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He held the phone in front of his face. “For fuck’s sake, Tia. You’re relentless.”
“I got your text that you found him. What is he like?”
“Well, seeing as he’s sitting here listening, it would be hard to talk shit about him. But his girlfriend is cool as hell.” He winked at Brinkley, and I rolled my eyes.
Like I said, the dude was a cool cat.
“So, tell me about him and his girlfriend,” Tia whisper-shouted, as if we all couldn’t hear her. I barked out a laugh.
“Why don’t you see for yourself,” Romeo said, flipping his phone so the camera was facing me and Brinkley. “This is Lincoln. He’s a bit of a dickhead, but he’s growing on me. And this is his better half, Brinkley Reynolds.”
“He’s dating the reporter?”
“Them dating is still a secret, and they trusted me with that info, so don’t make them think I’m a traitor, all right? And you know` they can hear you, right? You’re on FaceTime,” he said, and there was a lightness about him when he spoke to his sister. He passed me his phone so that Brinkley and I could see her.
“Oh, hey, guys. Sorry about that. I’m just excited. And of course, mum’s the word on thesecret romance. Who would I even tell?” She shrugged. She looked like Romeo, but she had green eyes that appeared to be very similar to mine. My mother’s eyes were blue, and she’d always told me I had the same gaze as my father.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Tia,” Brinkley said, leaning her head on my shoulder.
“I see this brother is not a big talker either. I have to pull teeth to get Romeo to talk most of the time. It must be genetic. Thank God I have Mom’s genes.” She tucked her dark hair behind her ear.
“It’s nice to meet you. It’s just a lot to process,” I said.
“Oh, really?” She rolled her eyes and chuckled. “I just lost my father and found out I have a brother that I didn’t know about—that’s a lot to process. You scored. Romeo and I are the best. You’re a lucky bastard.”
Brinkley fell back in her chair in a fit of laughter. “I already like you, Tia.”
“I like you, too. When do I get to meet you guys?”
I let out a long breath. I wasn’t sure where any of this was going, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to get to know them better. I’d been ditched, and they’d been lied to, so no one here was at fault.
“I head back to training camp at the end of July. Would you want to come visit before then? Or do you prefer I come there?”
Brinkley’s gaze was so tender when she glanced at me it made my chest squeeze. This was a lot, but I wasn’t going to run from it. I was handling it.
Hell, I was practically embracing it.
I’d already invited Romeo to stay the night.
That was an olive branch I never saw coming.
“Well, since you’re the big-time football player, and I’m an eighteen-year-old, jobless senior in high school, I’d say it would be better if you come here. My brother used every spare penny he had to make the trip there.”
“Fuck, Tia. Shut the hell up. It’s hardly every penny I have. You don’t know what’s in my bank account.” Romeo turned the phone and looked pissed off as he glared at the screen.
“I know that you filled Mom’s refrigerator with groceries for us before you left. You paid for Dad’s funeral. I can’t imagine you have much left after that.”
“If you want to come here to meet him, I can get you here. Got it?”
Fuck. This dude and his pride.
“Sorry. Let me talk to my other brother. He actually seems like the better of the two evils at the moment.” Romeo handed me his phone, running a hand down his face and shaking his head with irritation.
That earned a laugh from both me and Brinkley.
“Listen, Tia. I can come there, or I can fly you here.” I held my hand up to the broody bastard who looked like he wanted to punch me in the face. “Dude, I have access to a plane; stop being a stubborn ass.”
“You tell him, Lincoln. He’s so stubborn sometimes.”
