Page 28 of Knocked Up by my Best Friend's Brothers

“We have lunch every Friday. Bit of a family tradition after Dad passed away,” Teagan says. “We don’t get to see much of each other over the weekend. They’ve got their thing; I’ve got my husband and my married life.”

“That’s nice. It’s good you stay close,” I mumble and take a sip of my coffee.

“Yeah, family is important. Speaking of, have you—”

I cut her off and proceed to scarf down half of my club sandwich. “No, I haven’t reached out to Aunt Mary yet.”

Teagan narrows her eyes at me. “No need to get testy. It’s just that she called me the other day, asking about you.”

“She did?” I give her a troubled look.

“I think she heard you’re back.”

“I’ve been keeping a low profile, though.”

“This is Portland, not Los Angeles. Someone must’ve spotted you. Or, most likely, she heard it from one of the dinosaurs still working at the corporate office after the quarterly staff meeting.”

I nod slowly. “I’ll go see her one of these days. I’m still settling into the job. There’s so much to go over, stuff to organize. It’s hard when you’re putting together a whole new department almost from scratch.”

“River says you’re doing great, though,” she says with a warm smile. “I knew you would.”

“Your faith in me is astonishing, Tee. I don’t deserve you.”

“Nobody really deserves me, but, hey, you get me anyway.” She winks.

“How’s married life?”

She was dying to tell me about the honeymoon and the whole moving-in-together-as-newlyweds process, and I gladly sit and listen to the story, thankful to have veered away from my lateness without her digging deeper into the reason. Teagan is too excited and happily married to focus on details these days, and I feel bad for taking advantage of it.

But Cassius made a good point. My personal life is still mine. All mine. I choose what to disclose and what not to.

“I’m glad it’s going well,” I say. “Though Tony is one of the rare ones, if you think about it.”

“Oh, yeah. A man who cooksandcleans? I’m a lucky girl. On top of that, he’s rising pretty quickly through the company as well. Cassius thinks he could put him up for a promotion as soon as next year. Junior VP in the HR department. He says Tony is really good at spotting talent and potential in both interviewees and current employees.”

“That’s great. Your brothers seem to work very well together.”

“I mean, the three of them always got along. I was always on the outside looking in. The little sister who needed protection.”

“Oh, I remember them scaring away plenty of boyfriends,” I chuckle lightly.

“They scared off some of yours, too, if I remember correctly,” Teagan shoots back.

My ears burn as I remember. “Yeah, you’re right. Dave Copeland, junior prom. Your brothers were on leave.”

We laugh at the memory, and I shake my head. I decide to pry a little and throw her off any possible scent. “How are your brothers doing these days? On a personal level, I mean.”

“They’re okay. Work keeps them pretty busy, but they do go out.”

“Any of them seeing anyone?”

“Christa Campbell, are you crushing on one of my brothers again?” She gives me a faux suspicious look.

“No, no…” I nervously laugh. “You made me promise to never touch any of your brothers.”

“I’m a protective sister; what can I say?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.

“They’re old enough to take care of themselves, Tee.”

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