Page 2 of The Dating Pact

“Is that any way to talk to your future brother-in-law?”

Dylan rolled his eyes. Genevieve, the lovely lady who’d stolen Dylan’s heart, also happened to be Nate’s younger sister.

“If we’re brothers, do I get to beat the crap outta you?” Dylan asked, pointedly rubbing at the side of his face. Last year, when things had gone a bit sideways between Dylan and Evie, Nate had coldcocked him. But the ship had righted, and now we were one big happy family.

“I’d like to see you try,” Nate taunted. He wasn’t as tall, but he did have a few pounds on Dylan. I didn’t know who’d win in a fight.

Probably neither of them. It would be Liam, who showed up carrying Finn. “If I have to talk to you about biting again, we’re leaving. Do you understand?”

“Okay!” Finn kicked a few times, and Liam set him on the floor. The three-year-old sprinted off, stumbling after a few steps. Liam heaved a sigh and greeted us with a raised hand.

“Cookie?” I asked, and he nabbed three before taking a seat on the bench, all four of us squeezed together.

“Wasn’t made for four grown men,” Nate noted.

Dylan elbowed him. “So why don’t you get up and leave it to the rest of us?”

Nate shouldered him, and Liam shot out his arm. “Don’t make me parent you two.” Then he lifted his eyes to me. “And, hey, happy birthday.”

I nodded my thanks, and we all fell into a comfortable silence for a while.

Nate broke it. “What do you do here? Just, like, watch them play?”

I huffed a laugh. “Yep.”

Liam stretched out his arm, dividing the room into thirds. “We play zone defense. We each take a section, make sure there’s no bloodshed.”

“Like that.” Dylan jutted his chin in the direction of a woman kneeling next to a crying girl, patting her knee with a tissue. “Ropes course gets ’em every time.”

Nate hummed. “This is terrible, guys.”

The rest of us laughed.

“Wait till you have a kid,” I said. “You’ll change your tune.”

He shook his head. “Never happening.”

“He couldn’t anyway,” Dylan said, surveilling his area. “His balls never dropped.”

Nate scoffed. “Least my dick is bigger than yours.”

Dylan smirked. “Big enough to satisfy your sister.”

“Oh, fuck off with that,” Nate hissed in a whisper so no children would hear him cursing.

Dylan ignored him and looked at me expectantly. When I didn’t say anything, Liam leaned forward, asking, “You needed to get out of the house or what?”

I tugged on my beard. “Or what.”

They all waited for me to elaborate. Which, normally, I didn’t have a problem with. But this? This was difficult.

“I had a long conversation with my mom last night,” I started and rubbed the heels of my palms against my eyes. “She said she wanted to set me up with someone.” I yanked at my hair. I’d left it down today, the long strands past my shoulders. “I don’t… I never told you guys about Lulu’s birthday,” I said, using my daughter’s nickname.

“Her birthday?” Liam asked. “Back in December?”

I nodded. Six months ago, my daughter had turned five, and as usual, I’d invited my parents and sister over to celebrate, along with Mira’s family, including her parents, George and Youmna. We were all still close, and I’d never imagine my life without my in-laws. “She wished…” I took a breath. “When she blew out her candles, she wished for a mommy.”

Next to me, Nate stretched his arm along the back of the bench, offering me comfort. Dylan curled his hand around the bill of his baseball hat, his elbows on his knees, mumbling, “Sorry, man.”

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