Page 30 of Falling for the CEO

Damn! Things like that slipped out from time to time, no matter how much we tried to ignore it.

Leo nodded, swung the racket—and missed. “You’re right.”

“Sometimes we forget that,” Nick said. His voice was tight.

Cade shook his head. “All right, let’s stop the chitchat! No one’s focusing."

After that, no one spoke. I watched the game intently.

Cade was the best of the lot, and I said that in the most objective way possible. The guy could have been a pro player if he wanted to be. But he chose to spearhead the coffee branch of Whitley Industries even though our father had left it in terrible shape.

Whitley Publishing was the one branch where father had been the least involved, mostly because Mom was spearheading it.

I was keeping my fingers crossed for my twin to come out on top. I knew that once he won, he'd be on a victory streak, and I was playing on his team. I needed him to be strong because I was pretty sure my stamina wasn’t good for shit.

"Yes!" Cade exclaimed. He and Leo bumped fists, and I changed with the latter, who joined Maddox as Nick left. Since he owned the club, sometimes he went to check on business in between sets.

"Good luck getting your ass beat," Nick said.

"You wish."

Cade and I won spectacularly. Cade was going to boast about it until the end. Then again, he deserved to bask in his glory. He was a damn good tennis player.

"Drinks are on me," Cade exclaimed. "I’m taking all of you out."

"I’m not joining you," I informed them.

Cade looked at me intently. So did Maddox. "Dude, I'm sure that Grandmother wouldn't mind staying a bit longer. You haven't done much lately."

"I'm readjusting to life," I said in a clipped tone. "I'll go out for drinks another time."

"Jesus, you remind me of Colton," Cade said, running a hand through his hair.

"No, there's a difference between us. I have a living, breathing miniature person depending on me. Colton is..." I wasn't even sure how to describe him. Workaholic? Lost in his own world? He had an obsession with work, and he was a perfectionist. But it went beyond that.

"All right, we will take you up on your invitation," Maddox said, and Leo added, "I think Nick will join us too. Let’s circle back to our previous conversation. Who wants to bet that Gran is planning something for Spencer and the sexy neighbor?"

I turned around, focusing on Leo. "How do you know she's sexy?"

“Educated guess,” Leo replied easily.

Cade looked up from the shoelace he was tying. Maddox cocked a brow. "Is it just me, or did that sound weirdly territorial?"

Fuck me. It had! 100 percent.

"Did Gran get in your head?" Leo asked.

Cade was still silent. "Okay, what was the bet about?" he asked, rising to his feet. "Because I think I'd put all my money on the fact that twin bro doesn't even need Grandmother’s involvement."

Cade knew me best. It was as if we were sharing a brain.

I gave him a thumbs-up. I was neither confirming nor denying it.

"We're on," I exclaimed. "See you next week, bozos," I added right before leaving the tennis court.

I was sure my brothers were going to have a lot of fun at my expense and take turns guessing how things would evolve. I would’ve paid good money to be a fly on the wall.

The past Thursday evening, I’d barely held back. I'd been desperate to kiss her again, but if I did, I would have wanted more. I needed Penny on a visceral level. Despite everything going on in my life, that wasn't going to change.

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