Three

Griffin

 

 

Ding! Ding! My phone indicates an incoming text and I grab it to see who it is. When the name Dawn appears, I read it to make sure everything is okay at King’s. She’s my new night manager, and while she came to me with a shit ton of experience, it’s taking a lot for me to let someone else handle the bar. I’m used to doing it all myself. I’ve learned from experience that when you want something done right, you do it yourself. Now I’m having to allow other people help run my business—my livelihood—and I have to hope they’ll do it right by treating my business like it’s their own.

“New flavor of the month?” Sean asks from beside me on the new couch his wife just purchased. When I asked him why she needed new furniture, he shrugged and said, “No fucking clue. I’ve learned to nod my head and agree.” After he and Lilly got married last year, they started looking for a new home. One they could start fresh in together. They recently found a beautiful place in the same neighborhood as Lilly’s parents and sister, Bella, and only about ten minutes from where Levi and I are now living.

I grab a chip, scoop up some delicious bean dip Lilly made, and pop it into my mouth, ignoring his question. Levi and Lilly come walking out of the kitchen: Levi is carrying a plate of cookies and Lilly is carrying a plate of brownies. Levi sets his down then runs back to the kitchen. Lilly sets hers down and has a seat next to Sean.

“You going to ignore me?” Sean presses before grabbing a cookie from Levi’s plate and feeding his wife a bite.

“I’m going to try to,” I joke, grabbing a brownie. “We’re going to need to start hitting the gym twice as hard if your wife is going to keep feeding us like this.”

“I have two months until I have to start training hard for my next fight. Let me enjoy my time off.” He pops another brownie into his mouth.

My cell phone dings two more times and Sean snatches it up before I can grab it. “Dawn? Your new manager?” He cocks one brow up.

“Oh, Griffin. Tell me you aren’t sleeping with your employee,” Lilly reproaches.

Grabbing my cell phone back, I take another bite of the delicious brownie. “For your information, I haven’t been with anyone in probably six months. Thank you very much.” I grab the remote to turn up the college football game in hopes of drowning them out. UCLA is whooping Tennessee’s ass, which makes me damn happy. Because we grew up in Los Angeles before we moved to Vegas, Sean and I have stayed loyal to our California teams, especially since Nevada doesn’t have any sports teams of their own.

“Are you regretting breaking things off with Karen?” Lilly asks.

I shake my head. “No, even after almost six months of dating her, it just didn’t feel right. I thought maybe it was because I wasn’t ready to settle down, but now…I don’t know.” I shrug. “Sleeping around doesn’t feel right either.”

Levi comes walking back out of the kitchen, a tall glass of milk in his hands. He plops down onto the floor next to the mini-feast of food and starts digging in.

“Well, I would offer to set you up with a friend of mine, but the last friend I set you up with, you broke her heart and she moved across the country.” Her words cause me to frown. I genuinely liked Karen. We hit it off almost immediately and I enjoyed her company. The problem came when she wanted to play a more active role in Levi’s life. For some reason, I kept her at a distance. She finally got fed up and gave me an ultimatum. I was either all in or out. I chose out, and she moved to New York, taking a position her job offered her.

“You know what? There’s a woman at the gym in my Pilates class. She was just saying she’s looking to start dating again. Her name is Heather. I can set you up with her.” Oh jeez…here we go.

“I don’t know…I have Levi. I would have to find a sitter. And what if it doesn’t work out? I don’t want you losing another friend because of me.”

“First of all, Sean and I can take Levi for the night! You know I miss taking him on Friday nights now that you no longer need us to babysit, and she’s not really a friend per se. More like an acquaintance.” Lilly smirks. “Plus, I doubt you’ll run her out of the state from only one date.”

“You know she isn’t going to give up until you agree,” my brother warns.

“Fine,” I let out a groan, “set me up.”

“Yay!” Lilly squeals before grabbing her phone and heading into the other room to most likely text her acquaintance.

“Thanks, man,” Sean whispers once she’s gone.

“For letting her set me up?” I ask, confused.

“Getting pregnant isn’t going as smoothly as we thought it would be. Who knew there was more to getting a woman pregnant than just sticking it in. Lilly is starting to get stressed. Maybe her focusing on your love life will take her mind off the baby making—or lack of.” I know Sean is trying to come across like it’s not a big deal but I also know Lilly is excited to start a family. She’s mentioned on several occasions wanting a whole litter of mini-Sean’s running around everywhere. Lilly is one of the best women I know and she will make a damn good mother. She’s already an amazing aunt to Levi.

“Hey,” I say softly in case Lilly walks back in. “It will happen. You guys will have your family.” I look my younger brother in the eyes. He nods, giving me a small ghost of a smile.

“Okay! Heather is available and said yes for Friday,” Lilly says as she walks back into the living room. “You want to sleepover Friday night, Levi?”

“Yeah!” Levi shouts. “Can we bake some more?”

“Absolutely!”

“Jesus, Lil,” Sean laughs. “I’m going to need to take him to do some manly shit to counter all the womanly shit you’re doing with him.”

Lilly puts her hands on her hips as she glares at Sean. “Baking is not women stuff. Anybody can bake. Don’t be a sexist pig.”

“Come here, babe,” Sean calls her over to him. She stands in front of him, her body in between his legs, before he pulls her into his lap. “I hope when we get pregnant, we have a girl,” Sean murmurs. My eyes stay trained on the game, wanting to let them have a moment as I send up a prayer to the man above that he gives them their little girl. If there’s two people who deserve to create a family, it’s my brother and his wife.