Page 24 of Christmas with Brother's Best Friends

Confusion with a tinge of jealousy overtakes me. “What?”

“Mom and Dad are eager for grandchildren,” Ethan replies with a chuckle.

“You two sorry bastards can’t get girlfriends and give her some?” Ryan replies in a teasing manner.

I know that he isn’t fully playing, though. Neither of us like the idea of Emma dating anyone right now, even if we have no right to think that. We didn’t have the right to scare off that one dude flirting with her the other day either.

But we can’t seem to stop ourselves.

We keep crossing the damn line.

“The three of you are like sons to our parents. You’re failing too,” Andrew tells us, sparking more laughter at the table, but it sparks something else inside of me too. Something deep that I can’t confront right now.

Emma is so stiff that I have to pat her knee under the table to get her to relax a little. Just the slight contact is enough to make me forget who we’re sitting across from. The two major obstacles in acting on the feelings swelling up inside of me. Max finally comes back with our food, and it takes no time for the six of us to finish everything. Ethan and Max beeline it to the basketball hoops in the back, while Andrew heads off to find one of the racing games that he always used to play.

“Someone play air hockey against me,” Emma says as she walks over to the illuminated table.

Ryan gives me a playful shove to knock me out of the way so that he can take the spot on the other side of the table.

“Bastard,” I laugh as I stumble to the side.

Emma slams the side of her striker against the black puck, making it zig zag across the table toward Ryan’s end. It shoots into the goal, making the digital counter on her side go up to one.

Ryan flashes me an annoyed look. “You distracted me.”

“No, you just suck.”

“Focus,” Emma says.

Ryan turns his attention back to the game, going on the defense as Emma shoots the puck down the table multiple times. Heslams the puck straight toward her, catching her off guard. It slides right into the slot, earning him a point.

I watch them as they go back and forth, my eyes eventually lingering only on Emma as her shirt slightly rides up as she leans over the table. Andrew and Ethan are off somewhere, so I gravitate toward her from behind, motioning for Ryan not to say anything.

Emma moves from side to side, moving with her striker as she tries to deflect Ryan’s winning point.

I grab her sides from behind, making her jump in surprise.

Ryan slams the puck home to win the game, immediately laughing as Emma spins around with a glare on her face to confront me.

“Cheater!” Emma says as she pushes me backward.

I catch her hands with ease and pull her forward, our chests colliding. She wraps her arms around me out of reflex to catch herself, her forehead bumping against my jaw.

I grab her arms to steady her, my heart pounding as she looks up at me. The arcade is dark, but the lights from all the games illuminate her face with a blue-ish glow. She’s so damn beautiful.

“Josh!”

I release Emma at the sound of Ryan’s hiss, knowing what he’s warning me about. I glance to the side to see Ethan, Andrew, and Max heading our way, laughing, and chatting.

What am I doing?

“Who is challenging me in Combat Chaos?” Andrew asks with a cocky grin on his face.

“I think we all know that I’m the reigning champion of that game,” Ryan speaks up before giving Emma a friendly fist bump. “Good game.”

Emma smiles to herself once her brothers turn away, and I can only imagine what Ryan would’ve actually done to tease her if they weren’t here.

“You can play bowling with me,” Max tells Emma as he motions for her to follow him toward the other direction.