Page 35 of Third Time Lucky

Now it’s my turn to try not to laugh. “I don’t know if I can go out tomorrow night, JD. You haven’t seen my box situation. I’m not even unpacked yet. Which reminds me…” I turn to Fiona. “I have a trunk full of things to donate. Bobbleheads, a few gaming systems. Some books. An Oculus or two. Think the kids will like that?”

“The virtual reality thing?” JD asks, his eyes wide. “You have two of them? Why are you giving those away?”

I’m a little embarrassed. “I kept forgetting I had some already. And those commercials are really effective.”

Fiona rubs her stomach again. “How many will you have left after donating those two?”

“Three.”

Hoarder.

“Carter and I are coming over tonight,” JD says, sounding breathless. “We’ll help finish getting you settled so you can be ready for your date.”

“You didn’t offer last night.”

Fiona smirks at me. “He wanted to have sex in his living room, and he didn’t know that you were giving away cool prizes last night.”

JD glares at both of us. “Usually, brothers get first dibs. Especially the ones who let you stay at their place until your furniture shows up. That’s all I’m saying. Do you double up on books too?”

I nod and I swear my angel-faced sibling starts to salivate. “Then it’s settled. Let’s pay the bill and get out of here. We’ll do the meet and greet at the center and I’ll have Carter join us back at your place this afternoon.”

Fiona glances down at her phone and swears. “We do need to leave. I’m supposed to introduce you in half an hour. It might take me that long to get out of this chair.”

“Three dates?” I ask, throwing cash on the table for the waiter.

“Three is the magic number.”

“Threesomes,” Fiona throws in as we help her to her feet.

“Three strikes.” Yes. I know. Baseball. We all know who I’ve got on the brain.

“Three dates with men who are openly gay and not damaged beyond repair,” JD corrects sternly. “All normal, stable and unencumbered.”

Fiona grins at him as he opens the door for her. “Your sales pitch could use some work, pal.”

I don’t think so. Stable and undamaged sounds pretty good to me. But so does getting to Bellamy House and rolling up my sleeves to help. Anything to get my mind off of—

“Joey.”

Elliot is leaning against the car, talking to Derek. And he’s changed his clothes. It can’t be good for my heart to start beating this fast, can it? I mean, the doctor did mention my blood pressure.

“Were the batting cages closed?”

“Who is that?” Fiona whispers to JD.

“Neighbor,” I say in a rush, before my brother can comment. “What are you doing here, Elliot?”

How did he know where I was?

“You forgot one of your donation boxes,” he said, his smile wavering. “I didn’t think you’d want the kids to miss out.”

“Aren’t you a sweetheart? Isn’t he a sweetheart?” Fiona sighs, squeezing my arm as if to shock me out of my rudeness.

He kind of is. “Thank you. I can’t believe you did that. That I did that.”

That you came all this way to deliver it.

JD coughs beside me. Obnoxiously.

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