Too Sweet (Hayes Brothers #3)(95)

“What the hell is that?” I mutter, throwing a pair of tracksuit bottoms on to leave Mia’s bedroom at the exact same time Jimmy emerges from his across the hallway.

He’s back in Newport for a week ahead of the Austin Grand Prix next weekend. Once again, he decided to make it a surprise visit, so Mia and I had to pack a few things and move here for a few days.

She’s been unofficially living with me since the start of summer. Unofficially, because not all her stuff is in my house yet, but once college broke up for the summer, I stopped taking her home for the night.

Unless Jimmy flies in for a few days.

Sleeping here while he visits isn’t usually problematic, but this weekend we’re babysitting Noah. Logan took Cassidy away to finally pop down on one knee. Took him long enough.

“Was that you?” Jimmy asks.

“I was going to ask you the same thing.”

“It’s me,” Mia sing-songs from the living room and thud again. “Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you.”

“You’d wake the dead,” Aisha grumbles, exiting her bedroom. “It’s the middle of the night! What the hell are you doing?”

Toby stumbles out behind her, wearing nothing but boxer shorts, and we all move to the living room, where Mia sits on the floor with Noah. Another thud when she drops a big flat thing on the floor. It pops open at impact, turning into a ball.

“It makes him laugh,” she explains, smashing the ball to flatten it out again. “It’s seven in the morning, don’t look so grumpy. We’ve been up since five.”

“Five?” Aisha gasps, plopping down beside her sister. Her five-month-old bump makes the task less gracious, but it doesn’t stop her shooting Toby a dirty look. “I am not getting up at five with your kid. Forget it.”

“You find a way to detach your milk-making boobs, and I’ll get up at whatever o’clock,” he assures, pulling out cups. “Who wants coffee?”

Everyone save for Aisha, who has to tame her moody morning self with a healthy shake Toby’s making.

Noah flips onto all fours, crawling across the floor toward Jimmy. He spent last evening in his lap, playing with his car keys and whatever else Jimmy gave him that wasn’t a toy.

“Who are you going to be for Halloween?” he asks, scooting the seven-month-old boy off the floor. Two seconds later, he wrinkles his nose. “Never mind. You’re all set, Poopy Monster.”

“It’s your turn,” Mia tells me, beaming from ear to ear.

“We had a deal. I take care of feeding and putting him to bed. You deal with diapers and baths.”

“Fine,” she mutters, taking Noah from Jimmy’s outstretched arms. He’s holding the kid like he’s a ticking bomb. “But we’ll renegotiate this deal when it’s our kid.”

A surge of pleasant warmness fills my chest. She has no idea what she does to me. One sentence and I’m fucking floating.

I pull her into my side, my thoughts swirling around her words. “Give me a baby, and I’ll change every diaper, Mia.”

She props Noah on her hip, wiggling her ring finger in my face. “You’re not getting a baby until this finger is dressed.”

Little does she know I already have a ring. Grandma gave it to me a couple of months ago when I picked Mia up from the weekly Bridge session.

It’s in the safe, waiting for... fuck knows what for.

For Mia to finish college, I guess.

My grandmother pulls me aside while Mia’s helping Kenneth and my grandad clear the table.

“I have something for you,” she says, squeezing my hand as she glances over her shoulder at Mia. “I’m glad you found her. She’s a good person, kind with a big heart.”

“I got lucky.”

She pinches her mouth like she wants to agree, but not aloud.

I get it. Now that my head is clear of the clutter, I realize I’ve been all over the place the past ten years, slowly losing sight of what’s important and paying too much attention to work.

Mia evened out the field. She helped me find balance, tamed my chaotic personality, and helped me forge one clear path through life instead of eight at a time.

Grandma slides her engagement ring off her finger, glancing around to make sure no one saw as she pushes it into my hand.

My pulse soars, kicking into a disorganized thrum, a sense of panic seizing my muscles. “That... it’s—” I stutter, closing my fist around the emerald. “Why?” I finally ask although that’s not close enough to the what the fuck, Grandma? dancing at the tip of my tongue.

“This ring is supposed to stay in the family, Nico. I wanted to give it to Shawn because he’s the oldest, but it wouldn’t suit Jack.”

I step from one foot to another, my hand still between us, as I open my fingers, taking a closer look. It’s a simple ring, nothing fancy. Not a diamond like I’d choose if I thought of proposing, but the emerald means more than any diamond I’d ever find.

Still, I shouldn’t be the one getting Grandma’s ring. I’ve got two older brothers already engaged or married, and Logan’s planning to propose soon. Why isn’t he getting the family heirloom? Why didn’t Theo?

“What about Theo or Logan? Why are you giving this to me? Why not them? Why not one of the triplets?”