen.

“Sarah’s a close second,” I concede. “She introduced me to that Moroccan place. And she promised me mint tea.”

I wave good morning to Charlie, Davis, Levi, Tripp, the kids, and Cooper.

Cooper Rock. Second baseman for the Fireballs. That Cooper.

Who’s currently being gawked at by Mackenzie, who also apparently rode along with Sarah this morning.

“Dude. Sign a baseball,” I tell him.

“I offered and she went all frozen mime on me,” he replies.

“So give her your shirt instead. Women don’t want balls. They want cotton.”

Mom gets me with a spatula to the head. “That’s enough of your mouth this morning. And you didn’t tell me you were having company, so I didn’t bring enough bacon for everyone.”

Cupcake snorts.

“We’ll pass on the bacon, dear,” Sunny tells Mom.

“I like bacon,” Judson growls.

“Fucking bacon!” James exclaims.

“James,” Tripp growls.

Judson gets down at the kid’s level. “Do you know what happens when you say fuck?” he growls.

Seriously. It’s all growling, all the time.

James shakes his head.

“Your testicles—”

“Dad. Enough.” Sarah shoves him out of the way and squats next to James. “Do you want to know the dirtiest word in the entire English language?” she whispers conspiratorially.

He nods, wide-eyed.

Tripp rises from the couch and glares at her. “No, he does not—”

“It’s snickerdoodle,” Sarah says.

James giggles.

“Right?” Sarah says. “Don’t say it to the grown-ups, okay?”

“Okay, snickerdoodle,” James replies. “Snickerdoodle bacon!”

“Bro, you have to marry her now,” Levi announces.

My mom sniffles.

Judson peels my balls off with his eyes.

And Cupcake attacks a dust bunny that was lurking under the sofa and makes the whole piece of furniture move a foot.

“Snickerdoodle pancake!” James yells.

Emma bangs a wooden spoon on a pot my mom undoubtedly had a hand in finding for her.

“She in a wetsuit today?” I ask Tripp.

“She’s naked. Baby roulette, next level.”

“Snickerdoodle poop!” James yells.

Sarah rises and dusts her hands, then marches over and grabs my arm. “Now. You. Downstairs. Before I lose my nerve.”

“You don’t have to do this, sweetheart,” Sunny says to her.

“Not with the likes of him,” my dad growls. “He can’t even hold off the Euranians.”

Mackenzie swivels her head toward him, lips and forehead both wrinkling.

“What are Euranians?” Cooper asks, and Mackenzie snaps her gaze back to the baseball god, and swear on the pig, she swoons.

“Mackenzie. You too,” Sarah says. “You’re my good luck video recording charm.”

“Right!” The petite blonde leaps to her feet and trips over the pig. Davis catches her, and she goes red as a cherry. “Sarah, there is too much hotness in this room. I can’t cope. I just can’t.”

Cupcake wanders over to sniff Emma’s butt, then collapses onto her side.

“You should have house parties more often,” Levi tells me.

“Aren’t you playing a show in Seattle this weekend?”

“Trying to get rid of me?”

“Yes.”

“Beckett.” Mom gets me with the spatula again. “Levi’s not home enough as it is. And what’s this about a video? You’re not making one of those videos, are you?”

I wrap an arm around Sarah’s shoulders. “Mom. Look at this face. Is this a face you can say no to? If she wants me to make a video—”

Sarah jabs me with an elbow, and my dad chuckles.