Page 18 of Don't Leave Me

“Are you saying you want to meet my family?” She arches a brow.

“I guess that depends on this verdict… And if I can bring my jersey for your brother to sign.”

“Wait! You have one of their jerseys? Who? Please tell me it’s Cody!” She leans in close with so much excitement.

“Number ninety-six.” I grin, feeling like I made the intelligent choice when I bought my jersey. I wasn’t sure which one I wanted, but now I'm happy with my purchase.

“Oh my gosh!” She squeals so loud some of the other customers glance in our direction. “This is the greatest. Scoot over.”

She’s out of the booth and motioning for me to move over. Before I can ask what’s going on, she has her phone out and is waiting for a video call to connect.

“What up, squirt?” A guy’s face fills the screen, but I'm not sure which brother he is.

“Are you with a boy?” An almost identical face pushes in next to the first guy. “Does Dad know?” His grin widens and there’s a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“I am with a boy. A boy who’s a big Pythons’ fan.” Sophia’s way too excited about this and I'm getting a little scared. I know Colt has told me she’s a troublemaker, but I haven’t seen that side of her yet.

“Sweet! I approve. You can marry him.” The brother who looks like he’s up to no good waves her off.

“Well, he wants to know if he can get his Robinson jersey signed if he comes to Mulberry Lane.” Her grin widens as her brother’s eyes narrow.

“What number?”

“Jax, are you getting jealous? You don’t even know if it’s Cody’s jersey or not.”

Ah, ok. The one who looks mischievous is Jax. That makes sense. He gets a lot more penalties called on him. Cody always seemed like the more laidback one.

Cody lets his head fall back and his rich laughter fills their side of the phone. It’s funny how different they are and how their personalities show on the ice.

“I no longer approve of this marriage. You could do so much better, Sophia.” Jax folds his arms across his chest and glares at me.

“Does it make it any better that it took me a while to pick if I wanted number ninety-six or sixty-nine?” I ask with a wince.

“Only slightly,” Jax grumbles.

“At least he knows what number you are.” Cody laughs even harder. “Man, if you come to Mulberry Lane, I’ll sign whatever you want. He’s going to be bitter about this for months and I’m going to rub it in his face every chance I get.”

“I'm telling Dad you’re out with a boy. Let’s see who’s laughing when he drives eight hours to meet this guy.” Jax pouts, making Cody and Sophia laugh even harder.

“Oh, don’t be such a baby.” Sophia waves him off, but I'm not loving this threat.

The way Sophia, Leslie, and Mason have talked about Mr. Robinson, I'm a little nervous to meet him. I'm sure he’s extremely protective over his little girl.

“Are you sure this is a safe guy to be hanging out with?” Jax narrows his eyes again. Cody instantly sobers and begins examining me with the same intensity.

“Stop it. He’s a police officer… a sheriff’s deputy?” She turns towards me with a frown. “What’s the difference?”

“They’re basically the same thing. I work for the county, where a police officer works for a specific town. Around here, I don’t leave this town unless there’s an issue in another town and they need help.”

“Ah, ok. That makes sense. Is it because the town is so tiny?”

“Yeah. That’s why we only have one officer on duty at a time.”

“Dang, I don’t think Dad’s going to be upset if she’s hanging out with a cop.” Cody shrugs. “You’ll have to come up with something else to get back at Soph.”

“Oh, I will. And I have plenty of time to plan something amazing. After all, she’s eight hours away and her room is sitting empty.” A devilish grin spreads across his lips as his hand moves closer to the screen. “Night, sis. I hope you have a great vacation.”

He ends the call and Sophia freezes. She’s staring at the screen with wide eyes for a full ten seconds before she’s scrambling and waiting for someone else to answer another video call.

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