JD sits up straighter. “He’s handsome, but not enough to be a bitch about it. He prefers Marvel to DC, he bakes and he’s into Pilates. You know what that means.”
I’m now picturing a man in tights doing a side plank while eating a cookie. “He’s conflicted?”
“He’s bendy.”
“Wish I was still bendy,” Fiona murmurs, pouting as she takes another large bite of her spicy eggs before anyone can stop her.
“Are you sure it’s okay to do that?”
She waggles her eyebrows and shoves another forkful in her mouth. I’m sweating just thinking about it.
JD leans into her with an affectionate grin. “She’s such a badass. And soon she’ll be bendy again and I’ll be an uncle.”
“You are an uncle,” I chide.
“Yeah, but Craig’s kids think I’m weird and so does their mother. With the twins, I have a fighting chance to be the favorite.”
Fiona snorts and chokes on her egg-flavored hot sauce. JD pats her back and bites his lip in concern. “As long as they’re not fire-breathing alien babies.”
Now it’s my turn to try not to laugh. “I don’t know if I can go out tomorrow night, JD. You haven’t seen my box situation. I’m not even unpacked yet. Which reminds me…” I turn to Fiona. “I have a trunk full of things to donate. Bobbleheads, a few gaming systems. Some books. An Oculus or two. Think the kids will like that?”
“The virtual reality thing?” JD asks, his eyes wide. “You have two of them? Why are you giving those away?”
I’m a little embarrassed. “I kept forgetting I had some already. And those commercials are really effective.”
Fiona rubs her stomach again. “How many will you have left after donating those two?”
“Three.”
Hoarder.
“Carter and I are coming over tonight,” JD says, sounding breathless. “We’ll help finish getting you settled so you can be ready for your date.”
“You didn’t offer last night.”
Fiona smirks at me. “He wanted to have sex in his living room, and he didn’t know that you were giving away cool prizes last night.”
JD glares at both of us. “Usually, brothers get first dibs. Especially the ones who let you stay at their place until your furniture shows up. That’s all I’m saying. Do you double up on books too?”
I nod and I swear my angel-faced sibling starts to salivate. “Then it’s settled. Let’s pay the bill and get out of here. We’ll do the meet and greet at the center and I’ll have Carter join us back at your place this afternoon.”
Fiona glances down at her phone and swears. “We do need to leave. I’m supposed to introduce you in half an hour. It might take me that long to get out of this chair.”
“Three dates?” I ask, throwing cash on the table for the waiter.
“Three is the magic number.”
“Threesomes,” Fiona throws in as we help her to her feet.
“Three strikes.” Yes. I know. Baseball. We all know who I’ve got on the brain.
“Three dates with men who are openly gay and not damaged beyond repair,” JD corrects sternly. “All normal, stable and unencumbered.”
Fiona grins at him as he opens the door for her. “Your sales pitch could use some work, pal.”
I don’t think so. Stable and undamaged sounds pretty good to me. But so does getting to Bellamy House and rolling up my sleeves to help. Anything to get my mind off of—
“Joey.”
Elliot is leaning against the car, talking to Derek. And he’s changed his clothes. It can’t be good for my heart to start beating this fast, can it? I mean, the doctor did mention my blood pressure.
“Were the batting cages closed?”
“Who is that?” Fiona whispers to JD.
“Neighbor,” I say in a rush, before my brother can comment. “What are you doing here, Elliot?”
How did he know where I was?
“You forgot one of your donation boxes,” he said, his smile wavering. “I didn’t think you’d want the kids to miss out.”
“Aren’t you a sweetheart? Isn’t he a sweetheart?” Fiona sighs, squeezing my arm as if to shock me out of my rudeness.
He kind of is. “Thank you. I can’t believe you did that. That I did that.”
That you came all this way to deliver it.
JD coughs beside me. Obnoxiously.
“Elliot, this is my brother JD and his friend Fiona. She works at the center, so she’s as thankful as I am that you went to so much trouble.”
“No trouble.” His grin has that billboard dazzle and neither one of my companions is immune. “It’s nice to meet you both.”
“You look so familiar,” Fiona says thoughtfully. “Have you ever been to Finn’s Pub before?”
“No ma’am.” He glances down at her stomach with widening eyes. “But Joey mentioned it this morning, so we might be stopping by soon.”
“This morning? We?” JD mutters before stepping forward to accept his handshake. “The neighbor, huh?”
“For the moment.” Elliot narrows his gaze between us. “The brother?”