Page 7 of Teasing

“Then you have to come. Ryker’s grilling steaks.” Jamie stands and scoops Rosie up and sits her on his hip. “You’re not a vegetarian, are you?”

I shake my head. “Ryker Beneventi?” I ask, not sure why I’m surprised. That’s Maverick’s younger brother. The first hearing-impaired defensive tackle to ever play for the Kings. He was the number-five draft pick last April.And... my inner football geek is showing.

“You know Ryker?” Jamie asks, suddenly less joking and maybe a little less trusting.

Jeez. These men go from smiling to scary kinda quick.

“I know of him. We’re a big football family, and Sebastian Beneventi was my dad’s favorite player. It’s kind of a small town.” I shrug and look over at their house. “How many of you live there?” I laugh to myself. “Should I expect any more giant football players to squeeze out of a clown car or something?”

Jamie’s easygoing smile slides back into place. “Nah. It’s just the three of us and Rosie.”

“And Butterfly,” she adds.

“Right,” he chuckles. “Can’t forget Butters.”

“Nope,” Rosie agrees.

I look between the two of them and smile. Something I wasn’t sure I’d be capable of after this crap day. “Well then, how could I say no?”

“You can’t,” Rosie claps, and I swear her excitement is a breath of fresh air.

“What can I bring?” I ask.

“Just yourself. Rosie has some food allergies, so we’re really picky about what food comes into the house,” Jamie assures me as Rosie nods again in agreement with her uncle. “We’ll eat in about two hours. Sound good?”

I guess I really shouldn’t tell him it sounds more frightening than good. Dinner with perfect strangers... Sure. Why not? “Okay. I’ll see you then.”

“Bye, Emmie.” Rosie waves, and my goodness, Jamie grins again.

“Yeah. Bye, Emmie. See you soon,” he adds before he carries her across the yards and back into the house.

I pull my phone from my purse as I walk into my dark house a minute later and call my sister.

Her voicemail picks up again.

“Vivi... you would not believe the day I’ve had.”

Maverick

Iwatch Butters chase Rosie through the backyard and shove my hands in my pockets to control the urge to reach out for her. She’s gonna fall if she runs any faster.

My mother’s voice bounces around in my head... She always says you’ve got to let her fall so she learns to pick herself back up.

Doesn’t matter that I know she’s right, but the urge is still there.

Ryker moves in front of me to get my attention.“She is fine.”

My brother lost his hearing almost a decade ago, and I swear his already incredible ability to read a room dialed up to a never-before-known frequency to make up for the loss. He can read our parents and me in a way no one should be able to.

I look him in the eye.“I know. But the creek is right there, and it’s new.”

“You need to replace Mrs. Page. Has the agency sent you any new nannies yet?” he asks and waits for my answer.

“Nobody good enough to spend my time interviewing,”I growl.“None of them even know ASL,”I admit, frustrated.“And that was a requirement.”

He shrugs and flips the ribs next to the steaks, then turns back around.“Rosie doesn’t need ASL to communicate, Mav.”

“But you do, and Rosie communicates with you constantly. You live here. So yeah, they need to know it.” I lift my beer but freeze when Emmie walks through the trees separating our yards.

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