Page 35 of Fumbled Love

I twisted my hands in front of me. “He didn’t even know who I was until just a few days ago.”

Maverick’s hand dropped from my shoulder, and he cursed under his breath.

She reared back, her eyebrows nearly reaching her hairline. “What do you mean, he didn’t know who you were?”

Great. I had the pleasure of reliving one of the most embarrassing moments of my life.

“We ended up on the same flight out of New York right before Thanksgiving. Only a storm hit, so the plane never took off. Maverick didn’t recognize me, and I never told him who I was.”

“Wait a minute.” Her frosty glare moved over to her brother. “You slept with her and didn’t realize it was her? Do you still have a concussion? How the hell did you not recognize her? She practically spent as much time in this house as you did growing up here.”

“She looks different.” He looked at me for a little help, but he was on his own with this one. He let out a frustrated sigh and raked his hand through his hair. “It’s been twelve years.”

She shook her head. “You are such a bonehead. I blame it on all the hits you’ve taken to the head over the years playing football. They should study that brain of yours after you pass away.”

My lips lifted into a smile at her reaction.

He placed his hands on his hips and glared at both of us. “I see how this is going to go. You two are going to gang up on me now, aren’t you?”

We all shared a laugh, and it felt like a weight had been lifted.

“I can’t believe you’re having a baby together.” She scrunched up her nose. “It’s so weird to think about, but it all makes sense now.”

“What makes sense?” I asked.

“Every time he would walk into a room, you would sit up straighter. It’s like the clouds would part, and the sun would shine down on his arrogant ass.” My cheeks heated. I didn’t realize my attraction to her brother was like a flashing neon sign. “You would smile and laugh at all his jokes, and…” She pointed her finger as if she had just figured something out. “You always wanted to hang out at my house. I could never explain it, but I always got this weird vibe from you. You turned weird whenever he was around.”

“Wow,” I said, feeling completely mortified. “Some friend you are. You could have kept some of that to yourself.”

Maverick threw his arm along my shoulders. “Doesn’t feel good to be on the other side now, does it?”

“I want to make something perfectly clear.” She pointed to me. “I know we’ve talked about our sex lives in the past. But I swear to God, if you ever go into detail about you and my brother, that will be the end of us.”

She shivered, and I did my best to smother my laugh. Rylee always had a gift for lightening the mood.

“And you.” She poked her finger in her brother’s direction. “If you hurt her, it’s going to cause a lot of problems between us.” She leaned back. “Now, I’m going to do my best to stay out of y’alls business. I love you both, so I don’t want to have to pick sides and be caught in the middle. As far as I’m concerned, what happens between you two stays between you two.”

I had to admit, this conversation went much better than planned. I didn’t sleep a wink last night due to the fact that I was too worked up about today. Rylee took the news better than I expected, and a small part of me was filled with guilt at all the years we wasted. We both could have done a better job of keeping in touch. There was no denying that we’d grown apart over the years. Hopefully, this baby will bring us closer together.

CHAPTER14

MAVERICK

Kinley was rummagingthrough a plastic bin, singing “Feliz Navid” completely off-key and making sure she didn’t miss a single lyric. The woman made me laugh more times today than I had in years. If it wasn’t for the two hours we wasted looking for the perfect tree, the day would have been ideal.

There was nothing worse than spending an afternoon in the forest, searching for the perfect tree with a woman who couldn’t make up her damn mind. A pregnant woman, nonetheless. Everything was too short and lumpy and had too many bare spots. Not sure what she expected to find a day before Christmas Eve.

I walked over, grabbed an ornament out of the box, and hung it on one of the branches. “At least it doesn’t look like a Charlie Brown tree,” I said, standing back and looking for any bare spots.

“Hush.” She bumped her hip with mine. “I’ll have you know thatA Charlie Brown Christmasis my favorite holiday movie.”

“Pretty sure it’s considered a children’s cartoon and not a movie.”

“I’ll tell you what it is,” she said, placing a scented candle on the mantel. “It’s a holiday classic.”

“Sure, if you’re five years old,” I teased.

She took the lighted garland and started hanging it along the window. “And what’s your favorite movie?” She turned and pointed. “And don’t you dare sayDie Hardbecause that is most definitely not a holiday movie.”

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