“It’s Jeremy,” I say to my brother.
“That was fast,” he says. It puts my senses immediately on alert.
I narrow my eyes at Jeremy. “So? What are you doing here?” Then I turn my attention back to the phone. “And why don’t you seem surprised?”
Elliot stays silent, but Jeremy answers right away. “What? Can’t a guy come and see his best friend?”
Jeremy stands and saunters to me, looking every inch the NHL player he once was and the happily married father of two he now is.
“You were just texting me.”
“Uh, yeah, from right here. Why do you think I asked you when you would be home? I was getting tired of waiting.”
“How the fuck did you even get in here?”
Jeremy shrugs and grins, gesturing to the phone. “I called Elliot. I figured at least one of your brothers had a key to this place. He was happy to mail it to me for a good cause.”
“The good cause being…” I trail off. “What the fuck, El?” I growl into the phone as Jeremy just stands there, arms crossed and amusement all over his face.
“You’ve been ignoring your friends. You haven’t met your best friend’s newborn babies. That’s also not healthy.”
“So you thought mailing Jeremy a key to my apartment was the best solution? Were Noah and Coop involved in this little scheme too?”
“Duh. Wyles brothers never stir shit up without backup. I also called your doorman pretending to be you and put Jeremy on the list so he could go right up when he got there.”
“You…” I trail off, pinching the bridge of my nose and taking a deep breath because I really am four seconds away from losing my shit. Human interaction just isn’t something I’m good at anymore.
“Got him there, didn’t it?” I can hear the carefree shrug in Elliot’s voice. Thethis is in your best interesttone that grates on my nerves.
Blowing out a breath, I look at Jeremy, who is still grinning at me like an idiot.
“Okay. I’ll deal with you guys another time,” I say to my brother. “I have to go see what the asshole in my apartment needs.”
“Later, Jord. Let me know how it goes.” Elliot’s voice is filled with cheer, and he hangs up before I have a chance to ask him whatitis.
I glance up from my phone at Jeremy. “I can deal with you now. So, my question remains. What the fuck are you doing here?”
“I came to kidnap you and drive you back to Pittsburgh for the weekend.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m not coming to Pittsburgh. I have to work. Give me the damn key.”
I hold out my hand, but Jeremy ignores it. “You have four days off. That’s definitely enough time to come to Pittsburgh, meet your best friend’s twins, and see all your friends who love you and have really missed you. It’s been months since we were all here to visit.”
I wrack my brain to come up with some excuse that will get Jeremy out of this apartment and out of the city, because the last thing I want to do is spend hours in a car with him and an entire weekend with four couples looking at each other with heart eyes and looking at me with sympathy and pity.
No thank you.
Jeremy folds his arms across his chest and pins me with an unflinching stare. “Listen, I see you trying to come up with a million excuses to get you out of coming. Let me save you the trouble and tell you that none of them will work. Your best friend in the world had babies a month ago. Two of them.” He holds up two fingers an inch from my face. “When your best friend has babies, you go meet the babies, preferably with a present or two. It’s the polite thing to do. So, you can moan and groan and complain the entire trip if you want. I don’t give a shit. You’re going. So pack a bag and get your grumpy ass downstairs.”
“Shit,” I mutter, knowing that when Jeremy gets like this, there’s no changing his mind. He’s stubborn as fuck when he wants to be.
Jeremy nods, a victorious expression spreading across his face like he knows he won. I have the sudden urge to slap it off. “Shit is right. There’s no getting out of this, so you might as well get on board. It’s time to come home, Jordan.”
Hating the way that sounds, but knowing I’ve lost this particular battle, I head to my room to pack a bag and get ready for the long ass trip to a place that isn’t home anymore.
CHAPTERTWO
JO
