Murray and Rafe let out simultaneous chuckles.
“Okay, fine…” she tutted, then picked up her champagne glass to sip - except stopped halfway. “But that reminds me, little brother, now you own this team, what’s your stance on Lowe and me dating a couple of your hot players? Assuming there are any.”
My heart stopped beating as I waited for Penn to react. Given his behavior yesterday morning after my mom turned up with more dates, or anytime I’d mentioned Jupiter Reeves this week, I prayed he wouldn’t suddenly use this as an opportunity to declare that I was already taken by him.
“What?” he snapped.
“How’d you feel about it?” she grinned, grabbing a fat strawberry from her breakfast bowl and throwing it in her mouth.
“About you and Lowe dating two of my players? You want to date one of my players?”
“Maybe,” she shrugged. “Thinking about it anyway. Good to have options.”
I knew he knew she was winding him up, because that’s what she always did. But what I don’t think he realized was that she was seventy-five percent serious, and if the opportunity presented itself, she would date a player. I, on the other hand, was currently too busy with the owner; the one who was currently pinning me with a stare I couldn’t read, along with similar ones from Murray and Rafe, which had me shrinking into my chair.
“What about you, Lowe? You want to date one of my players?” he asked, his head slowly tilting to one side.
Murray and Rafe looked like they were waiting for my reply with bated breath, and I was about to give it, but Penn interrupted me before I could.
“Actually, don’t answer that. No, neither of you can date one of my players.”
Lauren gave an overly dramatic sigh of defeat. “Thought as much. Shame. Lowey, you’ll have to go back to dating from your mom’s pool of boys.”
“What? You’re dating your mom’s pool boy?” Rafe’s face filled with confusion and began moving back and forth between me and Penn in a way I wasn’t comfortable with.
I reached across the table for a spare bowl of granola and yogurt, anything to divert the tension threatening to cramp up my body. “No. I’m not. I’m not dating anyone.”
“She isn’t,” giggled Lauren, “but Lowe’s mom lives to set her up with guys. It’s like she trawls the streets for them.Actually, she probably does because she’s always sending Lowe the numbers of guys and telling her to call them. Or setting her up on dates without her knowing. Once she arranged to meet Lowe, only when Lowe turned up, this random guy was waiting instead.”
“Holy shit! That’s hilarious! Have you ever been on any dates she’s picked for you?” laughed Kit, taking the lid off a bottle of formula so she could feed Bell.
It was at that point I wished something would swallow me whole. Or we were hit by an asteroid. Either one would do, because Penn, once again, pinned me with a stare that made it perfectly clear to anyone with eyes that something was going on between us, and he wasn’t happy with this line of conversation.
“Yeah, Lowe, have you been on any dates with your mom’s guys? Please do share.” His clipped tone made his annoyance even more pronounced, though I wasn’t entirely sure why he got to be annoyed at something that never happened.
“No. No dates. I don’t need my mom to set me up on dates,” I snapped. “Can we change the subject now?”
His jaw flexed, but he eventually looked away and joined in the conversation Beulah and Murray were having about who they thought might take Penn’s offer and quit before he properly got started in his leadership.
I picked up a bowl of blueberries and rage scooped them into my bowl while simultaneously trying to send a telepathic message to Lauren, requesting her to cease with the mom dating chat. Then I realized it would cause more alarm bells, because my mom setting me up on dates was a running joke between us and our group of friends. I just wasn’t finding it quite so funny this morning.
Then I felt worse because really what I was angrier at was myself, because not only had something significant happened in my life, I hadn’t shared it with my best friend. And moreover,the something significant happening was with her brother, so that was adding another layer to my angst, but I think the real crux was the possibility I liked Penn more than I was letting on; more than I’d admitted to him or to myself - his current behavior excluded.
I put the blueberries down.
I turned to Kit who was watching Bell take her bottle. “Sorry, Kit, I didn’t mean to snap. My mom is being a pain in my ass right now.”
“Don’t worry about it at all. It sounds funny, but I bet it’s a nightmare too. I remember her trying to get you to meet that doctor from the party last week.”
I stroked Bell’s head while she ate. I didn’t get to see her a lot, but every time I did, she’d always grown so much. She had to be seven months old now. I’d always loved kids, I loved my nieces and nephews, but I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get the opportunity.
“If I was being kind, I’d tell you she’s super extra right now because my parents were away all summer and she’s making up for time, but in reality, she’s always like this. It’s hard sometimes because I feel like I don’t have control over my own life, or like I have to work extra hard to keep the control.”
“Come and hide out at my place, she’ll never find you there.”
I scoffed out a laugh. “Thanks. I wouldn’t put anything past her though.”
“What time do we need to leave here?” asked Rafe, taking Bell from Kit so he could finish feeding her while Kit ate her own breakfast.
