Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
DREW
Me
Did you study for your calculus test?
Avery
If I didn’t, it’s too late now. The test is in twenty minutes.
Me
Oh shit, I thought it was tomorrow. Sorry, a good brother would know when your important tests are.
Avery
Brother, huh?
Me
I’m trying it on for size.
Avery
How does it feel?
Me
Like I wish I could have been your brother all these years and not just for the past six months.
Avery
Stop it. You’ve done more for me in the past six months than anyone else, including my grandmother, who I literally live with.
Me
Still not great?
Avery
It’s fine, I guess. She just has her life and all her activities and she’s not around much. It’s not like I need to be parented or whatever, but it would be cool to see her once in a while.
Me
Offer still stands, Aves. I have four bedrooms no one uses. Any one of them can be yours, and I was aces at calculus. I loved that shit.
Avery
Seriously?
Me
Uh, yeah. You think football players can’t do math?
Avery
Not football players in general. You, in particular, don’t seem like a math person. Maybe it’s all the shirtless workout posts and the pictures online of you with different women in every city.
Me
Hey, there haven’t been pictures like that in a while. It’s just been me and my sourdough for months.
Avery
Oh my god, the chocolate chip one you dropped off the other day was so freaking good. I may or may not have eaten the entire thing by myself.
Me
I’ll make you another one tomorrow. I’m thinking of adding cinnamon and doing a whole chocolate chip French toast thing.
Avery
I have really good taste in brothers.
Me
Bet your ass. I have a meeting, but good luck on your test. Let me know how it goes?
Avery
I will. Thanks, Drew.
Me
Always, Aves.
“Oh my god, no he did not!”
The exclamation, and the sound of laughing female voices, is the first thing I hear when I shove my phone in my pocket and open the front door of the brownstone that houses Evans, Parker, Langley, and Jenkins, the law firm Caitlin’s mom owns with Sophie’s, Tyler’s, and Maddy’s moms.
Peering down the hall, I see Hallie, Julie, Emma, and Molly sitting on stools around a big white kitchen island.
They each have cups of coffee—except it looks like Hallie has two cups of coffee and three other drinks spread out in front of her—and there’s a box of donuts in the center of the island.
“Did I miss the donuts?” The front door opens behind me, and I turn to find Rachel Parker sweeping into the foyer.
She’s Tyler’s, Caitlin’s, and Jack’s actual grandma—I’m pretty sure Caitlin and Jack’s dad, Ben, and Tyler’s mom, Julie, are twins just like Caitlin and Jack—but she seems to be everyone else’s unofficial grandma too.
“Oh, hey Drew,” she says with a grin before wrapping me in a hug. I feel my body go a little stiff, forever unused to the kind of spontaneous displays of affection that come so easily to this family. “Give into it, honey,” she murmurs. “You deserve a hug.”
My throat tightens unexpectedly because how many times growing up did I want a hug I never got?
How often did I wish there was someone at home to hug me when I had a bad day or a good day or just a day?
When Rachel’s arms tighten around me, my eyes drop closed, and for one weird beat, it feels like she’s hugging not just me now but me then too.
I don’t know what kind of sorcery this is, but I kind of hope she never lets go.
She must understand because the hug goes on for what is probably too long for a hug between two people who are basically acquaintances, and by the time she lets go, I can feel my face burn with embarrassment and something like shame for being the kind of person who can’t even accept a hug without it turning into a whole referendum on my shitty upbringing.
But Rachel doesn’t seem to care about that.
She just takes my hand and leads me down the hall.
“So, what are you here for?” she asks.
Without knowing what else to do, I follow her. “I have a meeting with Julie about some estate planning stuff. But if they’re busy, I can just come back later.”
I can’t. Not really. I’m meeting with the trainer at the stadium later because my knee has been giving me trouble, and the rest of the week is going to be swamped with prep for the home opener on Sunday, but I also know this meeting means divulging shit I’ve never talked about before, so if I have an excuse to grab hold of my good friend avoidance, I’ll do it.
“Nonsense.” Rachel drags me into the kitchen. “They’re just having their regular Monday morning donuts and sexy breakfast stories session. Hi, my babies, look who I found!” she announces before I can process what the fuck a sexy breakfast story is.
All four women look up at me with matching grins.
“Hey, Drew,” Hallie says with a wave. “Is there something we can do for you?”
“He’s here for me, remember?” Julie gives Hallie a meaningful look, like maybe they’ve discussed this meeting before.
“Oh yeah!” She shakes her head. “Sorry, I’ve been swamped and totally forgot that was today.”
“I’m swamped too,” Julie says, her expression somehow both apologetic and not.
“So unfortunately, I’m not going to be able to meet with you this morning.
” When I open my mouth to tell her it’s fine and we can reschedule, she holds up a hand and plows on ahead.
“I’m due in court soon, but luckily, we have associates now who can take meetings we can’t.
Emmy is coming to court with me, but Caitlin is totally free this morning. ”
Julie glances at Hallie, and I could swear the look they share has scheme written all over it.
When I look back at Rachel, her expression matches theirs, and I wonder what’s happening.
But then I realize, in my tunnel vision over the importance of what I’m about to do, I overlooked the fact that Caitlin works here too, and suddenly, this day is looking up.
“That works for me,” I say casually.
I could swear either Molly or Emma mumbles I bet it does, but when I look at them, they’re both absorbed in their donuts.
“I don’t think what I need is all that complicated, but my…
” I trail off, wondering how to describe it.
“Family,” I practically choke out, because despite my texts with Avery before I came in here, calling the people in my life—or not in my life—a family in front of the people who practically define the word family feels almost laughable.
I shake my head. “Anyway, my family isn’t like yours. ”
“Oh, honey, no family is like ours,” Rachel says, taking my hand and squeezing it.
“But you are one of Tyler’s best friends.
You and Cam were so wonderful to him when he joined the team, and the three of you are brothers, which means you’re part of this family too.
Family is made, Drew.” Her words are quiet, but the force behind them hits me right in the chest, and the burning behind my eyes tells me I’m about ten seconds from breaking down when I’m pulled back from the brink of losing my shit by the thundering of feet on the stairs.
“Aunt Jules, do you have…” Caitlin’s words trail off as she freezes in the kitchen doorway, looking between me and the women sitting around the table with a wide-eyed expression that might make me laugh and tease her a little just to hear her take a swipe at me if I wasn’t too busy forgetting every word I ever knew.
She’s wearing a pair of black wide-legged pants that are just tight enough to do incredible things to her ass and a white button-down shirt with a subtle ruffle down the front, open just enough to showcase a collarbone I’ll be seeing in my dreams. Her shoes are high-heeled black sandals with a subtle shimmer, and her toenails are painted a bright, neon orange.
Golden-brown waves flow down her back, and whatever makeup magic she conjured makes her gray eyes practically silver under the kitchen lights.
I want to fuck her.
I want to sit down and talk to her for hours.
I want to get on my knees and beg her to forgive me for being stupid.
I want…her.
For someone who’s lived his entire adult life being careful not to want anyone, that’s a slightly terrifying thought. But somehow, when it’s Caitlin I would be letting in, it doesn’t seem quite so scary.
“Cait!” Rachel wraps an arm around a still-frozen Caitlin and kisses her on the head, and I push my big thoughts away for later. “Look who came to see us today!”
Julie rolls her eyes. “Who is this us you speak of? You don’t work here, Mom.”
Rachel waves that away. “I come here every Monday for donut days, so I might as well work here. You girls all work so much that if I didn’t come to you, I would never see you at all.”
“We were literally at your house for dinner last night. Did you need something, Cait?” Hallie asks with a glance at her daughter.
“I need the wills Aunt Jules was drafting for the Millers, who are going to be here in twenty minutes, and I need to know what he’s doing here.” Caitlin points at me before turning back to her mom.
“I pushed the Miller meeting to tomorrow,” Julie tells Caitlin with a calculated look in her eye she almost manages to suppress—but not quite.
No one else would notice it, but growing up tiptoeing around the unpredictable moods of a parent and then having a job that requires sizing up another team, often in seconds, means I definitely noticed.
Caitlin narrows her eyes at Julie. “Why?” she asks, suspiciously.
Julie shrugs casually. “Because I had a meeting scheduled with Drew for this morning, but I have to be in court, so you’re meeting with Drew instead, and you can do the Millers tomorrow.”
“Get Emmy to meet with Drew,” Caitlin says immediately, as if I’m not standing right here. “I’m sure she can handle whatever it is.”
“Emmy is going to court with Jules,” Emma says helpfully.
“She needs more experience in front of a judge.” Molly examines the donut box before picking up a vanilla frosted with sprinkles.
“You take it.” Caitlin turns to her mom. “I’m sure you have more experience than I do with…whatever it is he needs.”
Hallie laughs, and I can practically see the steam shoot from Caitlin’s ears.
I have no idea why that delights me so much.
“I’m a family lawyer who specializes in adoptions and complex custody situations.
I haven’t done actual estate planning since before you were born.
Besides, I have a meeting in half an hour, so I’m busy too.
You’re what he needs, Cait. You can do this. ”
“I can’t,” she says stubbornly.
“Why not?” Rachel asks curiously.
“Yeah Catie, why not?” I ask with a grin.
She shoots me a glare and it makes my chest feel funny, almost like it’s full of air.
“Fuck, fine,” she mutters before pointing at me.
“But this better be serious. I have a shit ton of work to do, and I don’t have time for football players who don’t care about anything except how their abs look on social media.
Follow me,” she orders before turning and stomping towards the stairs without waiting for me to follow her.
“Second door on the right,” Hallie says, laying a hand on my arm and giving it a squeeze.
“Thanks,” I say, not sure if I’m thanking her for the directions or for either knowingly or unknowingly arranging it so I get an hour or so of uninterrupted alone time with the woman I can’t get out of my head, even though I have no business having those kinds of thoughts about anyone, and definitely not about Caitlin Parker.
“We’re here to help,” Hallie says with a friendly smile, and I’m sure she’s talking about the fact that they can help with my particular legal needs, but I’ve been on my own for a long, long time, so someone offering to help me with anything—even if it’s just drafting a stupid trust—makes my chest ache a little.
Shoving that feeling deep down, I wave at the women and head straight up the stairs.