Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Liam throws a green chip into the pot. “Raise twenty-five.” I study my brother and still can never read him when he plays poker.
He should have a good poker face—his life depends on it more than I’d like to know, I’m sure—but I still want to beat my little brother.
“What do you say, Jack, are you feeling lucky tonight?” He wiggles his eyebrows playfully at me. Little shit.
“Call—but I don’t trust you at the poker table for the record.” I point at him after throwing my chip in.
“You wound me,” Liam deadpans.
I roll my eyes. “The fuck I do, I bet you have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell me too.”
Liam chuckles at my teasing.
“Let’s see where it goes. Call.” Theo tosses a chip, and I tilt my head as I really study him for the first time tonight.
“Dude. You’ve got to knock it out. It’s getting creepy.” Ryan notices my studying of Theo’s goofy grin. Walker is trying to cover up a laugh as Liam’s eyes narrow at Theo.
“You haven’t stopped smiling since you got here,” I accuse him, but he still doesn’t stop smiling.
“I know. It’s great. The last nine days of my life have been just that good. What can I say? Life is too short, and I never knew being married would be so great.”
“Look, I get it, but they really don’t want to hear about that, man. Trust me.” Walker fails at trying to hold his laughter back.
I point to Walker. “What he said. Respect the fact that to us, you and our sisters never do more than hold hands.”
“Ever,” Ryan says under his breath.
Finn physically shivers before throwing his chip in. “Yuck. Can we not? Please? Call.”
Nine days ago, Theo and Savannah apparently wanted to give people something to talk about in our small town.
Less than two weeks after getting engaged, we took my jet and one of Theo’s family’s jets to bring our entire family and Theo’s family to an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica.
Theo’s brother Van surprised all of us when he had rented out the entire damn resort so Theo and Savannah—and I suspect the rest of their guest list—could enjoy a few days of actual privacy.
I was ecstatic when Pippa had somehow coordinated with Wells to fly in, with his sister too.
Tinsley’s tour schedule didn’t allow her to stay long, but she was able to come and be with me, which was everything.
Getting thirty-six hours to not have to worry about paparazzi or fake dating contracts or work bullshit, and just be with my girl and family? It was even better than Christmas.
My nieces would all agree.
“Oh my lanta! You’re Tinsley Sinclair!” Savannah’s middle daughter Emily squeals so loud that I’m surprised my ears aren’t bleeding.
Thor was hesitant to let Tinsley near the five screaming girls, but I insisted that Savannah’s daughters Olivia, Emily, Lucy, Theo’s daughter Gigi, and Vivian’s daughter Eloise were not a physical threat for Tinsley.
Damage to her and everyone else’s ear drums? Now that may be possible.
“You’re HERE at my mom’s wedding! Are you going to be at the wedding tonight? Are you going to sing? What’s your favorite color? Do you believe in unicorns?” Lucy doesn’t even seem to take a breath in between her never-ending list of questions.
“This is the coolest surprise ever! Mama! Look! Tinsley Sinclair is here!” Eloise screeches across the entire dining room as Vivian and Walker enter, followed by the obstetrician Walker hired for the trip.
Vivian’s due in less than seven weeks, but there’s no way she was going to miss Savannah’s wedding, and there’s no way Walker wasn’t going to find a way to keep Viv happy.
The doctor is never far from Viv, and so far, everything seems to be going smoothly.
“How fun! Did you happen to tuck Fiona Skye in your suitcase? Are you here to perform for the reception?” Vivian jokes as she introduces herself to Tinsley.
Savannah scampers in after her going on about how much she loves her and her music.
After my sisters and Tinsley shake hands, I shock everyone by grabbing Tinsley and tucking her under my arm.
I then raise the stakes even more by running my hand along Tinsley’s jaw and angling her head up to me.
I kiss her deep enough to answer any questions about our relationship, but appropriate enough to be in front of my nieces.
“She is not here to perform. My girlfriend is here as my date. Don’t mind her Viking bodyguard Thor over there, but please feel free to introduce yourself to her cousin and assistant, Allie. Tinsley, Allie, Thor, this is my family.” I gesture to the small group of people with visibly dropped jaws.
“And what am I chopped liver?” Wells calls out as he arrives, ever the subtle one.
“We already know who you are, Wells, but we didn’t know that your sister is dating our brother!” Vivian squeals, much like her nieces were just doing.
“Speaking of, because of a few things, we need to keep that fact under wraps for a few more weeks, okay? But once you see it on my socials, feel free to tell everyone how you know me, okay? Deal?” She grins at the girls, who all now think Tinsley is their bestie.
A part of me hopes that she does actually become best friends with my sisters—Tinsley could use a friend like Savannah and Vivian.
Shit.
I have three sisters. I realize my error, even if I didn’t say it out loud and scan the room, finding Cami tucked in the corner, leaning against the wall watching everyone gush about Tinsley.
“Excuse us, just for a minute, we’ll be right back,” I try to placate the whining girls that want to know everything about Tinsley.
I take Tinsley’s hand and walk over to Cami, who now looks like a deer in headlights with her wide eyes.
“Oh! Hi!” Cami squeaks.
“Tinsley Sinclair, this is Cami Walsh, my youngest sister.” Not my half-sister.
Not my new sister. Just my youngest sister.
The warmth in my chest at the introduction tells me I chose the right words—along with the genuine smile that spread across Cami’s face as she stands up with a hand extended to Tinsley.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Cami. Jack has told me all about you and I would love to pick your brain about yoga. Jack said you’re really passionate about it.” My chest fills with pride at my girl going out of her way to make Cami feel comfortable.
“Uh, yeah, sure! It’s great to meet you. I’m sorry, I didn’t know you two were … together?” Her voice raises at the end of the question.
“We’ve had to keep it very under wraps, but that will all be behind us soon enough. I promise even Finn didn’t know the extent of my relationship with Tinsley.”
“Haha, really?” Tinsley looks up at me. “Why didn’t you tell him? I thought your brothers all knew.”
I shake my head. “No, Liam knew, but that was it. And I didn’t tell Finn because he’s a fan and I was worried he wouldn’t be able to—”
“HOLY CANNOLI! WHY IS TINSLEY SINCLAIR HERE AND WHO KNEW IT WAS MY CHRISTMAS WISH TO MEET HER?” Finn yells across the room the second he enters.
“—play it cool.” I finish as Tinsley and Cami dissolve into a fit of giggles.
Finn eventually found a normal level for his voice, although I did have to punch him in the arm when he made a joke about her choosing the wrong Callahan brother, which then Wells echoed with a punch in his other arm to leave his sister alone.
“So, how many days until I can tell everyone and anyone that I personally know Tinsley Sinclair?” Finn asks as he looks at his cards.
I scrunch my eyebrows but Liam jumps in before I can say anything.
“Twenty minutes past the fuck o’clock. Do you know how much she values her privacy?
Do we want Jack to disappear every time he is with her?
No, we want them to know that we can respect her job and also welcome her into our family with some tact. ”
Ryan playfully slaps the back of his head. “Yeah, Finn, what he said. It’s like you’ve never even hung out with a mega superstar or something.” He chuckles because that statement is true for some of my brothers, but the attention for being a celebrity has zero appeal to me personally.
“Does this mean I can’t ask her for a photo?” Finn looks like we just told him that he can never have sugar again.
“No, it means you let her dictate what that looks like. If you become friends, and she chooses to post something with you on it, then go share that. But let her lead, yeah?” I try to soften the blow to my brother who apparently wants to race my nieces to see who gets Tinsley to wear the BFF bracelet first.
Finn fakes a cough and is trying to play it cool before asking, “Is her best friend Fiona single, by chance? Because if so, I am definitely interested in meeting her under a circumstance that we could be more than friends.”
“You’re hopeless.” Theo grins.
“But I admire his persistence,” Walker adds.
Fiona would chew him up and spit him out for breakfast, but I don’t tell him that. I’ll let the kid dream—and it would be entertaining as hell to watch. Fiona is a man-eater and a ballbuster; Finn would be way out of his depths with her.
“For all is fair, when it comes to the love we may share, let me show you, baby, how much I can care if you were to be mine.” Finn stares off wistfully.
Walker tilts his head at my youngest brother. “Are you having a stroke?”
“It’s called poetry, Walker! It doesn’t have to rhyme or make sense. It’s called artistic freedom. Tinsley and Fiona would understand. I’m surrounded by neanderthals.” Finn shakes his head at us.
“Speaking of Tinsley and Fiona,” Ryan mentions and I narrow my eyes at him. “Are you going with her to the Grammys in a few days? They’re scheduled for that duet, so I’m assuming you’ll be there too?”
The fucking Grammys. I have cursed that event more than any single event in the last six months, but the end is so close.
After the Grammys, Tinsley and Roman will have their public breakup and then I can claim my girl for the whole world to see.
There will be no question if we are dating as soon as she is no longer under that fucking contract.
Liam is the only one at the table that knows about it because he was helping us try and dig up a way to get out of it, and he also knows about what happened with Rick because Liam helped us find and hire Thor for her security team.
“No, I can’t be there this year. I leave in the morning to go to London for a project that needs both Wells and I there in person.
Actually, Theo, one of our meetings about the whole thing involves your brother,” I tell my newest brother-in-law.
Sullivan Smith-Harrington is a tech genius who founded one of my favorite tech companies to collaborate with.
His company does a little bit of everything, but they revolutionized the wireless headphone scene, specifically with how comfortable the earpiece is to wear, as well as the battery’s longevity on a single charge.
If Van would let me, I’d buy out his company in a heartbeat, but Van insists he wants to just do his own thing, and so long as we can continue to find a way to work together, I won’t try to buy him out.
I’m more than curious to meet the recent addition to his team that’s leading this new joint project.
If Lennox Covington lives up to half of Van’s hype, I’ll be more than impressed—and that’s not something that happens often.
“I thought you and him were a little too chatty at the wedding,” Theo says as he throws a chip into the pot and the hand continues. “But Van had good things to say about you guys.”
“It’s crazy how small parts of the world are, like the tech world,” Ryan adds.
“You can get in on it anytime you want,” I tell my brother. I’ve made no secret that I want Ryan to come over and run financials for Lux. When my CFO was retiring last year, I thought I could woo him, but he keeps dodging my best efforts.
My brothers can all be little shits sometimes.
“Anyway...” Finn loudly clears his throat.
“How’s the new house going, Walker? You guys settling in?
” Finn finished the new-build for Walker and Vivian about a quarter mile south from Dad’s house and now there is a paved path from their house to Dad’s that then extends the mile or so to Ryan’s house.
For Christmas last month, Walker’s brothers gave Eloise a miniature pink four-wheeler, but I bet he drove one of the full-sized golf carts tonight.
“It’s great. In fact, Vivian gave me a pretty amazing gift the other day.” Walker pauses to collect himself, which is very unlike him.
“This really better not be beyond the boundaries of what we want to hear about our sisters, man.” Finn cringes as Walker laughs at him.
“No, I don’t think so. Uh … sorry, I haven’t really told anyone yet because I was gone with that case this week.
Viv talked to Eloise and then talked to a lawyer so she could give me the paperwork if I wanted to officially adopt Eloise.
” Walker’s eyes dampen, but he holds the tears back.
The way this man has stepped up for my sister and niece is so far beyond anything I would’ve ever expected.
He is steady, true, loyal, and I couldn’t ask for a better man for my sister to marry.
“Way to bury the lead, man!” Ryan stands from the table and pulls Walker up into a hug.
“Congratulations, man. I obviously was aware of it because we helped Viv with the papers, but I promise, Savannah didn’t know until Vivian told her.” Theo reaches across the table to shake Walker’s hand in congratulations.
“That’s really great, Walker. I bet Eloise is over the moon,” Liam adds and Walker nods.
“It’s really amazing. I’m not going to push her to call me anything else than Walker or anything, it’s just amazing that we’re going to all be Bennetts, especially once the boys arrive next month.”
“We’re all thrilled for you, man,” Finn adds as he pulls Walker into a quick dude hug.
Vivian had to go through hell after her husband Trent was murdered, but if anyone deserves a great happily ever after, it’s Vivi, Eloise, and Walker.
“The honor is really all mine, I just … I’m so damn lucky that I get to love them,” Walker adds as he tries to shake off the emotion of his announcement.
“Do not be surprised if Savannah plans some kind of big party when that all goes through because you should all expect nothing less from my gorgeous wife.” Theo beams.
These two are total simps for their wives, and as a guy that never really thought too much about marriage, children, and all of that—it suddenly sounds very appealing, just so long as it involves a redheaded beauty knockout with ice-blue eyes.
As much as I like hearing the name Tinsley Sinclair, I think Tinsley Callahan has a much nicer ring to it.