Page 47 of Punish Me

“That’s amazing. Have you called Mom and Dad or Austin?” I say of our younger brother.

“No, you were the first one I wanted to share this news with.”

“What about Steve?” I ask of his best friend.

“Not yet. Like I said, I wanted you to be the first, and I also want to ask you to be my best man.”

“Of course, that goes without saying,” I say, laughing and happy for him.

We talk a little longer about his plans and my hectic life.

This past week has been extremely busy with out-of-town visitors from our California, New York, and Texas offices coming to visit. I’ve also sat in several meetings with Austin and his team of architects as we’ve reviewed design plans to present to the Blacks and the DeLucas.

Yesterday was my first respite, spending a day with Brynlee decorating my home for Halloween, cooking, eating, and relaxing. I haven’t had a Saturday like that in forever. Usually, I spend my Saturdays working all day until around seven in the evening.

This morning, I slept in and then cooked myself brunch before working out, returning some emails, and reviewing some contracts before signing off on them.

I’m looking forward to Sunday football at Brayden’s. Kickoff is at one, and it’s almost that time now.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Brayden’s for Sunday football. He holds parties at least six Sundays every season as we all root for our favorite teams. I haven’t been to any this season, thanks to my new position as CEO at Top Tier. I’ve been too busy either traveling or working on Sundays to attend.

I pull up to his house. The driveway is already packed with cars and there are some parked on the street. I find a spot across the street from his house and pull into that one.

“Dom, I’m here. I’ll call you back later this evening.”

“Okay, enjoy yourself and tell Bray I said hello.”

“I will.”

Ending the call with my brother, I shut the car off.

I’m thankful that my home is large enough not to have to worry about the inconvenience of strangers parking in front of my house because my neighbors run out of parking. There’s a long driveway to get to my house, and there’s plenty of parking long before you reach the street.

I lock my car and jog across the street. The door is already open as I make my way up the stairs to his home.

“Come in!” someone shouts when I tap politely on the screen door.

I pull the door open and do a quick scan of the living room. There are a couple of people up here, but they are heading downstairs to Brayden’s man cave next to his in-home gym.

“Hey, Ro!” Shayla comes to greet me, bustling out of the kitchen.

She throws her arms around me and kisses me on the cheek as she always does.

“Hey, Shay. How’s it been going?” I say, returning the kiss.

“Oh, you know. Same old, same old. Trying to make that old man behave,” she says, winking at me.

“You’re going to drive yourself to an early grave trying to do that. You know he’s never gonna act right.”

“I know. It gives me something to do and keeps me busy,” she says.

“As if you don’t have enough to do already being a kick-ass lawyer,” I say.

She giggles and says, “Head on downstairs. You know where he’s at. I gotta warn you. He’s already talking big shit today."

"When isn’t he?” I ask, laughing.

His favorite team, the Forty-Niners, is playing my team today, the Chiefs. Our teams played each other in the Superbowlearlier this year, and my team won, and we won the Superbowl last year.

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