“Huh. I never really thought about it like that,” he says. “Now that you mention it, that does get rather annoying, doesn’t it?”
“Yes,” I laugh.
“So you have two older brothers. Are those the only siblings you have?” he asks me.
“No, I have two sisters. Twins. Ten years younger than me.”
“Whoa. There are five of you?” he sounds astonished.
“Well no. Not five ofme,”I say slowly. “But my parents have five children together.”
“Ach, you know what I mean! Smart arse.”
I laugh again.
“That’s quite the age gap between you and your sisters. How much older are your brothers?”
“My brothers and I are all stair-stepped. I’m twenty-three, Rafael is twenty-four, and Marcos is twenty-five. My sisters were a surprise,” I explain.
“I’d say so,” Teagan chuckles. “How’d your parents handle that? I think my Ma would have probably gone mental if she had been surprised with twins ten years after me.”
“Well, they were definitely in shock when they found out they were pregnant again after so long, but they warmed up to the idea quickly. Until they had their first sonogram done and realized there were two in there. I don’t think my Papá spoke for a full week, and Mami cried. A lot.”
“But they were happy eventually, right?” he wonders.
“Oh, definitely. My parents have always had this amazing knack to roll with the punches and take everything in stride. They married really young and started their family right off the bat. My Mom is only forty-six, so it’s not like she was past her prime child bearing years. And with three older kids to help out, it wasn’t as daunting as it could have been.”
“Your family sounds amazing, Layla.”
I don’t miss his melancholy tone. “Tell me about your family. Do you have any siblings?”
Following the prompts from the GPS, I turn into the parking lot of the apartment complex.
“Ach. It’s not nearly as exciting as yours. I have an older sister and a younger brother.”
“So we’re both middle children. Guess that makes us trouble,” I say with a grin.
“I don’t know what you mean byus,” Teagan says. “I’m an angel.”
“Right.” I snort. “I don’t believe that for one second.”
“You wound me, lass! How can you look at this face and think ‘trouble’?” He turns towards me and smirks.
Damn.
I roll my eyes and say, “Easily. You’re clearly nothingbuttrouble.”
Teagan laughs loudly, then stops suddenly, “Ah, fuck.”
I rear my head back and look around. “What? What is it?”
“I just realized that I had you bring me to Eamon’s flat when my car is actually at the field. I’m a gowl and a half,” he moans in frustration. “I’m so sorry.”
“Oh,” I whoosh out a breath. “You scared me there for a second. It’s not a big deal. I can take you back to the field. It’s not that far from here.”
“No, I’ll just ride with Eamon to practice tomorrow and get it then. Not to worry,” he assures me. “Thank you for bringing me back, though.”
“Yeah, of course. Not a problem.” I wave a hand and look over at Teagan. The lights of the dash illuminate the sharp lines of his handsome face. I want to trace his jawline with my fingers.
