Julie turns to the twins. “I can’t decide yet. I’m thinking either cheesecake or ice cream from my favorite gelateria downtown.”
“You’re a pro at this,” I say appreciatively.
Christopher sighs, telling Max, “Man, I just met her and I’m whipped already.”
That’s when I notice Eric watching us from afar. He stands at the far end of the makeshift soccer field, away from everyone else. I leave Julie with my cousins’ girls again and then jog to my man, who’s a little sweaty from the game and a lot sexy.
“Great game, Callahan. Word on the street has it your team won.”
“We did.” He pulls me in to a quick kiss and then goes inside the house. Mom has a number of T-shirts ready for people to change into after a game.
I wonder why my brothers haven’t ambushed Eric or flexed some of those alpha muscles they’re so proud of. They are being remarkably civil, and whenever they talk to Eric, they stick to business topics. By late afternoon, most of the guests are gone, except for the kids, who will stay here overnight. My mom has grown attached to the little ones. They belong to some cousins from my dad’s side, who moved to San Francisco about four months ago. Mom has been inviting their children for sleepovers almost every weekend during school days, and now that they’re on vacation, they’re here during the week too.
“Mom is in dire need of grandchildren,” Alice remarks. Right now, Eric and I sit outside at the table with her, Sebastian, Ava, Logan, and Nadine. “She keeps organizing sleepovers for all her nephews.”
“Don’t look at us,” Nadine says at once, then points at Sebastian and Ava. “They’re married already. They should have kids.”
Sebastian gives Logan an uncharacteristically smug smile.
“Now, now,” Logan says, patting Nadine’s arm. “If we could set our wedding date—”
“Oh, my God,” I blurt, realizing what Sebastian’s smug smile was about. Looking from him to Logan, I ask, “You two are still trying to win that bet, aren’t you?”
“Pippa,” Logan and Sebastian warn me in unison, but it’s too late. Nadine and Ava are already glancing at me curiously.
“What bet?” Nadine asks.
“Nothing,” I say quickly.
“Pippa Bennett,” Ava admonishes, “spill it.”
My brothers are shooting daggers with their eyes at me.
“Well,” I say, “they made a bet about ten years ago about which one of them will have the firstborn in our family.”
Nadine elbows Logan. “So that’s why you’re in such a hurry to have the wedding?”
“We’re going to be the first ones anyway,” Sebastian says.
“We’ll see about that,” Logan counters. There’s so much testosterone at the table it’s nearly suffocating. Nadine and Ava look at their men, both incredulous and proud.
“There goes your Keeper of Secrets title,” Eric whispers to me.
“There’s something else I wanted to talk to you about,” Sebastian says, his tone serious again. “The ranch renovations are going well, but Dad wants to keep a closer eye on the team. Thankfully, he understands he can’t do it himself. It’s a miracle that he’s on board with it.”
I smile to myself, certain that my little tough love speech at the hospital is the reason for that, but seeing how I just outed my brothers’ bet with my big mouth, I’ll keep the bragging to a minimum.
“We could oversee the construction project by rotation,” Max suggests.
“Yeah,” Christopher agrees. “I’ll be flying back to Hong Kong in two weeks, but I can help until then.”
“I was going to suggest we do it by rotation too,” Logan says. “Sebastian and I worked out a schedule.”
Logan takes out a folded paper from his pocket, which I suspect is the schedule. Blake, who is inspecting the paper from behind Logan’s shoulder, whisks it from his hands, staring at it incredulously.
“Logan, if you spend so much time at the ranch, your fiancée might decide to dump your ass,” Blake says, and adds with a wink to Nadine, “In case she does, there are plenty single Bennetts waiting to take your place.”
Nadine immediately protests, and Logan is red in the face. It’s almost hilarious watching how quickly Blake can rile up Logan. Sebastian, who has his arm around Ava’s waist, merely cocks an eyebrow.