Page 49 of Their Greatest Strength

“Can we talk about this later?” He holds a hand to the one side of his mouth in a pitiful attempt to hide what he’s saying from Jamie and hisses, “When we don’t have football royalty in our living room.”

I groan, rubbing my eyes. “Don’t flatter him. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Nate gawks at me like I’ve grown a second head before going back to Jamie. “I’m so sorry. She’s very uncultured in the world of football.”

“Nate,” I warn.

“It’s okay. We still have time to teach her,” Jamie says, the tease in his tone just for me. “It’s nice to meet you, man.”

“It’s nice to meet you too!” Nate clears his throat and deepens his tone, shoulders rolling back. “I mean, yeah, it’s cool.”

I drop my gaze to Jamie for the first time this morning, trying to get a feel for what he’s thinking about my brother. His loose grin settles me somewhat.

“How long have you been up?” I ask my brother.

“Only a few minutes.”

“Did you sleep well?” It’s painfully obvious that I’m just trying to busy myself with pointless questions right now.

Jamie leans against the mattress and drops his shoulder to look at me, reading me to filth. “I slept like a baby, Blakely. Thank you for asking.”

It was stupid to hope that he’d wake up looking like a goblin. One sweep of my eyes over his perfectly sleep-rustled hair is enough to have me contemplating hiding beneath my blanket before he can get a good look at my messiness.

“Your sister tells me that you play ball?” Jamie says, releasing my eyes and looking forward at Nate. He stretches his arm across his chest, the bare curves of his shoulders flexing above the mattress with the effort.

Of course he’s still shirtless. Would it have really been that hard for a raccoon to have crawled into the apartment and brought him his shirt back from the street while we slept? I’m going to have every single inch of his torso burned into my memory at this rate.

Nate’s eyes nearly pop out of his skull. “Yes! I’m a wide receiver.”

“That’s my man. It’s the best position to play.”

“Exactly!”

Jamie stands and twists to crack his back before offering my brother his fist to pound. “You hungry?”

Nate jumps at the opportunity, a toothy grin spreading his lips as their knuckles bump.

“Nate’s always hungry,” I drawl, craning my neck back to look up at myfiancé.

Jamie rolls his lip between his teeth and offers me a hand. “And you? Care to join me for breakfast, Bandit?”

There’s only one answer to his question.

“As if I have a choice.”

16

JAMIE

I’mthe type of guy who usually orders meals in, even if I can cook pretty much anything if I have a recipe to follow. My ma made sure that Ollie and I were capable in the kitchen and would always remind us that women don’t appreciate men who don’t know how to cook. I took that shit to heart and would go so far as to practice making her favourite meals whenever I had the time.

This morning, I was planning on showing off my skills to Blakely and her brother, but one look in the fridge and I knew that wasn’t going to happen.

I might be a smart guy, but I know my limits. Creating an edible meal out of a bottle of mustard, a few slices of processed cheese, and a tomato that’s completely deflated on the bottom is more of a challenge than I’m up for this early.

“Here, scroll through this and let me know what tickles your fancy,” I say once I’ve pulled the menu up for Lucy’s Diner on my phone.

“Sweet!” Nate snatches it from my hand and hunkers down at the kitchen table.

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