Page 88 of Hart Breaker

When I get out of the shower, Hudson is dressed in a pair of dress pants and a button-up shirt and tie.

“I guess this thing is semi-formal. Jillian the left a dress outside the door in case you didn’t bring one.”

“I always travel with a little black dress.”

I drop my towel and walk to my bag. Bending over, I grab my stuff, just like he did, and when I turn and look over my shoulder, he shakes his head.

“I thought I was a tittie man.”

I stand and turn around. “And what do you think you are now?”

“I’m thinking I love you even more.”

When we make it to the rooftop, there are two seats open, but the rest of the long table is packed with faces I recognize but some I’ve never met.

Jillian stands up. “Hey, look, they made it. You two thirsty? Dehydrated?”

“Zip your lips, little sis.”

“I was going to do some introductions. Oh, I still am.” Jillian smiles. “You know the fam, but this is Blake Bennett and AJ Torres. They are Roman and Nour’s teammates.”

“It’s a little deeper than that,” one of them states.

“You’re right. My bad. They are family. Family, this is the beautiful Riley Brooks, Hudson’s girlfriend. You’ll have to understand that she will choose football over baseball and not just because she and Hudson are doing the nasty. She owns a brewery in Blue Valley, and I believe her family owns part of the team?”

The darker-haired one starts laughing. “Oh shit, how does the fam feel about that?”

“She welcomed me to the family before I even got there.” He smiles down at me.

“And just like you’re all family, the Knights are the same, so they welcomed him, too. It’s nice to meet you boys.” I nod to the girls. “Hi, I’m Riley.”

“The ladies … Amira is Nour’s sister. You know CC; this is her sister, Cora. Helena is my assistant and friend; she runs all the social media and keeps me sane on a daily basis. And this is Maria; she makes everything pretty. And then there’s Dromida, Francesca, and Fawna.”

“Very nice to meet all of you.”

When we sit down, Nour stands up and moves beside Jillian. “There is an ulterior motive for throwing this little party tonight. It’s not just to see all the beautiful foliage from this spectacular view. Jillian and I are actually going to get married.”

Everyone looks at each other, confused because I’m pretty sure they knew she was engaged.

Jillian laughs. “Tonight! Right here. With the people we love, teammates family.” She winks at me. “Future family.”

I glance at Linda, their mother, to see her reaction, but it’s obvious she already knew.

“I found out this morning,” she explains.

“If I had not seen Hudson’s little bubble moving down Route 81, it would have had to have waited, but I’m glad it’s not.”

Roman clears his throat. “Jillian, you don’t want the church, the big reception, the?—”

“Flowers?” She shakes her head. “This is exactly what we want; you are exactly the people we want to be here.”

“It’s perfect.” Nour kisses the top of her head.

I glance up at Hudson and nearly die when I see his eyes misting over as he looks at his sister, nodding in agreement. “It’s everything.”

Caterers arrive and set down trays of food. When they remove the lids, I watch as Roman and Hudson smile at their sister.

“She a big fan of Mexican food?”

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