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“Does Mikey want to go, too?”

“Yes,” Sebastian said even as he couldn’t help but hope that she said no so that he could avoid going to the mall and spend the rest of the night trying to cheer Mikey up alone.

“That’s fine. Why don’t you grab some money out of my purse for Mikey?” she said while he resigned himself to spending the rest of the night surrounded by his family.

Not that he didn’t love spending time with them, but sometimes he just wanted to relax and not have to worry about anything other than tormenting Mikey. He wouldn’t be able to do that if he had to keep his brothers and cousins out of trouble. He wasn’t worried about Jessica since his sister normally stayed out of trouble, but he would have to keep an eye on her at the mall. He’d seen the way boys had started looking at his sister and he didn’t like it. Granted, he didn’t like the way they were starting to look at Mikey, either.

“What are you planning to do now that Mikey is going to be busy with the team?” Aunt Kasey asked as Sebastian opened her purse and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill for Mikey.

“Probably read,” he said, shrugging it off since that’s what he normally did when Mikey was at practice.

“That sounds exciting,” Aunt Kasey said, making him chuckle.

He held up the twenty for her approval. When she nodded, he slipped it in his pocket and grabbed the ice cream only to notice the curious look that she was sending him.

“If you’re interested, I could use some help around here,” Aunt Kasey said with a casual shrug that had him going still.

“Really?” Sebastian asked, trying not to get his hopes up.

“I’ve got more orders than I can handle and I could really use the help,” she said, going back to mixing whatever it was that she was making.

“Definitely, but what about Mikey?” Sebastian found himself asking because he’d always assumed that Mikey would end up working for her mom when she was old enough.

“She’s going to be helping after baseball season is over,” Aunt Kasey assured him.

“Does she know it yet?”

“Not yet,” she said with a devious smile, making him chuckle because he could only imagine how Mikey would react to the news.

“When do I start?” Sebastian asked, eager to have something else to look forward to besides hitting the library every day.

“How does Monday sound?” Aunt Kasey asked, throwing him a questioning look.

“Perfect,” Sebastian said, unable to help but smile as he headed for the door. “Thank you, Aunt Kasey.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie,” she said with a warm smile as he reached for the door and–

“How bad is it?” Aunt Kasey asked, stopping him.

He didn’t pretend to misunderst

and as he looked back at her. “Right field.”

“Damn.”

Chapter 26

“How long are you planning on pouting?” Sebastian asked her as they headed for the bench just outside the mall entrance while they waited.

“Probably until you buy me popcorn and a large drink,” Mikey said, making his lips twitch as she dropped down on the bench with a pathetic groan, still wondering how she was going to do this.

“Now I’m buying you a large drink?” Sebastian asked with a teasing smile as they watched Jonathan take Mathew down in a headlock only to suddenly drop him to the ground when he spotted a group of teenage girls heading toward the mall.

“I’m worth it,” Mikey said, nodding solemnly as they watched Jonathan step over his little brother, ignoring his pained groan, and rushed to catch up with the girls.

“Are you though?” Sebastian asked only to chuckle when she leveled a glare on him. “Fine,” he said, making sure to sound put out. “I’ll buy you a Coke.”

“Then I forgive you,” she said with a heartfelt sigh.