Page 73 of The Winslow Brothers

“Don’t be a little shit, Hunter!” one of them yells to the other, earning the ire of the school administrator at the top of the stairs.

“Excuse me, Byron Hawthorn! Don’t make me call your mother.”

I laugh quietly and look back down at my phone to check the time. It’s two minutes past six, and Lexi should be out here any minute. I briefly click through my call log, just to make sure I didn’t miss one from anyone, and then do the same in my messages. Both come up empty, and I brush aside the bothersome notion that there’s anything wrong with that.

I don’t actually spend that much time on my phone when I’m off the clock, and often with my brothers, I’m not the first one to start a message thread. I have a couple buddies I occasionally get beers with, but for the most part, I spend a lot of my time alone. Traveling the country to different club openings, relaxing in my downtime, and spending time with my family have always beenmy priorities. Well, all that, along with the occasional hookup, of course.

So, it really doesn’t make any sense at all why I feel this way—expectant. I shake my head to clear all the weird thoughts and tuck my phone back into my pocket where it belongs.

My niece will be out soon, and her smart-as-a-whip mind will give me more than enough to concentrate on. She’s normally out by now, but I’m not in a rush. Even at thirty-six years old, being outside of an elementary school like this brings waves of nostalgia crashing over me.

It’s the same dynamics, the same principal at the door with her keys and walkie-talkie, and the same unadulterated joy of childhood. I like getting a little taste of it occasionally. It reminds me not to take life so seriously and to just enjoy the ride. Time truly flies, whether you’re having fun or not. So, I prefer to have it.

“Hi, Uncle Jude,” Lexi greets without preamble, and I spin around to greet her in her position directly behind me.

“Hey-o, Lexinator. How’s it hanging?” I take her backpack and sling it over my shoulder.

Lexi’s eyebrows draw together as she smirks. “This is another one of those weird things you say that I don’t understand, isn’t it, Uncle Jude?”

I laugh. My niece is the smartest person I know, but she’s pretty damn funny too. No one straight-talks me quite as fiercely as she does, and I have to admit, it makes me enjoy the time we spend together even more.

“Yes, I guess it is. How was Mathletes practice? Did you ace everything?”

“Of course. I’m an expert in math.”

I laugh again. Damn, I love how her brain works. She never even considers belittling herself for the sake of others, and in today’s world, I feel like that’s a godsend for a little girl. So many societal constraints and voices would tell her to be humble or not to brag, but I’m fucking here for it.

I hope she keeps it up until the day I die and beyond.

“Damn straight, girlfriend. Most of us wish we could do only half the stuff you can.”

“I could teach you.”

I smile. “I bet you could, baby girl. Probably not without a lot of frustration, though. Your dear uncle Jude excels much more at other things.”

“Like chasing tail?”

I cough on my saliva, choking around it while I try to find some air. “Where did you hear that?”

She shrugs nonchalantly. “I don’t know what it means, but Uncle Remy and Uncle Flynn talk about it all the time.”

“They do, do they?”

She nods. “Yes.”

“What else do those bast—brothers of mine have to say?”

“Not much else about you. They say Uncle Ty is a serial polygamist. Which I learned about on TV, but I’m not really sure how it relates to Uncle Ty unless he’s got wives I don’t know about.”

I nearly snort. “Does your mom know you’ve heard Uncle Rem and Uncle Flynn talking about this stuff?”

Lexi shrugs. “It hasn’t come up.”

I smirk.Oh man. Sounds like Jude is about to be the favorite brother pretty soon.

“Well, no matter what Rem and Flynn say, everyone has the right to be whatever kind of person they want to be. Especially since those two don’t have a whole lot of room to talk.”

Lexi sighs. “Uncle Flynn doesn’t talk that much anyway.”

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