Page 497 of The Winslow Brothers

Three minutes later, Judewasgloating like a prick when Phillips scored that touchdown.

Jude: HAHAHAHAHAHA TOUCHDOWN! PHILLIPS IN THE END ZONE! You owe me fifty bucks, sucka!

Jude: Oh, and hey, Remy, if I don’t hear from you by the time this game is over, I’m coming to your place.

Ty: I second this plan.

Flynn: I am not a part of this plan.

Finally caught up on all the message, and while I appreciate Flynn’s solidarity, I’m actually good with their plan. It’ll be better for me in the long run if I just get it over with rather than suffer through thousands of text messages like these.

Me: Actually, my place works. Meet me there around 6.

Jude: Perfect.

Ty: Count me in.

Flynn: I am now a part of this plan.

It goes without saying, my brothers are ridiculous.

And they’re the opposite of who you were hoping to hear from…

I can’t deny that ever since I left Maria’s apartment this morning, I’ve been silently hoping things are going better than they were yesterday. Several times, I’ve nearly texted her, which is probably why I can’t stop myself from doing exactly that right now.

Me: How are you? How’s Izzy?

I’m surprised—and thankful—when my phone vibrates with a response a minute later.

Maria: She’s good after having a whole night sleeping in her crib because, evidently, the baby whisperer stayed at my place last night.

“Who is the baby whisperer?” Lex asks, and I realize she’s standing patiently beside me, waiting for me to let her get to her seat. And, evidently, reading my messages.

I quickly move my legs and she sits down, but when I don’t answer, she asks again. “Uncle Rem, who is the baby whisperer?”

“Apparently, it’s me,” I tell her, but I also add, “You know it’s rude to read other people’s text messages, right?”

“I do, but you made it hard not to look. I could see your whole screen while I was waiting for you to let me through to my seat.” She just shrugs. “You stayed at Maria’s last night?”

“Uh, yeah, I did.” I go with the simplest response I can manage, but when she tilts her head to the side, I know there’re more questions coming my way.

“And she has a baby that you took care of last night?”

“Yes.” I nod. “Her name is Izzy, and she’s a tiny baby. Just a little over six weeks old.”

My phone chimes with another text, and I look at the screen to find a picture of Izzy resting on Maria’s chest, her face lax with sleep. And the wordsSee? All good here.follow.

“Is that Izzy?” Lex asks, still keen on being nosy.

“Yep.”

“She’s really cute.”

“She is,” I respond with a soft smile. “You know, I used to take care of you a lot when you were that small. You were really cute too.”

Lex grins, but then her attention is back on my phone. She points toward the picture. “Is that her mom? Maria?”

“Yes.”

---