"You must have terrified the hell out of Mac just walking into her place without warning," Tate says, tipping his head back into the cushions and closing his eyes. I reach over and take the half-empty glass from his hand so that if he dozes off, he doesn't spill it.
"Yeah well, it was worse for me than her, I think," I say, placinghis mug on a coaster on the coffee table. It's a coaster with a Barons logo on it, hand-carved out of wood. Gramps made them himself with all the logos of all the teams we play or played for. It feels good covering this one. I might throw it into the fire later. “I was naked when she got home.”
The three musketeers all burst out laughing after the appropriate amount of stunned silence. Grady is the first to recover, and after a snort, he says, “Holy shit. So is that why she decided to date you? She got a look at the goods and decided, not bad, so why not?”
"I mean he's got to look better than Beckett naked, right?" Tate muses out loud like I'm not in the room. "That jackass is scrawny and probably a selfish lover."
“I do not want to think about Beckett in bed,” I announce firmly and take a long pull of the beer. “Or Mac in bedwithhim.”
The thought gets me really riled up for some reason. Must be the booze. Theo walks through the living room, dropping his beer on a side table before sitting on top of Grady on Gramps’ recliner. There’s the obligatory wrestling match that ends with a loud thump as Theo’s ass hits the floor and Grady, too drunk to keep his balance, slips out of the chair and jostles the end table.
“Boys!” Uncle Jordan hisses, poking his head out of the kitchen again. “If you wake up your grandparents, I will cut a hole in the lake and throw you all in it.”
We all grumble some sorries. Uncle J disappears again.
“How about Mac in bed with you? Can we discuss that? Was it a good time? Was it a one-night stand? Because Shelby says that the whole hospital is buzzing about how you and Mac have been an actual thing for a while. Beckett’s girlfriend is telling everyone, acting like he’s the victim now because Mackenzie cheated on Beckett with you.”
I almost choke on my beer. “The hospital is talking about it?”
I give in and pull my cell out of the back pocket of my pants. I find our WhatsApp family chat, which I’ve namedWelcome to the Hellmouth,and start to scan the latest messages.
SHELBY: OMG why didn’t anyone tell me Conner is dating Mac Larue!
AUNTIE JESSIE: Excuse me? What now?
TATE: Really? She can do better.
I pause to look over at Tate and glare. He tries to look innocent. “Is there an issue?”
“Fuck you, cuz,” I snark and he grins because he knows exactly what I’m referring to. I go back to reading my entire extended family gossip about my life.
AUNTIE ROSE: Leave Con alone. He’s in a rough place and if Mac brings him joy, then good.
MAYHEM: Love Mac! But when the F did this start?
MAMA C: I thought I walked in on something!
DAD: Why is the hospital talking about this?
SHELBY: Because apparently her ex saw them together! His GF Heather is telling everyone Mac cheated on Beckett with Conner.
"Oh Shelby, I wish you'd shut up," I mutter and take a bigger-than-normal gulp of my drink.
Theo starts to pull himself off the carpet. His nearly jet-black hair, which he's growing out and is a complete mess, somehow looks slightly less askew than it has all night. Grady's hair is equally askew but not because he's in that awkward phase while trying to grow it long like Theo.
Grady has always had questionable hairstyle choices. At the moment it’s kind of long and he fills it with product and makes it high and wavy. Earlier tonight Harlow aptly and hilariously told him he looked like he’s just been fucked… by a tornado. “My sister isn’t normally a gossip so this is a big deal.”
“It’s not a big deal. I pretended to be Mac’s boyfriend because Beckett showed up at her place and she was kind of distraught about it,” I explain as Theo crosses the living room to get himself another beer. “She got really crushed by the asshole and I thought it would give her some confidence if she could show him she’s moved on to bigger and better.”
As soon as the words came out of my mouth I knew I was in trouble. Tate starts to belly laugh. Grady gives me the deepest ‘get over yourself’ stare and mutters, “Egomaniac.”
The good thing about this family is they will always keep your ego in check.
“Wait… I thought you said she saw you naked?” Theo muses with pinched eyebrows like he’s really confused and not just being a sarcastic jack-off. “Pretty sure she knows that bigger statement is a lie.”
“Fuck you!” I bark but I’m laughing.
My dad and Uncle Jordan emerge from the kitchen. “We’re heading home. You losers sticking around?”