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“Anyone up for placing a bet?” Yvonne asked as she pointed the remote at the TV, clicking through the channels until she found the baseball game. It was only her, her cousin Finn, and his best friend, Miguel, hanging out in the Collins Dorm tonight, since Colm was out on a date and Darcy was MIA.
There were four cousins currently living in the apartment where Pop Pop and Grandma Sunday had raised their seven children many, many moons ago. When Pop Pop got older and the family started to worry about a nearly eighty-year-old man living alone, Riley had added an addition onto her house and moved him in with her family. Which left the apartment above the pub empty, until the cousins began graduating from high school and college and decided to save money by rooming here together.
Aunt Riley had dubbed it the Collins Dorm, and for the past decade, most of the cousins had taken up residence there for some period of time. While Lochlan and Fiona had never lived in the dorm, Caitlyn, Ailis, Fergus, Sunnie, and Padraig had all moved out after finding love and building new homes and new lives.
As one of the older cousins, Yvonne missed the days when there were quite a few of them coming and going in the apartment. As more and more of her cousins fell in love and moved on with their lives, she felt herself feeling a bit left behind.
Not that the apartment was quiet. That would be impossible with Finn as a roommate. The guy always had something crazy going on, and with Miguel as his constant sidekick, there was never a dull moment.
“Nope,” Finn said. “None of us would bet against the O’s. Besides, I’ve already got twenty bucks on the game with Lochlan. Asshole must have been dropped on his head as a baby. Never known a Collins to bet against the home team as much as he does.”
“Gotta blame that one on Uncle Will,” Yvonne said. “His misplaced devotion to Pittsburgh, just because he was born there, has really skewed Lochlan’s perspective on sports.”
Miguel kicked back, resting his feet on the coffee table. “I’m from New York, but you don’t see me rooting for the fucking Yankees.”
Finn pointed to him as if he’d made a brilliant point. “That’s because you were raised right.”
“Hey, where are Sunnie and Landon? I thought they were coming over to watch the game with us,” Yvonne said.
“They’re probably shagging,” Miguel responded with an eye roll. “They’re always shagging.”
If anyone would know, it would be Miguel. He and Landon were partners with the Baltimore Police Department, and Yvonne got a sense that there was very little the two cops didn’t talk about while on patrol.
Finn laughed. “Jealous?”
“No,” Miguel said. “I mean, Sunnie is hot and all, but she’s not my type.”
“I meant of Sunnie,” Finn corrected.
Miguel snorted. “Landon is straight as an arrow.”
“And you’re straight as a rainbow,” Finn added with a good-natured laugh.
Miguel crooked a finger. “Come to the dark side, my friend. We have cake.”
Miguel was bi and forever flirting with Finn, and while Finn had never dated a guy, sometimes Yvonne wondered if her cousin wasn’t a little bit curious…and maybe intrigued by his friend’s offer.
Not that he ever did more than brush off Miguel’s flirtations as a joke.
“Nope,” Finn said. “Got myself a hot date this weekend.”
“You holding out on me, man? With who?” Miguel asked.
Finn shook his head. “Not telling you. Don’t want to jinx it. I really like this woman. Hoping it goes well.”
Miguel considered that in silence, a rarity for him, though Yvonne could tell he was dying to know who the woman was.
“By the way, where’s Darcy?” Yvonne asked.
“She’s babysitting,” Finn replied.
“Babysitting who?” she asked.
“My rugrats,” Leo responded from the top of the stairs.
Yvonne smiled when she saw him. “What are you doing here?”
“Taking you out,” he replied.
