Page 44

"Have you seenTaking Tampa?"

"Oh, fuck yeah!" Travis lit up. "I love that show! The whole drama with Annalise Ryan the first season was crack."

I breathed a little easier and sent up a silent thank you to Kristin Holt for giving me that job so I had something to talk about that wasn't my books. "Well, I was the writer for the first two seasons."

"No shit!" He slapped his knee.

Karis rolled her eyes. "Is this the soccer show? The women's team?"

"That's the one." He grinned.

"He watches it for the women."

Travis scoffed. "I'll have you know I'm intensely interested in all professional sports. Getting a look inside the women's soccer world as it explodes in popularity is fascinating."

"Always trying to recapture your glory days?" She smirked.

The look he sent Karis made my own blood run cold. I didn't know what any of it was about, but I knew Karis had just gone too far. "How about I do the dishes?" I piled up our dirty plates and took them to the sink.

"You go sit and do nothing," Travis instructed Karis before taking up the spot beside me. I washed, he rinsed and dried until Jackson came back and started putting everything away. We had her kitchen all set to rights in no time at all, and even better, Travis's mood seemed to have returned to light-hearted as he joked with Jackson.

"She's asleep," Travis said softly as he hung up his towel.

Karis was, in fact, snoring.

Jackson sighed. "I'm going to sleep here tonight, make sure she gets a full night in. She can't keep going like this." He shot me a sad look.

So much for brownies and making out. "I think that's the right thing to do. She's exhausted."

"I'd like to take you home first." He shot a hopeful glance Travis's direction.

Travis ran his hand over his head. "Yeah, yeah. I'll get Karis into bed and hold down the fort until you get back."

"Thank you." Jackson grabbed my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze that got my heart racing.

"Like I said, front row seats," Travis replied with a chuckle. "Now get out of here you two knuckleheads."

As I slipped on my shoes, Jackson helped Travis move Karis to her bedroom. "Up we go, sweetheart." Travis hoisted her into his arms like the surrogate big brother I was starting to realize he was.

"I can walk," she mumbled.

"Yeah, you can, but you shouldn't." He laughed as he passed us.

Jackson pressed his hand to the small of my back, sending warmth through me. "Ready?"

"They'll be all right?"

"Right as rain. Besides, we're only a couple of minutes away."

We stepped out into the darkness. "Is it always that easy? You all get along really well."

He kept his hand on my back as we walked to my truck. "Karis and I are tight. Trav and I have always big brothered each other's siblings. I'm the same way with his sisters, Joanne and Lucy."

"Joanne is the one who works with Mack." I was starting to remember who was who.

"That's the one." Jackson reached past me to open my door. When I turned, I found him hovering, his hands near my hips like he wanted to lift me into the truck but wasn't sure if he should. "I'll follow you back," he said instead.

I gave him a soft smile and climbed in on my own. No lifting necessary, even if it was sweet.