Page 7 of My Ex's Brothers

I am a mother, I am a writer, I am?—

“Sorry, but I think the interviews are full.”

“Bullshit, Tara.” A deep, gravelly voice cuts through the panic, forcing me to look up to the top of the steps. My eyes widen when I see the tall, lumbering silver fox at the top step.

Richard Rose. Number 12 for the Badgers. Dexter’s oldest brother who also happens to be recently divorced.

I only recognize him from games and photos, being as we only met maybe twice before Dex and I left for Saltsville. But somehow, he’s…sharper. Hotter than I remember.

For starters, his thick, swept-back dark hair is speckled with more gray than the last time I saw him. But despite his hair, you wouldn’t know the guy is in his late late forties. He’s built better than some of the younger guys on the team, and I would bet my car and everything in it that he could bench press me.

Though, his demeanor isn’t the easiest. Richard—or Richie, as Dex would call him—always seems to have this air about him like you’re beneath him. Like he could crush you with his boot and you’d be begging for more.

A shiver runs down my spine as his gaze catches mine.

“Oh, you’re still here?” Tara says as she turns to glance at Richard.

“Fortunately, yes.” He takes three large steps toward me. I freeze, mortified as he approaches us. “Not very professional of you to behave like such a…what’s the word? Oh, bitch. I think that’s it.”

Tara sneers at him. “I’m just saying?—”

Richard slides his hands into his pockets, and I don’t miss the way she shrinks underneath his stony gaze.

“What you’re saying better be the exact room where those fucking interviews are happening so Mia can make it to her appointment on time.” He flashes her a harsh smile and the tension between the three of us is so thick I could cut it with a knife.

“Oh, Richard, it’s not…you don’t have to…” I stammer.

Richard flashes me a surreptitious gaze, and my insides warm of their own accord.

Fuck, what is wrong with me? Maybe it’s just stress…yeah, that has to be it.

“Nonsense.” He says the word so profoundly, so sternly, it almost reminds me of the way my father would demand I do something just because he said so.

Though the way Richard demands, I’m not sure I would want to argue against him…

Tara sneers at me with disdain. “Suite C,” she bites out, glaring back at Richard before knocking into my shoulder as she heads down the stairs. I nearly upend myself on the step, but thankfully, Richard catches me.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I say, tucking some hair behind my ears as I push away.

His eyebrows furrow as he looks me over, and the way he does so…it makes my entire body flush with heat. I feel more vulnerable, more on the spot than I did when I opened the door to see Dane.

“Maybe I wanted to,” Richard scoffs. “That so hard to believe?”

What I want to believe, and what is true, I’m not sure. But I do know one thing for certain, and that is that I need to get to my interview before time runs out. The last thing I want to do is stand here on these stairs, chatting with my ex’s divorced brother who for some reason makes me feel like I’m jumping out of my damn skin.

“I have an interview to attend,” I say as I take another step. Richard follows.

“Yeah, thanks to me,” he says with a huff.

I glare at him. Honestly, I guess being an asshole runs in the family.

“I’m not entirely sure your little stunt didn’t just earn me an immediate pass,” I tell him, because it’s true. I know people were watching us, watching our exchange. After everything that’s happened with Dex, the scandal, and now Richard making a scene…I’m starting to wonder if there isn’t a corner of the earth where people won’t know about my mistakes…

“Mia…”

“Don’t,” I tell him, holding up a hand as I hurriedly walk down the hallway, my gaze scanning the office numbers and suites. “Just…please…let me do this on my own.”

Richard huffs in annoyance as we settle outside of the Suite C conference room. One look inside and I can see a group of at least ten people. Candidates, I realize.

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