“How’s Delly?”Hayes asked.“Looked pretty bad.”
“Don’t bring that up.Please.”Miles pressed a hand over his mouth.
“She’s fine.”Braden sat in his favorite leather chair and rested his elbows on his knees.“She’s sleeping.”He ran a hand over his face.“Which is what I’m thinking about doing.”
“You’re not worried about Maggie and some other guy?”
Braden glanced up at Hayes.What was he talking about?“You lost me.”
“Maggie.I hate to tell you this but she might be stringing you along.”And Miles seemed pretty upset about it.“One minute she was making eyes at you and then she’s chatting with some other guy.”
“You seem awful calm about this.”Hayes sat on the worn leather chair opposite him.
Braden stared at the wood plank floor beneath his feet.“You two are upset enough as it is.”He sat back, eyeing each of his brothers.“Did he look familiar?”
“He was all bundled up.No idea.”Hayes shrugged.
Braden ran a hand over his face.“Was he friendly with Cody?”
They nodded, in unison.
“It was probably her twin brother, Mike.Or Mike’s partner, Danny.She said they were both there, too.”He yawned.
“Oh.”Hayes shoved his hands into his pockets.“I guess that’s a possibility.”
It was the only possibility.Maggie wasn’t the type to string someone along or mislead anyone.He trusted her completely.Wait… He did?Yeah, he did.And it scared the hell out of him.“Is that all?”
“I guess.”Hayes stood.“I feel like an ass for coming in here like this.”
Braden could be upset that his brothers had been so quick to condemn Maggie or touched that his brothers were determined to protect him.Considering how tired he was, he picked the latter.“Y’all were looking out for me.”
“You sure you’re okay?”Miles hadn’t stopped frowning since he got here.“You seem… I don’t know…like you’re in love?”He started laughing then.“Watching you two tonight was like watching one of those made-for-TV romance movies.Hayes and I were feeling a little nauseous ourselves.”
“No one told you to come to the game to keep tabs on me.”Braden pushed up out of his chair.“You got your jabs in.You good now?”
“Um, maybe.”Miles was still laughing.“We’re your brothers.And, you know, we want to be part of your life, is all.”
Hayes chuckled, too.
“Just remember you said that.Since you’re so eager to be involved in my life, you two will be the first I call for help when Delilah starts throwing up again.”He walked over to the front door, pulled it open and stood aside.
“You’re no fun,” Miles mumbled, all but running out the door.
“Good one.”Hayes nodded.“But you’re not really going to call, are you?”
“Out.”Braden closed the door behind his brother and rested his head against the solid wood.“Irritating sonsabitches.”But he was smiling as he turned off all the lights.He didn’t normally lock up the place but his brothers normally didn’t make late-night house calls, either.He doubted they’d come back but he turned the lock anyway.
Long before he’d known Delilah existed, he’d wanted his own space.He loved his family, but all the lovey-dovey newlywed stuff his three siblings were experiencing was hard for him to stomach.Since he and Delilah arrived in Tenacity, he’d spent every free minute he had getting one of empty foreman’s houses updated and move-in ready.It’d barely been a week since they’d left the main house but this place already felt like home.He was proud of it—proud that he had a place for Delilah to call home.
Before he headed to his room, he checked on her again.Her skin was cool and her breathing was steady.Hopefully, the worst of it was over.He dropped a kiss on her forehead, tucked the blankets around her and tiptoed from the room.He made sure the nightlight in the hallway was on before going into his room—directly across the hall from hers.
He shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it in the chair as he lay down on his bed.
He was seriously considering skipping his shower and going to bed but the sound of his phone vibrating had himsitting upright.He’d plugged his phone in and left it in his room to charge after he’d put Delilah to bed—not giving it another thought.Other than family, no one texted him.
It was probably Miles or Hayes.They seemed bound and determined to give him as much grief as possible.He reached for his phone, fully prepared to block their numbers, only to see Maggie had texted him.As he read the text, he couldn’t help but smile.
I hope Delilah is okay.
