Page 52 of The Hat Trick

I watch Brynn’s eyes do the same when she takes in everyone, and the state of undress we are all in. Understanding seems to dawn on her as her face scrunches up.

“Wait, no.” She looks between all of us again.

“Brynn, go get our brother,” I tell her again.

She ignores me, and smiles at Chandler. “You and I need to be friends.”

Chandler looks so uncomfortable, but chuckles.

“Seriously, you are suddenly my favorite person. Except your judgment can’t be great because…my brother, but these other two—”

“Brynn!” I snap. Chandler jumps at my tone, but Brynn just shrugs.

“Fine, I’ll go get our brother. But Chandler, we are hanging out before I leave town.” She smiles and heads toward the garage, grabbing my keys along the way.

There’s an awkward silence as soon as Brynn is gone that Chandler is the first to break. “I like her.”

I smother a laugh, “She likes you too.”

“I should go home though,” she says, twisting the hem in her fists.

“I’ll take you home,” Dumont speaks up first.

“No, no way. I will,” McQuaid jumps in.

“I’m a shiny new toy you guys get to fight over,” she sasses before turning to go up the stairs.

I’m taken aback when my teammates look at me like I’m their captain in this situation. I just shrug. “Figure it out yourselves.”

Then, I move on to get on track with my routine since it was thrown off so severely by the drama.

Somehow, McQuaid was the one to take Chandler home. I kiss her gently before she leaves, and I love the way her body melts into mine the second I touch her. Any sort of relationship I have with a woman is purely for one thing, and that’s for both of us to get off. She wants me to take control, I want the control and that’s it. There’s never an emotional component.

But with the way her hazel eyes look at me and the little smile on her lips, I feel my heart thump a little harder in my chest. I kiss her forehead before letting her out of my arms. Dumont yanks her away and kisses her harder than necessary. I feel like he was making some sort of point to McQuaid, and I just shake my head.

When she leaves, Dumont hangs back and we both watch as they drive away.

“You still good with this?” I ask him.

He smirks, “Yeah, why? Are you wanting to back out after she accidentally met your sister?”

I chuckle, “No, but I know Brynn is going to grill me about that when she comes back.”

“Yeah, fuck that. My sister would have a field day, speaking of, I should head out to go see her. My nieces are probably already driving her and her husband insane.”

“Sounds good, man. You sure you’re good with McQuaid being involved in whatever this is?”

He shrugs. “Yeah, the guy is still an asshole, but it’s all about her.”

I nod. “Yes, it is.”

* * *

Brynn rushesinto the house like she’s trying to catch me in the middle of something. Plus, with the way she looks around as soon as she gets into the living room I know she’s scanning to see if anyone stayed behind. They didn’t, and her shoulders slump as soon as she realizes that.

Bryson walks in at a normal pace, and I can tell our sister told him something on their drive because the look he gives me is equal parts curiosity and judgment.

“Did they leave?” Brynn huffs.

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