The Wild Card: A Small Town Fake Dating Sports Romance (The Wild Westbrooks Book 3)(9)

“Easy—just watch me,” she deadpans. “If you two aren’t in the bathroom, brushing your teeth on the count of three, I’m packing up my bags and I’m hittin’ the road. And I’m taking Daddy with me.”

“He’s my daddy!” Bryan pouts, his frown aimed at his mother before he rolls off the side of the couch and hits the floor.

“Well, he was my daddy last night,” my sister mutters and flashes me a wink.

I hear my brother-in-law, Charlie’s voice booming from somewhere in the house. “First one to brush their teeth gets a popsicle.”

That gets the kids to run off, shrieking at the tops of their lungs.

“Well, that sort of defeats the point, doesn’t it?” I ask my sister. “Popsicles after brushing their teeth.”

Nova sags against the couch cushions, relief on her face. “Let’s just pretend it makes sense.” Then she calls to her husband over her shoulder. “Thanks, babe.”

I stuff a finger in my ear to drown out the kids’ yelling. “Well, they’re happy and healthy, I see.”

Nova grimaces. “They are—thank god—but seriously, where did they get all that yelling from? I was such a quiet child.”

I roll my eyes. “Are you shitting me? They’re your karma for the terror you were as a kid.” I smirk and my sister glares at me like she’d like to smother me with a throw pillow. “So what’s new?” I ask once all the shrieking has faded away.

I watch Nova get comfortable on her couch. “Charlie’s going to be in your neck of the woods checking on one of his construction projects in a week and a half. I was thinking we could all come for a visit.”

“That would be great. I’d love to see you guys.”

She flinches and adds, “Mom and Dad want to come, too.”

Oh god. Mom and Dad are a shitshow. A loveable shitshow, but a shitshow nonetheless.

My parents divorced when I was in high school. It sucked for me and my sister, but by then, most of our friends were living in split homes, too, so we pushed through it together. Just another statistic.

But then, after years of living apart, we found out that Mom and Dad were having a steamy secret affair. We never got a straight answer from them, but knowing the two of them, I wonder now if they had been on again and off again all along. They continued their not-so-secret relationship for a while before finally getting their shit together and walking down the aisle once and for all.

It’s not exactly your fairy tale ending—and it sure got the town talking—but my parents are together and happy now, and at the end of the day, that’s what matters.

So, I grit my teeth and force a grin. “Even better. The more the merrier.”

I don’t visit my family nearly as much as I should, especially since Copper Heights is relatively close by. But at least I get to see Granny a few times a week now that I’ve chartered a bus to take her and her friends back and forth to the senior citizens meetups here in Sin Valley. It’s quite a bit of a commute from their home in Reyfield but Granny and her friends agree. Loneliness among seniors is a real epidemic. These sassy grannies don’t mind the long drive if it means they get to meet new friends to socialize with.

“Are you sure?” Nova asks. She picks up a half-eaten packet of string cheese from the couch, sniffs it, then takes a hearty bite. “You don’t have plans?”

“Of course I’m sure,” I furrow my brows at her. “You don’t even have to ask.” They can keep themselves busy while I’m at work during the day and we can all hang out in the evenings. Maybe we’ll even get a sitter and drag Dad and Charlie to one of the wine bars on the Strip.

“Okay, I just had to ask.” Nova smirks. “The last time we came to visit, you had some secret boyfriend you were trying to hide from us. I didn’t know if you were still doing that.

“Psht,” I spit out. “No, I’m not doing that. I’m not doing anybody at the moment.”

“Are you just saying that? Or are you really not dating anybody?” Nova sounds suspicious.

I laugh. “I’m really not dating anybody.”

My sister presses on. “Y’know, it’s a real shame that you’re so damn secretive about your love life. I always have to pry the juicy details out of you with a wrench.”

I shift on my couch. I hate when she does this. “I’m not secretive,” I say defensively, my eyes flitting to the football field on my TV screen. “I’m private. There’s a difference. I like to keep the initial phases of a relationship low key. In case things don’t work out.”

I’ve learned my lesson. I’d prefer to avoid the embarrassment of a relationship exploding in my face again, the way my last serious one did.

“And that’s precisely why things never work out,” Nova says wisely. “The initial phases of a relationship can be messy, sis. Sometimes, going through the messy initial phase is the only way to move up to level two. I’m speaking from experience here.”

“Good to know,” I say, my voice flat.

She exhales. “Oh, come on, Nadi. You never just let it all hang out there. You’re always so busy keeping all your cards close to your chest. You don’t let anybody in.”

I flinch because ‘letting someone in’ has never turned out too great for me in the past.