Page 29 of My Brother's Teammates

“Come on. Wrap your arm around me.” She wedged her body under my arm and against my side to help me stand up straight. “Jason, you idiot. This guy just scored fourteen points against what I hear is the toughest defense in the league. He’s posed to break several different records this season. Or so I hear. And you punched him?”

I looked over at my mom and watched her give me a thumbs up. Rolling my eyes, I tried to ignore the pride I felt at hearing Jenny talk me up. “I see my family liked you.”

“I love them, Axel. It’s crazy how kind they are. Sean is literally the smartest, cutest little guy ever and I’ve already been invited to Halloween with Gran.” She bounced a little as she spoke, and it did distracting things to her breasts. “Thank you.”

I was surprised when she wrapped me in a tight hug and pressed a kiss to my cheek before letting go to throw herself at Jason. I stood there, staring like an idiot while she made my best friend’s life by talking excitedly about how she’d loved watching him play. Hudson and Ryder stood beside me, as hooked on the sight as I was.

“Damn. Almost makes me wish I liked my family and wanted to show them off.” Hudson sighed and threw his arm over my shoulder. “That was a smooth move. Using your cool as hell family to get those brownie points.”

Ryder grunted. “Want to go halfsies in renting a better family with me, Hud?”

“Men, you played hard out there. Proud of you.” Conor shook each of our hands and then turned with us to watch Jenny. “She’s great. How’s Jason going to take it when he finds out the three of you are all going after his baby sister?”

We all snapped our attention to Conor, who just laughed.

“Honest to god, guys, your tongues all rolled out and competed to see which could reach her first. I’m concerned that Jason has the situational awareness of a chair since he hasn’t seemed to notice much.”

I rubbed my face and tried to think of what to say to make what we were doing seem less fucked up.

“Just be careful.” Conor cupped the side of my head the way he has since I was ten and he’d adopted me, despite not having to. “Gran said she had a vision and then made a big fuss of welcoming Jenny into the family. If you believe your Gran, all your friends are going to be mad at you.”

I couldn’t help the smile on my face as I took in the scowl on Hudson’s and Ryder’s. I looked back at Jenny and saw her glance back at us. Her eyes moved over each of us before her cheeks turned red and she looked away.

“Huh. Gran didn’t say how Jenny would be joining the family. You know I have a friend from college who lives with his wifeandbest friend. No judgment here.” Conor nodded like he hadn’t just thrown a lot of information at us and then walked off.

Ryder shuddered. “I swear to god, Ax, your Gran scares the shit out of me.”

“Well, you’d better run because here she comes.” I opened my arms and got ready for the small woman who hugged with more force than the players who’d tackled me during the game. “Gran! I see you dressed Jason’s little sister.”

She hugged me hard while also managing to grab the back of Ryder’s shirt. She was even smaller than Jenny, but she had no problem dragging Ryder closer and demanding Hudson come nearer with one look. “You boys had better learn to share amongst yourselves. Seems that cute little thing’s heart is big enough for three.”

I coughed awkwardly. “Gran…”

“Her body, however, is not. Be gentle and take your time. A patient lover is a good lover.” Gran moved away and clapped her hands. “Now, I’ve got a man to see about a little bit of grass.”

I was in embarrassed shock, but I still saw Mom hear Gran’s last words and chase after her.

“No, you don’t, Mom! If you get caught trying to buy drugs on campus one more time, they’re not going to let you back in for the games.”

Hudson cleared his throat after they were out of sight and looked over at us. “Did that…?”

Ryder was blushing, I was pretty sure. “I didn’t run fast enough.”

***Jenny***

Iblamedthehighthat had come from watching the guys dominate on the field for my giving into going to Jackie’s with them after the game. I was so excited about their win and I couldn’t believe I’d missed so many chances to watch them play. Of course, I don’t think I would’ve been comfortable enough to fall in love with it if it hadn’t been for Axel’s family. They were amazing. No matter how many times I tried to tell them that I wasn’t Axel’s girlfriend, they just waved me off and said I would see. They were so kind and fun that I’d made plans to see them again.

I walked with Jason, who’d hated the shirt Gran put me in and had kept a close eye on me at first. He seemed so happy about my excitement about the game that he eased up about the shirt after a while, though. When we got to Jackie’s the guys had a table waiting for them already.

It was weird to walk in with them when everyone was clearly waiting on them and eager to celebrate. I could feel people looking at me and wanted to hide, but Axel was behind me, putting his hand on my lower back and urging me on. I was acutely aware of his name on the back of my shirt and the way it looked when he touched me. Instead of trying to stop it, I leaned into his touch when Jason walked ahead of us to the table.

I ended up sitting between Hudson and Axel in the round booth that’d been saved for them. Ryder was on the other side of Axel and Jason was on the other side of Hudson. I was dead in the middle and felt completely on display. I shifted in my seat, wondering how soon I could get out of there until other women started coming up to the table, talking to the guys. I realized quickly that no one cared about me and that I could disappear into the background the way I liked.

I could feel the guys checking in on me and gave them short answers when they tried to talk to me, but there were so many people fighting for their attention that they didn’t get to do much more than cast apologetic gazes at me every so often. I didn’t mind, though. It was like watching them in the game again.

They each handled everyone coming up to them in different ways. Jason was open and eager to interact with people. He was friendly to everyone and flirted shamelessly with every woman who approached him. Axel was friendly and charmed every person around him without even trying. He wasn’t flirting, though. Maybe it was selfish, but I was thankful for that. Hudson didn’t take any of it seriously. He mostly just stuffed his face with whatever food ended up in front of him and joked around. Ryder was the surly grump. He’d answer questions, but he was closed off and most people gave him his space. It was mostly women who braved his icy front to have a chance at him.

He’d been nicer to me, but I hadn’t forgotten how we’d ended our morning together. He’d made it clear that he wasn’t interested in me, no matter what. I did my best to keep my eyes off him and made sure I gave him the space he so clearly wanted.

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