Page 207 of The Maxwell Brothers
I shifted a bit closer to Tyler and whispered somewhat shyly, "Welcome home."
He squeezed my thigh, looking at me with soft, heavy eyes.
"I missed you," he said, "and I know it's just been a week."
"I missed you too," I confessed. "I'm happy you came home earlier. Didn't your teammates give you a hard time?"
"Nah. Well, the ones who are single did. The ones who aren't actually came back too."
When our round of drinks came, we all clinked to Tyler, who put a possessive hand on the middle of my back, pulling me close to him.
"This is for you," I said, turning to him and downing the tequila.
“Kendra, Luke says the workers are making good progress at your house. How did it go with getting the paychecks from your ex-boss?” Declan asked.
Crap. I looked at Tyler. “I didn’t go there yet… or have a chance to tell Tyler.”
"What? Babe?" Tyler asked, turning to me. I bit my lip, ran my hand through my hair, and sighed. “Tell me what?”
“My ex-boss owes me a few paychecks and insists on me coming to the diner. I went once—the evening those guys wanted to mug me—but he wasn’t there. I didn’t want to go again alone. But I’m cash strapped, so I have to go before the next payment to the contractor is due.”
"Why didn’t you tell me until now?" he asked as soon as I finished.
"I wanted you to focus on the games, okay?"
He squared his shoulders, clenching his jaw. "Fuck the games, Kendra. Don't keep stuff like this from me. I need to know what's going on in your life."
Declan leaned closer. "I knew you'd react like this."
"How come you knew?" Tyler asked.
Declan groaned. "Fuck, I need Luke for this. I’m no good at playing devil’s advocate.”
"Luke knows too?" Tyler looked at me expectantly.
I dipped my head. “I told them when we met for coffee. It was a slip of the tongue. I didn't mean to.”
He ran his hand through his hair but didn’t say anything else.
“Oookay, the mood just turned sour,” Reese said. "Why don't we let the two of you talk it out?"
“No, no, it’s your party,” I protested.
“Let’s go home,” Tyler said, looking straight at me. His eyes were full of fire, and his jaw was still clenched so damn tight.
I nodded, wanting to be alone with him too.
As the two of us stood up, so did Emma.
"Hey, play nice with my sister. She only thought about not distracting you."
"Yeah, play nice," Reese said.
Kimberly pointed at Tyler. "I'm going to ask for a report tomorrow, just so you know. We're holding you accountable."
Tyler always had a fun comeback for his family's teasing, but he didn’t say anything. I glanced at Declan, who was looking straight at his brother. Maybe he picked up on the vibe too, because he didn't attempt to tease him.
"You want to take your bag from my car?" he asked Tyler instead.
