Page 66 of My Brother's Teammates

His smile was full of feeling as he tugged me into his chest. “You have us. You have no idea how much you have us, Kitten.”

It wasn’t until he was drying me off that I looked at the door and frowned. “I locked the door.”

He had the decency to blush. “I may not have grown up in the same type of neighborhood as Ryder, but I learned my fair share of tricks.”

I gasped. “You pick locks?”

He grinned and shrugged. “I’d do a lot worse to get to you.”

I swooned but forced myself to clear my throat and slap his arm. “No commiting crimes.”

“What about breaking rules? How do you feel about that? I happen to know that your brother got too hot to sleep in his room and there’s a spot in the bed with your name on it.” He pulled his own shirt over my head and kissed me gently. “We’ll sneak you out before anyone wakes up.”

Leaning into him, my exhaustion was getting the best of me. I nodded and rested my head on his chest. “Carry me?”

He picked me up without another word. “By the way, one hundred and one dogs? That’s a movie, not a goal, Kitten.”

“You’re thinking too small.”

Axel froze suddenly and I lifted my head to see Mom standing a few feet from us, her arms crossed over her chest. I groaned and buried my face in his neck, embarrassed. Axel was more of an adult about it. “Mrs. Mary. I’m… Wow. This doesn’t look good.”

After a few more seconds, Mom giggled quietly. “Go on, you two. You’re lucky your father isn’t the one who got up for post-coitous snacks. I didn’t see anything, I promise.”

I gagged and felt Axel shudder but he didn’t hang around to see if Mom would change her mind. He slipped into Jason’s room with me and bounced us both into the bed, jarring Ryder and even Hudson, who was asleep on the tiny couch next to the bed.

“Oh, god. Oh, man. I didn’t need to know that. I am traumatized.” Axel flopped onto his back and rubbed at his eyes. “Wow.”

Ryder reached over me and slapped him. “Shut the hell up. It’s bad enough that I have to share a bed with you two idiots. I refuse to be kept up, too.”

I tapped him on the shoulder and leaned over him so I could see the moment his eyes widened as he saw me. “I’m an idiot now?”

Hudson swore. “Nope. Make room. I’m coming.”

Ryder swore and dragged me on top of his chest. “Mine.”

Axel snorted. “You have no idea what I just went through to get her. She’s mine.”

I just giggled and stretched out so I could touch all three of them. “She’s sleeping so it doesn’t matter. If she doesn’t have nightmares about post-coitial snacks.”

Axel groaned. “This family, man.”

I nodded. “I know.”

Epilogue

***Jenny***

Fiveyearslater.

“Tuff throws long and it’s headed straight to Fitzgerald! Fitzgerald is covered but here comes DuPont! He blocked number fifty-three and Fitzgerald caught it! He caught it! For the first time in a decade Mountfort is heading to the superbowl!”

I screamed and jumped around like a madwoman with everyone in our private box. Gran had called it and she’d even made me a special outfit that already claimed Mountfort as the superbowl winners. Sean was in his awkward phase finally and he was a mess of long limbs as he jumped around with me.

“I told you! The spirits are never wrong!” Gran grabbed me and shook me around. “Today is the best day ever!”

I laughed happily. She wasn’t wrong. I was taking a few months off between getting my Masters and PhD so I was relaxed and getting to enjoy my family and the perks that came with being the girlfriend of three of the best players for the Mountfort Devils. The private box was great, but what I loved the most was the snacks that were brought around. Hudson made sure there was a never ending supply of gummy watermelons for me.

I looked over at my parents and laughed when I saw them cheering with just as much enthusiasm but none of the volume because they were each holding a grandbaby in their arms. Jason and his wife, Leslie, were sitting behind Mom and Dad, enjoying their time off as parents while the grandparents worked.

---