“I’m so sorry we’re late, Mrs. Rhett. I had a wardrobe issue,” Claire says without flinching. Fine, it was me. I was the wardrobe issue. After our shower, I kept pulling her wardrobe back off.
“You're perfectly stylish. We’re just now about to eat. Come with me.” She takes Claire’s hand, pulling her toward the back of the house. In the dining room is a massive table set with every breakfast food fathomable. My stomach growls just walking by it.
“Adam,” she calls out to Mr. Rhett as we enter the family room. “See what the kids want to drink.” She leaves us with him as she sails off to welcome more guests.
“The soccer player, right?” he asks. “What would you like? How about a screwdriver for you and a mimosa for Claire?” Before I can answer that I really don’t like orange juice, he spins, crossing to the counter. Handing us our drinks, he studies me for a minute before continuing. “You met Claire in Portland, right?” I nod my head, trying to gag down some of my drink. “How?”
“Aye, I was coaching a clinic at the university. I ran into her while she was on campus studying.” I hear a snorted laugh behind me. Turning, I find Lily with Matt trailing behind her.
“That’s an understatement.” She laughs. Mr. Rhett’s eyes narrow at me.
“Have you been watching the trends in gold lately?” Matt cuts in. “It’s running pretty close to what I told you right before Thanksgiving. I did have a thought on a different investment that looks like it has promise if you have a second.” With a knowing nod at me, Matt leads him across the room to discuss finances.
“Lily, yer boyfriend is a good man. That’s twice he’s rescued me in less than a day,” I say, giving her a wry look. “Ye Rhetts really are a fighting bunch, yeah?” She laughs, looping her arm through Claire’s.
“If we didn’t keep everyone in line, who would?” She hugs Claire’s arm. “Speaking of, has anyone seen my brother? I guess Dad read him the riot act last night. I suspect he’s over begging on Maggie’s front porch.”
I didn’t ask what all of the drama was about. I figure it’s none of my business. Just wish everyone felt that way about the time we spent in Portland. “Come on, Mom’s motioning for everyone to eat.”
Breakfast is truly amazing. I don’t think there is a single breakfast item that Mrs. Rhett hasn’t included. Except for smoked herring, of course. Marcus and Dia join the four of us in the game room to eat.
We men mostly eat in silence as the women discuss Maggie in detail. I don’t have to wonder anymore about that story. I also agree he deserved being slapped. When the women finally drift off to the family room to visit, Marcus turns to Matt and me.
“So we’ll give Grayson and Colin a couple weeks to recover, then it’s poker night. I’ve been so swamped at work lately, I’m going to need to blow off steam pretty soon. You play poker, right?” he asks, looking at me. I start to speak, but Matt cuts me off.
“He plays well enough. We can have it at my place. I’ll chase Lily out for the evening since you had it last time. You’ll need to bring a bottle of something good along with plenty of cash,” he says to me.
“You have to watch this guy, though. He’s a damn wizard at cards,” Marcus says to me. Damn, Matt’s a whole lot more badass than I first gave him credit for. “He also barfs back up anything he drinks, so it’s always best to have it at his place if possible. You’ll be here until February?”
I nod, “Unless Claire runs me off earlier, I dinnae have tae report until the first. My season starts at the beginning of March. I have some clinics I have tae fly oot for during the week, but I plan on being in town for the weekends.”
“Perfect, you’ll be our fifth player now. Give me your number, I’ll add you to the group poker text,” Marcus says. There’s a group poker text? I rattle off the number before adding theirs to my phone. I guess library sex, two camp nights and watching a dramatic skirmish makes me one of the in-crowd now. If it gets me closer to Claire, I’ll take it.
7
Claire
“So what do you think those three are conspiring about?” Lily asks, watching the men huddled in the game room. “If I had to guess, I’d say they’re planning another poker night. Speaking of, Matt said he took Alex for a beer last night. Matt likes him, but he likes everyone, so I’m not sure that’s a good estimate.” I shake my head at Lily, rolling my eyes.
“Marcus does too. I think they bonded last night over college athletics stories or something like that. He said something about finally having a fifth for poker. You should probably lock that down, Claire. He’s fine.” I watch as Dia gives him the once-over, making an approving noise at the same time.
“I guess if you like the muscle-bound, tattooed, manbunned, kind of man with an accent that just radiates sexual prowess,” Lily says grinning at me. Dia gives her a high five before agreeing. “Don’t look now, but I think you’re being stalked.” When I look back at the men, Alex is walking toward me with a smirk on his face.
“Ready tae go?” he asks, taking my hand. We find our hosts to thank them before easing out the front door.
When we’re settled in my car, I turn to him, “Where are we going? I’m not sure what we want to do next.”
“I’m thinking my jet lag is catching up with me. Can we go back tae the hotel for a nap?” I give him a smirk at the word nap. He grins. “Yer mind went there in a hurry. I was talking aboot actual sleep, but I’m sure I can fight through. I cannae guarantee my best work though.”
Returning to his room, we did actually take about a three hour nap before I was woken up by Alex rolling on top of me.
“Hey,” I say, coming out of the bathroom afterward. I have to stop for a minute and admire the view of all that naked, rock-hard muscle spread across the bed. Shaking my head, I continue, “Dia sent me a text wanting to know if we wanted to come over to a cookout tonight. Are you up for round two with my friends?”
“I think it’s technically round three, but sure let’s go. Dae we have time for another ‘nap?’” He gives me that lazy smile he hooked me with the first time.
“Did you just use air quotes for the word nap? Whatever could you mean, Mr. Ross?” I swing my hips, walking over to him. With a growl, he sits up, grabbing my wrist and pulling me to him. It was another two hours before we finally pulled up outside Dia’s house.
Their house is a small two-bedroom home not too far from campus. With Marcus now in residency, they had recently moved from an apartment to their current house. Dia had been promoted to assistant buyer at a major clothing store once the head buyer got a glimpse of her prowess at spotting upcoming trends.
