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Chapter Seven
Phillip
“You’re serious? You’re taking her out again?” Clark asked, taking up most of my couch.
“It wasn’t a date,” I stated.
He chuckled. “Dinner with a beautiful woman in a romantic setting isn’t a date? Hmm. Maybe it was a business dinner and you were hiring her to obtain some VIP tickets for you?” I glared at him and he added, “Or it could have been a date.”
“Is there a reason you’re so interested in my plans today?” I asked, more than a little frustrated with the direction of this conversation. I don’t generally share details of my personal life with anyone, including my brothers. That’s the way we were raised. Had Clark forgotten?
“Just trying to help my brother out.”
“Do I look as though I need your assistance?” I snapped. Clark shook his head. “Good, then why don’t you leave and let me finish what I’m working on.”
Clark didn’t budge from the couch. Instead, he said, “You’re dressed pretty casual. I can’t remember the last time I saw you in jeans. Hell, I didn’t even think you owned a pair.”
“Now you’re questioning my wardrobe? You really do have too much time on your hands. I would’ve thought you’d be meeting with your lawyer regarding the changes I suggested in the purchase agreement and players’ contracts.”
“It’s Saturday. Not everyone works seven days a week,” he replied.
“And you couldn’t find anything better to do than to stop by my apartment and bother me?” As a family, we were close, loyal, and protective of each other, but we never crossed the line and intruded in each other’s lives without being invited.
“I drew the short straw,” Clark stated.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Richard and I have bets on who is the next Heart to lose his heart to love. I thought for damn sure it was going to be Richard. He thought it was going to be me, you know, because the ladies love me.”
Feeling quite perturbed, I asked, “And this has to do with me how, exactly?”
“Neither of us put our money on you, and right now, I’m thinking that was a mistake,” Clark said.
If I wasn’t angry before, I was really pissed now. Not only did I dislike being the topic of their conversations, but I also sure as hell didn’t want to be the center of a competition. “If you and Richard aren’t careful, neither of you will be around to collect any bets going forward.”
Clark just laughed and said, “For the record, it is not just Richard and me. It’s the others as well.”
All five of my brothers were pulling this shit? Had they all lost their fucking minds? “Then why don’t you spend the day explaining to them that I don’t appreciate being brought into your little games.”
“I wouldn’t call it a game as much as interest in the family,” Clark explained. “I mean, there was a point in our lives when we barely knew what our siblings enjoyed doing outside of work. This is just another level of family bonding.”
“Bonding? Can’t you guys all just meet at a bar for a beer like normal people?” I suggested.
Clark cocked a brow and said, “I don’t know why you’re so upset. Or maybe you’re disappointed because we all bet you’d be the last one to get married.”
“You all thought I’d be the last?” I understood why. I’d never come close to having a serious long-term relationship. I knew what I wanted, and if marriage was about convenience, like our parents showed us, then I wasn’t interested. It had only been the last year or two that I actually saw them showing some sort of genuine affection. Maybe that’s why I’m as cold-hearted as I am. It’s in my DNA.
Clark added, “Not everyone thought you’d be last.”
“Really?”
With a grin he said, “I had fifty bucks that you’d die a grumpy, old bachelor.”
Fuck you!“Thanks, Clark. For a minute there I was worried there was hope for me.”
Shaking his head, Clark teased, “I would’ve said no, but look at you now, wearing jeans. Before you know it, you might actually start having fun.”
“Just because I’m not out at a club doesn’t mean I don’t have fun,” I clarified. If I were honest with myself, part of me wished I could shut out all thoughts of work. I’m forty-two and pretty set in my ways. Damn it, Clark’s probably right.
