I laugh. “Let this go. I’m a grown woman and what I do in my personal life is just that—my personal life.”
“I don’t want you to get hurt and Slater doesn’t exactly have the greatest history with relationships. Hell, Rooster nicknamed him Beaver Tamer.”
I blink, open my mouth to respond and snap it shut.
Beaver Tamer?
Finally, I clear my throat and do my best to laugh it off. “Then, rest easy, big brother. I’m a Lucas, me or my beaver are not looking to be tamed.”
“Mary, stop making me want to cut off my own ears.”
“Stop driving me insane before I lose it and cut off more than your ears. What’s going on with you? You’ve never cared about who I’ve dated before.”
“You’ve never dated one of my players before,” he points out.
“So? That doesn’t mean I’m a complete idiot. I do have some brains you know.”
“If he fucks you over, I’ll have to see him every day and then, I’ll have to kill him. Do you really want me to go to jail, Mary?”
“He’s not going to fuck me over. It’s not that serious. We’re just…” I shrug as I trail off.
“Just what?”
I let out a sigh. “We’re scratching a few itches.”
“God, kill me now,” Green whines, dropping his head down on the table and banging it. He doesn’t it gently, but it still vibrates enough that the drinks that were delivered vibrate on the table.
“Will you stop? Jesus, I’m young. I’m not looking for a relationship. It’s not like I’m doing anything different than any of you guys. Well, except for Petal, she scratched her itch a lot earlier and always wanted happily ever after. That’s not me.”
“I’m your big brother. It’s my job to worry about you.”
“I’m fine. Give me a break and worry about Cyan. You’re his big brother and he’s the one messed up right now.”
“Yeah, but I kind of think that situation might be more than a little hopeless.”
“See? Plenty for you to worry about. Leave me alone.”
“It’s not that I don’t like, Slater, I do—well, all except for his god-awful name.”
“Dude, I don’t think any of us have a right to complain about names, do you Green—”
“Don’t say it,” he laughs. Fine, I’ll back off. I would like it known that if you find another scratching post besides one that belongs to a member of my team, I’d appreciate it.”
“Request noted,” I laugh.And ignored.
“Fine.”
“You know, you promised me dinner with the kids and yet none of them are here.”
“Yeah, I wanted to treat Kage to a night out without kids. Once the baby is born, nights alone are going to be hard to find.”
“You doofus!”
“Your pet names for me are so wonderful, Mary.”
“How could you drag me along on a night when Kage was expecting alone time with you.”
He has the good sense to wince. “I didn’t want you to—”