Chapter Six
MADDOX
"I passed Cami. She seemed upset,” Gran said, walking up to me.
I blew out a breath, trying to rein myself in.
She tilted her head at me. "Darling, you look upset too."
"Come on, let's go," I said, keeping my voice as calm as possible. It wasn't her fault that I kept misfiring when I was around Cami.
Why the hell am I screwing up so badly? She was never going to agree to a deal now.
"What did you do?" Gran asked.
I jerked my head back. "Excuse me?"
"You scared the poor girl off again, didn't you?"
"Gran…," I said in a measured tone.
"Oh goodness. I knew I shouldn't have left the two of you alone."
"So that wasn't a setup?" I asked.
"No, that was just my bladder getting in the way. Sorry for being so graphic, but being ninety-two isn't all they make it out to be."
"I should have done my homework better."
"Or," she said, "I should have left earlier, after she told us about running this place right after college. That seemed like a very good bonding moment."
"You don't have to treat everything like a play."
"I find that most things in life can be treated that way. I can't believe we didn’t make progress today."
"Let's go," I said.
"No, you should go after her and—"
"Gran!" I sounded determined enough that she didn't interrupt me. "I appreciate your help, but going after her isn't an option. I need to think of another way to approach this."
"She stormed off. That's bad."
"I am very aware of it," I assured her.
She narrowed her eyes. "And you are 100 percent sure that going after her won't at least improve things?"
"No."
"You know, it’s a good thing you’re meeting your brothers tomorrow," Gran said.
We played tennis on a weekly basis at one of Nick’s gyms.
"How come?"
"Maybe they’ll talk some sense into you."
The next morning, I was in a bad mood when I woke up, but I didn't cancel the tennis session. It was a good way to blow off steam. I'd spoken to Gabe before I went to bed, keeping him up to date about the newest mishaps. He'd promised to join us today.
Usually I played with Leo, Cade, and sometimes Spencer. Nick joined us but wasn't always part of the game. Since he owned the place, he was usually needed by one of his staff members, so it was difficult for him to get a whole game in.
I was damn proud of Nick. He’d grown the fitness branch’s business by leaps and bounds since he took it over.
"Hey," Cade said with a shit-eating grin.
"Bad night?" Spencer added.
I stared at them. "You spoke to Gabe?"
Spencer rolled his eyes. "Yeah, obviously."
"What am I missing?" Leo said. "Dude, why do they know more than me?"
I scoffed. "Don’t blame me. I spoke to Gabe, who apparently thinks you're a second-class citizen, considering he shares things with Spencer and Cade first."
"We were with him," Spencer admitted.
"Yeah," Cade added. “Believe me, we know we’re not something special.”
We all chuckled at that.
"And he might not have wanted to share what's happening, but we have ways of coercing our youngest brother to tell us stuff he doesn't want to," Cade continued.
Just then, Gabe joined the room.
"Speak of the devil," I said.
He turned to Cade and Spencer. "Oh, come on, you've already started talking about this without me? I told you that's not how it works."
I frowned at him. "You had to discuss this with them before you talked to me?"
He groaned. "It seems I did, bro. You got us in deep."
"Fine, let's hear it. What’s the answer?"
"Maybe you shouldn’t meet with Cami anymore."
I cocked a brow. "How am I supposed to fix things, then?"
Gabe shrugged. "Let's put it this way: You fixing it somehow just keeps making it worse. At this rate, Samuel will toss us out on our asses too."
I shook my head, running a hand through my hair. "He won’t. I have a plan."
He grimaced. "That involves talking to Cami?"
"Yes. Look, things just…" I paused, searching for the right word. "Escalated."
"I heard you loud and clear. I just can't figure out why."
I couldn't explain. I'd rehashed our encounter yesterday numerous times and still couldn't pinpoint how things got out of control again. Part of my problem was that her beauty just overshadowed everything. I lost my train of thought and then ended up pissing her off. These weren’t the type of negotiations I was used to.
I'd just have to calculate every move beforehand.
"I have a plan," I said.
Gabe narrowed his eyes, then nodded. "All right. Then let's not waste our weekend with this anymore. Let's blow off some steam, and we'll fix it next week."
He was like me—work was work, and fun was fun. I didn't like to mix one with the other either.
"Hold it," Leo said just as we were about to resume our places on the tennis court. "I still don't get why Gran went with you. I figured she’d… I don’t know. Do her thing."
Nick tilted his head. I knew him well enough to tell that he was holding back a snarky remark.
"At this point, I’m not even sure myself," I admitted. "But we’ll figure out her plan soon enough."
"Oh, good. At least you're prepared for the fact that she has a plan," Leo remarked.
"Yeah, I wouldn't want to be blindsided," Nick said.
"Come on, let's stop yammering and start playing. I've got a lot of adrenaline to get rid of."
I teamed up with Nick, and Leo was with Cade.
Gabe was only watching. Spencer was on the sideline until Nick had to return to work after one set.
I pushed the issue with the hotel and Cami to the back of my mind and gave 100 percent to the game.
That was my motto in life. But even with all of that effort, Nick and I lost.
"All right, this one is yours," Nick said to Spencer as he joined the next game.
Leo and Cade snickered.
“We’re gonna beat their sorry asses for sure today,” Cade said.
"Why would you say that?" Spencer asked. "Are you implying that I'm the weak link?"
"No, just the exhausted one."
"Yeah, you look horrible, bro," Leo added. “Even worse than Maddox.”
Spencer frowned. "Dude, I've got a small kid. Sleepless nights are part of the package. You'll see if you ever have your own kids."
Leo cringed. "That's a firm negative from me."
"And me," Nick said, clearly having overheard us even though he was almost at the edge of the court.
I started to laugh, and three sets of eyes focused on me.
"What's so funny?" Leo asked.
"Nothing. I just think Gran's got other ideas for us."
"You know, I didn't want to say anything," Leo said, coming closer to the net, "but you have to take one for the team. I think she's got her eyes on you and Cami."
"I'm fucking sure of it," I agreed.
Leo started to laugh and called loudly, "Hey, Nick." Every player on the neighboring courts glared at him at the interruption. "You were right. He knows about it."
Nick just gave us a thumbs-up.
"So you did know about yesterday," I countered.
Leo shook his head. "Just bits and pieces."
I laughed. "Glad to know my personal life is such a source of conversation."
"Hey, better yours than ours. I'm happy with my bachelor status. I just have to find a way for Gran to get the memo."
"All right, who's ready for round two?" I asked.
There was a chorus of yeses, and we took our positions.
Spencer was truly exhausted, but the guy was also 100 percent happier since becoming a dad and finding Penny.
Not too long ago, I would have sworn that none of us were going to have a family.
That the Whitley legacy would die with us.
I didn't even know if it was a conscious choice, but we'd all had enough marriage drama with our parents to last for a lifetime.
Despite the fact that Spencer moved in slow motion, we won the second set. That meant a third game was necessary because it was a tie.
"Come on, I want a drink before this next one. Let's head to the juice bar," Gabe said.
I laughed. "Want to break our winning streak?"
"Maybe, but I'm thirsty too."
"We could all do with a drink," Cade said as we headed to the juice bar.
It served alcoholic drinks, too, but it was far too early in the morning for that. We sat at the bar. The place was busy with people sitting at tables, some in the comfy armchairs, others on bar stools like us.
As we ordered a variety of refreshing drinks, Spencer groaned, checking his phone.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Penny just texted that Ben's now afraid of the teddy bear he liked yesterday. Fuck, I wish parenthood came with a handbook. It would make things so much easier."
"Damn right it would." If there were, maybe I’d contemplate having a family. But as it was, the probability of messing things up like Dad had was too big.
"Dude," Leo said seriously, "if you need to go, don't worry about the game, okay? This is supposed to help you wind down, not cause more anxiety."
Spencer shook his head. "No, it's fine. Penny and I have an agreement. We have certain times when we do things on our own."
"That's a very healthy way to take breaks," I said.
He nodded. "Some days I still can't believe I was such a lucky bastard to meet her. That she wanted me and Ben."
I understood where he was coming from. Penny was a great partner. In fact, all of my brothers' women were great. They were lucky.
After we all finished our drinks, we headed back to the court. The place was filling up. Nick had done an excellent job at creating an environment where people wanted to spend hours here. It was far more than a gym.
This had been one of Dad's pet projects that he'd opened on a whim with no clear plan for profitability. It had been in shambles when Nick took it over, but he'd done a spectacular job. I especially liked that they had both outdoor and indoor courts.
"By the way," Gabe said to me before we started playing again. "I saw on the calendar that you’re meeting the architect Monday morning at the location."
"We’ve got some details to iron out."
"I'll join you."
"Are you sure? I can handle it."
"No, I want to be involved in every step," he said.