professional baseball career. Before that, he’d come home even less than I did.
“Destiny,” he named his wife, as if that was obvious.
I nodded and returned my attention to the front door.
“So?” he asked.
“So what?” My brothers had never given two shits about anything that had to do with my personal life. They were always too busy juggling their own. But I guessed now that JJ was married, he had to live vicariously through others.
“You don’t think she’s cute?” he asked.
I stared at my brother in disbelief that we were grown-ass men having this conversation. “Did you really just ask me if I think a girl’s cute?”
JJ leaned toward me, lifting his bottle to his mouth as he said between clenched teeth. “I’m doing recon for Destiny. Madison wanted her to find out what your deal is.”
Ah. So, it wasn’t boredom that was fueling this inquiry. It was my brother being whipped. I never would’ve thought that my little sister’s best friend Destiny would be the one to tame JJ, but I guess I hadn’t been around in a while.
He leaned back and repeated, “So, do you think she’s cute?”
“She’s fine.”
“Is she your type?”
“I don’t have a type.”
“Everyone has a type.”
When I didn’t respond he clapped his hands. “No type. Okay, well then why don’t you take Madison to the Tipsy Cow tonight?”
I didn’t reply, but I had no plans on taking Madison to the bar. If a ride had gotten this many people interested in my personal life, what the hell would having a drink together do?
“If you don’t have a type, then how do you know it’s not her?” JJ reasoned.
“You know I don’t date people from here.”
It wasn’t a big secret. Everyone in Clover County knew that. Holden Reed and I had made a pact not to date girls from Wishing Well because we hadn’t wanted to get stuck here. We’d both had big plans to get out, and we had succeeded.
“Bro.” My brother lifted his brows. “You’re not a teenager anymore.”
“Thanks, Captain Obvious.” I tilted my beer toward him in cheers before taking another drink.
“You know what I mean. You’re not getting any younger. Don’t you think it might be time to settle down? Have something more than just your career to keep you warm at night.” JJ kicked his feet up on the coffee table. “Wife and kids, white picket fence?”
“Nope.”
“Feet off the table, Jefferson James.” Our mom called out from the kitchen in the back of the house. “We’re all here! Let’s eat.”
Shit. We were all here. That meant Josie wasn’t coming. I stood up, doing my best to mask the disappointment I was feeling. The last thing I needed was for my family to sniff it out. They couldn’t stop talking about a ride I’d accepted. If they thought I was actually upset that Josie wasn’t here, I’d never hear the end of it.
As it turned out, I didn’t have to worry about that. When I stood and turned around, Josie was standing behind the couch with Mia. She looked up at me and the moment our eyes met, I felt something I’d never experienced before. It was relief, it was joy, it felt like part of me had been missing and now that I saw her, it was back. I’d been hoping to disguise my disappointment at her not being here and I tried to do the same thing with my reaction to seeing her.
“When did you get here?”
She grinned. “A few minutes ago.”
“I didn’t see you come in.” I could hear the gravelly quality in my voice and there was nothing I could do about it.
It might’ve been my imagination, but I could’ve sworn I saw a flush rise on her cheeks.
“We came in the back.” She smiled and walked behind Mia to the dining room.
When I started to take a step to follow her, I felt a hand on my shoulder. JJ gripped it and pulled me closer to him. “Looks like you do have a type.”
I ignored his remark and shrugged off his hold.
We all took our seats and started eating. Sunday dinners had always been packed. Having eight siblings at our dinner table made for a full house. But now that most of my siblings were married and starting their own families, it was busting at the seams.
I’d tried to snag a seat next to Josie, but my sister Harmony and Mia were faster. As everyone took their places, it sort of felt like musical chairs. I ended up