Tessa looks over at me. “We haven’t even had breakfast yet, and you’re asking about teams? Who even are you?”
The guys laugh, and I hold in my smile. “Sorry, Tess. You’re right. Breakfast first. What are we having? How can I help?”
Evie points to the fridge. “Eggs. Lots and lots of eggs.”
Tessa stands and takes another sip of her iced coffee. “Okay, I’m properly caffeinated. I’ll start on pancakes.”
“Pancakes?” I ask in surprise. Tessa turns to me and looks me up and down. “What?” I ask.
She shakes her head. “You’ve probably never eaten a pancake a day in your life.”
“Yes, I have.”
“When? When you were four?” she returns. She tries to be snarky, but she can’t stop smiling so the effect is lost.
“Don’t worry, Riley,” Evie says from the stove. “We have eggs for the healthy eaters.”
I walk over to the fridge and pull out two cartons of eggs. “What kind of eggs?”
“Cheesy ones,” Tessa says brightly.
Evie just laughs. “Your face, Riley. Just regular scrambled eggs.” I start cracking the eggs.
Tessa opens the freezer and pulls out a big bag. “Chicken sausage? How is that even a thing?”
I snatch the bags out of her hand. “Chicken sausage is the best.” I pull out a big pot and pour the entire bag in. “Want me to cook up some peppers and spinach for the eggs?”
Tessa stares at me in horror and puts her hand out. “Okay. Give it to me. You're officially fired.”
I stare down at her hand, laughing. “What?”
“Give me the spatula. You're out.”
“Out of what?”
“Out of the kitchen. You are no longer allowed to make breakfast.”
Evie laughs. “Leave her alone, Tessa.”
Tessa turns back to me. “Breakfast is for cinnamon rolls and biscuits and bacon, not spinach and peppers and chicken sausage.”
I grin. “Yeah, well practice starts for me tomorrow.”
Her face instantly changes. “Are you nervous?”
I shrug. “Kind of. I mean I’ll be a whole lot more nervous if I eat your kind of breakfast this morning.” I can’t resist the dig, and she gives me exactly what I was going for.
“You’re gone. Out of the kitchen. Go take a shower.” I ignore her and continue to stir the eggs. “Reid,” she hollers. Reid steps into the kitchen a minute later. “Take your girl and go. She’s ruining breakfast.”
My mouth drops open, even as I laugh. “I am not ruining breakfast. Evie, tell her.”
Evie just laughs and shakes her head. “I’m not getting in the middle of this.”
“Reid, take her. She’s trying to make breakfast healthy,” Tessa says, waving the spatula at me. Reid’s eyes meet mine, and I see the humor there. I turn back to the stove to turn the sausage. “Take her to the shower or something,” Tessa says.
“No, do not take her to the shower,” my brother calls out from the other room. “There will be no showers together.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Tessa says, shaking her head. But then she looks over at Reid, and I don’t miss the calculating gleam in her eyes. “Though that could be fun. He’s tall and built. You could climb him like a—”
