Page 13 of Wanting the Winger

“We’re not unruly, we’re hilarious,” Orion corrects her.

“Timeout. How about we sit down to eat?” Calista asks. “It’s my birthday and I’m starving.”

“That’s the first good idea you’ve had since you turned twenty-nine.” I nudge her arm. I’m pretty sure she stepped in to put an end to our shenanigans on her last birthday too.

She rolls her eyes. “Why do I think nothing will change before my next birthday?”

We all settle down into chairs around the dining room table.

“You never know, one of my sons might meet a nice girl sometime soon,” my mom says.

“I meet a lot of nice girls.” Orion winks. His definition of nice is the opposite of our mom’s.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t get my hopes up.” Christos pats her on the shoulder.

Evie, the beautiful dog groomer, pops into my thoughts. It’s been just over a week since I met her, and I haven’t been able to keep her from making unexpected appearances in my mind throughout my days and nights. She’s the first woman to catch my eye in a long time. But the playoffs are coming up and I’ve got enough on my plate without adding more.

* * *

My brothers and I meet up on the sidewalk and enter the Blarney Brewery. We head to the bar and grab beers before we look for the guys. It’s easy enough to find my large and loud teammates. We always try to find a table in the back corner to attract less attention. It doesn’t always work, but for right now there’s no one else hanging around the table.

“Hey, fellas,” I say.

“If it isn’t the Kastellanos brothers, all looking too cool to be sitting with us,” Murphy says.

“What are you talking about?” I ask.

“With you three here our chances of hooking up with anyone goes down exponentially.”

The three of us sit in the remaining empty chairs around the table.

“I’m not looking to hook up with anyone. So your chances just improved,” I say.

“What have you two been up to lately?” Kaiden nods toward my brothers. My teammates have met them both before and have even hung out with them a few times.

Christos shrugs. “I’m in the groove.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Ryder asks.

“It means I’m stuck in the groove of being a responsible adult—eat, work, sleep, and do it all over again.”

“You forgot to add ‘fuck’ in there,” Murphy mentions.

Orion laughs. “No, he didn’t.”

Christos slaps the back of Orion’s head. “Who asked you?”

I glance back and forth between my brothers. “Can you two take it down a few notches? We’re in public.” The last thing I want is to be front and center in someone’s TikTok video or Instagram reel.

“Are you sure you’re the youngest of the family?” Kaiden asks. “You come across as the oldest brother.”

“That’s easy with these two. It doesn’t take much to appear more mature than them.”

“How was the party?” Kaiden asks.

Ryder’s head raises. “You had a party and didn’t invite us?”

“It was for our sister’s birthday. Nothing you’d want to be a part of.”

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