Mrs. Yearwood shook her head. “Still acting like they’re twelve.”
“Except now they get bruised and ache for a week after,” Cassidy said. “Tate will never admit it, but he had to go to the chiropractor after their shenanigans on Easter.”
Another of the wives chimed in. “Lucas wore a knee brace for a month.”
Yet another wife laughed. “Will dislocated his elbow at Christmas. The only one who isn’t out of commission after a family holiday is Max. He’s the youngest and gets slammed into walls for a living.”
“Speaking of making a living,” Cassidy said. “Did you ladies know Georgia owns the company that made the beautiful flowers that are always in the center of my dining room table? The ones Max sent a few months back that last a year?”
“Really? Is that how you two met?”
I shook my head. “He actually sent those before we met.”
“How did the two of you meet?” Mrs. Yearwood asked.
“Well…I guess sort of on a blind date.”
One of the wives scoffed. “Really? Max went on a blind date? We’re always trying to fix him up, and he refuses to let anyone play matchmaker.”
“Well, Max wasn’t actually who I was supposed to meet. He just pretended to be until my real date showed up and blew his cover.”
Everyone laughed.
“Now that sounds more like our Max,” Cassidy said.
The sound of bodies colliding and men grunting turned everyone’s attention to the grass once again. Two of the brothers were lying on the grass while Max and Tate high fived. They’d been playing all of about ten or fifteen minutes, yet they were all sweaty and their clothes had grass stains. Max lifted the hem of his shirt and wiped sweat from his forehead, and it suddenly felt warm where I sat, too.
Damn. What a body. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen abs like that on a real, live person. For the most part, the men I’d been with had been physically fit. But there was a hell of a big difference between physically fit and that. Each rippled muscle on Max’s torso was so defined, it was like he’d been hand carved. I found myself thinking about what it would be like to scrape my nails over each one and watch his face for a reaction. That made my mouth go dry. Without thinking, I ran my tongue over my bottom lip, and as luck would have it, Max picked that moment to look over at me. A devilish smirk spread across his handsome face, one that made me question whether he might know exactly what I’d been thinking. I tried to pull off casual by smiling and looking away. But something told me I’d failed miserably.
An hour later, we were already getting ready to leave. I went to use the bathroom before our trek home, and when I came out, Max and his mom were alone in the kitchen. They didn’t hear me come in.
“I really like her. Please tell me she knows.”
“Can we talk about this another time, Mom?”
She frowned. “Max…”
He looked up and saw me. “There she is. It was good seeing you, Mom. I’ll call you next week.”
“Okay.” She smiled and turned to me. “You’re a breath of fresh air. I hope I see you again real soon.”
“You, too.”
She hugged me, and then it took another fifteen minutes to say goodbye to everyone else. Poor Max had to practically pry Four from his nieces’ hands. He soothed away the oldest girl’s impending tears by promising her he’d bring the dog when he came to town for his next game.
Once we got back in the Town Car, I took a deep inhale and exhaled audibly.
Max smiled. “That bad.”
“No, no…I had fun. It was just…a little overwhelming with so many people. Since I’m an only child, my family gatherings are usually just my mom and me. She has one sister, who lives out in Arizona, and we see her maybe once every two years. But I had a good time. Though for a minute there, I thought we were going to go out in a ball of flames with your three nieces crying about Four. It works out great that you’re able to bring him to the game with you.”
“I’ll wind up getting fined for sneaking him on the team plane again. But I’d rather that than tears. Thank God I only had brothers, because I can’t take seeing girls cry. Keri, the woman I dated for eighteen months a couple of years back, cried when I told her I wanted to end things. I gave her my car.”
I laughed, but Max didn’t. “Oh my God. You’re joking, right?”
He shook his head and shrugged. “It made her stop crying.”
“Wow. Okay…well, I’ll keep that in mind if I’m having a hard time getting my way with you.”
Max looked at me tenderly. He brushed his knuckles along my cheek. “Trust me, you won’t have a hard time getting anything from me.”
Warmth flooded my belly. I had the strongest urge to rest my head on his shoulder, so I gave in and did. We were mostly quiet the remainder of the way to the airport, but it didn’t feel awkward, which was nice. Once we boarded the waiting jet, Max and I sat across from each other.
His eyes pointed down to my ankle, where I had a big bruise on the inside of my leg.
“How did you get that?”
“I, uh, jumped out of the shower to write something down that I’d thought of while I was washing my hair, and I slipped on my way back in. My leg hit the side of the tub. I have a matching one on my hip.”
Max looked amused. “Do you run out of the shower often?”
I sighed. “I do, actually. I don’t know why, but I think of things I forgot to do at work when I go in the shower. I could sit at my desk for an hour, and nothing. But the minute I’m lathered up, things start popping into my brain. Does that ever happen to you?”
“Nope. I put on music and enjoy the down time.”
“Yeah. I’m not so good at that.”
Max smiled. “So did my mother and my sisters-in-law tell you stories about how rotten I am while you were sitting on the deck?”
“You mean like when you and your brothers snapped Cassidy’s Christmas tree in half while wrestling?”
Max hung his head. “It was an accident. We bought her a new one, even if it was pretty sad looking because that was all they had left on Christmas Eve. That year was a shitshow. Did she also tell you about the stolen presents?”
My forehead wrinkled. “Someone stole gifts?”
He nodded. “Ever since my mom started getting really into the church, she brings around strangers for the holidays. Usually it’s when she has us at her house in Washington, and they’re people her church knows. But a few years ago, we started having Christmas at Tate and Cassidy’s, because they’re the only ones with kids. Mom went to some local church near them on Christmas Eve morning and came home with a woman she met. Not to be a jerk, but the woman looked like an addict. She was scratching her arms constantly, and she didn’t meet your eyes when she spoke to you. But Mom had invited her for dinner, so everyone was polite. After we finished eating, my brothers and I went to the garage to put together some toys the girls were getting for Christmas, and the ladies were all clearing the table and doing whatever. When we were done, we came back in, and I asked where the woman was. She was gone, but she hadn’t said goodbye to anyone. Then Cassidy noticed half of the presents under the tree were gone, too.”