Page 36 of Power Play

“Can we get ice cream?” Milo asked.

“At home,” Sydney replied.

“He probably didn’t want the Pride getting involved,” Brandon said, and Sydney smirked.

“That never lasts long. We always find out.”

“But I want a sundae.” I was pretty sure Finn said that.

“We just got two new cartons. We can make sundaes at home,” Brandon shot back.

“They didn’t look very happy together,” Sydney said, “I bet they aren’t serious.”

“I want one with Oreos!”

“No! Bananas!”

“No! Sprinkles!”

The twins went back and forth until Brandon stopped them. “You can put whatever you want on them.”

“I don’t think they are,” he continued, catching Sydney’s eye in the rearview mirror. “He didn’t even look happy to see her.”

My head was going to explode. How did they keep things straight? The drive to the house wasn’t very long, but it was more than enough for me to jump out the second we pulled into the garage.

Too many people.

Sydney caught my arm and smiled. “You get used to it a lot sooner than you’d think.”

I shook my head. “No. It’s too much.”

“Do you want to join our sundae party?”

I laughed. “No, but thanks for the invite. I’m going to bed.”

It was already after ten, and my internal clock was all kinds of mixed up. Tomorrow I had another video interview, so I had to be somewhat coherent.

“See you later,” she called as I walked through the side door to the backyard.

The silence was just what I needed to clear my head.

* * *

I called Carrie as soon as I woke up. I needed a voice of reason. Someone to tell me to stay calm and not freak out.

“Good morning.” Her calm voice told me the kids weren’t up, or at least not in destruction mode yet.

“Hey, so I was at the game last night.”

“Oh, we watched. That was a tough series.” She sighed, and I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling.

“It was really bad, but that’s not the worst part.”

“It’s not?” She perked up. “What else happened?”

“I was with some of the women in the parking garage since I drove with Sydney and Brandon.”

“I can’t believe you just referred to Brandon Cullen by his first name.”