Page 12 of The Invitation
“Shit,” Tate mumbles, dropping his phone unceremoniously to the table.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He runs his hand through his hair. “Carys is just dating an asshole she met at a tailgate party last fall, and she wants to complain about him all the time. I told her I’m tired of hearing it.”
I hide a smile. “Well, I’m sure she’ll stop complaining now.”
Tate rolls his eyes. “She won’t stop until they inevitably break up. Then she’ll date someone new and complain about him. It’s a never-ending cycle with that girl.”
Carys has been Tate’s sidekick since college. They’re essentially the same person in different bodies. Both are good-looking, funny, and surprisingly intelligent once you get past the party-loving exterior. I used to think they’d end up together, but not anymore.
“I need a new best friend,” Tate says.
“She tried that once, andyoumelted down. Remember?”
He grins. “I didn’tmelt down.”
“That’s not what she said.”
He glances at his phone screen, then turns it face down on the table. “Are we still going golfing on Saturday?”
“No, Gannon called it off. He has a meeting in Atlanta, and Renn wants to spend all the time he can at home with his family before the Royals acquisition goes through.”
“How’s the baby, anyway? I need to go over and see that little shit before he forgets that I’m his favorite uncle.”
“He can’t forget something he never knew.” I smile. “Arlo is growing like a weed. Every time I see him, he changes. He has huge hands like Renn and his mama’s lips. And he’s lost all his hair.”
“Really? Is that normal?”
I shrug. “I don’t fucking know. They don’t seem too worried about it, and Renn worries abouteverything. So I guess it’s all right.”
“Do you think you’ll have kids someday?”
I stretch my legs under the table and think about his question. I always expected that I’d have kids. Holding Renn’s son makes me think it would be amazing to have a little guy of my own. But after these past couple of years with our family, I’m not so sure I want to risk it anymore.
“Maybe,” I say, wincing. “What about you?”
“I want ten of them.”
I snort. “Ten? Really?”
“It’s a good even number, and it’s just four more than all of us. Think how cool it would be if there were four more of us after me. That’d be great.”
“Would it, though? You’ve lived your life as the baby of the family. Four more, and you’re suddenly a middle child. That might change your mind about things.”
“Yes, I think it would be great. Phenomenal, really. I’ve been thinking about having kids a lot lately,” Tate says.
“You might want to think in order.” I take a drink, enjoying the cool liquid slide smoothly down my throat. “Better find a good woman first.”Someone extremely patient to deal with my brother and his craziness.
He points at me. “And that’s why I haven’t gotten started yet. I can’t find the right woman.”
“Yeah, well, me either, but I’m also not looking.”
“I could hook you up with one of Carys’s friends,” Tate offers. “She has some hot ones, you know.”
“Yeah, I know.”
His offer hangs in the air between us.
