Page 12 of The Dating Ban (Mind the Corbin Brothers #1)

The Frozen Hulk

Theo

B y the time I unlock my front door, I’m running on fumes.

Closing shifts at the café aren’t usually that bad, but tonight had been one of those long, slow slogs where I spent more time wiping down already clean surfaces than actually serving customers.

And then there was Ivy, dropping by, keeping me on my toes with her usual sharp wit and warm smile.

I’m not going to lie, it caught me off guard when she opened up.

So far, she has kept details about her life to a minimum.

But I like to get to know her… all of her, even her heartache.

Even if I can’t fix it, as much as I would like to.

I shake my head as I step inside. She’s coming on Monday. That’s all that matters.

What I’m not prepared for, though, is the absolute carnage that awaits me.

It looks like a unicorn exploded in my living room.

The coffee table is buried under an avalanche of tiaras, plastic teacups, and a mountain of stuffed animals, some of which have been dramatically wrapped in toilet paper like they’re starring in a low-budget mummy movie.

A pink feather boa dangles from the TV, a wand is precariously wedged into the potted plant, and there’s a disturbing amount of glitter coating the floor.

And in the middle of it all, like this is the most normal thing in the world, are my five-year-old daughter and my fully grown forty-five-year-old brother.

Both dressed as princesses.

Lucy spots me first, beaming. “Daddy!” She scrambles to her feet, her pink satin skirt tangling around her hips as she runs toward me. “Uncle Geoff said we could have pizza for dinner!”

I slowly turn my head towards him. “Did he now?”

Geoff—who is six foot two, built like a retired rugby player, and currently squeezed into one of Lucy’s Frozen dresses—gives me a lazy wave from his throne of stuffed animals.

And when I say squeezed, I mean it looks like Bruce Banner caught mid-Hulk transformation. The seams of the baby blue fabric are holding on for dear life, and the tiny, capped sleeves have given up entirely, having rolled up to his shoulders in surrender.

He adjusts the tiara perched precariously on his head and gestures at himself. “Before you say anything, I was left unsupervised with a five-year-old and a bag of dress-up clothes. This was inevitable.”

I exhale. “Geoff, you’re supposed to be the responsible adult.”

Geoff gestures down at himself, then at the general disaster around him. “And I was responsible. I committed to the bit. ”

Lucy tugs at my hand, eyes wide with hope. “Daddy, pleeease can we have pizza? Uncle Geoff promised.”

I sigh, rubbing a hand over my face. I should say no. I should tell Geoff off for spoiling her, for letting the house turn into some kind of glitter coated royal court while I was gone. But honestly? I don’t have the energy.

And the idea of cooking something? Not happening.

I glance between my daughter, practically vibrating with excitement, and my idiot brother, who looks dangerously close to ripping that dress apart at the seams if he so much as breathes too hard.

“Fine,” I say, already regretting it. “But I get to pick the toppings.”

Lucy squeals in triumph and immediately starts listing her own demands. “Pepperoni! And cheese! And pineapple!”

Geoff grimaces. “We were doing so well until the pineapple.”

I shoot him a look. “You have no right to judge anyone when you look like that.”

Geoff looks down at himself, then shrugs. “Fashion is pain.”

I shake my head, stepping over a pile of fairy wings to grab my phone. “Fine. But if I see glitter in my food, both of you are banned from dinner decisions indefinitely.”

Lucy and Geoff exchange a look. Then, at the exact same time, they cross their hearts.

I don’t trust them for a second.

By the time dinner is over, my stomach is full, my kitchen is a mess, and Lucy is in her room, supposedly tidying up. In reality, she’s probably getting distracted by her toys and making an even bigger mess, but as long as I don’t have to see it, I’m calling it a win.

Geoff, now free of his princess attire, stretches with an exaggerated groan, rubbing his shoulder. “Right. That’s enough quality uncle time for one evening. I’m off.”

I lift a hand. “Not so fast.”

He turns, eyes narrowing. “What now?”

I shove a pile of stuffed animals into his arms. “You helped make the mess. You help clean the mess.”

He scowls at me like I’ve personally betrayed him. “I did my part. I provided entertainment and pizza.”

“You also turned my living room into a crime scene.” I gesture at the piles of toys, glitter, and dress-up clothes still scattered across the floor. “So, unless you want to explain to Lucy why the princess kingdom has been shut down for good, you’re staying.”

Geoff mutters something under his breath but doesn’t argue, bending down to scoop up a pile of sparkly fabric. We work in comfortable silence for a few minutes, gathering tiaras and tossing stuffed animals into the basket by the sofa.

Then, too casually, he says, “So, Jasper mentioned something about a woman.”

I pause mid-reach for a plastic teacup, then straighten. “And?”

“And he says you’ve been spending time with her.”

I roll my eyes and keep stacking Lucy’s books. “You both need new hobbies.”

Geoff smirks. “Well, Lucy did mention something about yoga.”

I pause just for a second before grabbing another book. “So what? ”

“You’ve been doing yoga with Lucy for ages, but now suddenly someone else is coming along too?”

I shake my head, sighing. “It’s not sudden. Ivy joined one class, and now she’s coming again. That’s it.”

Geoff lifts an eyebrow. “So this Ivy just happened to join, and now she’s sticking around?”

“As I said, she’s coming again on Monday,” I admit. “But it’s not like that.”

Geoff hums like he doesn’t believe me.

I groan, tossing a throw blanket onto the sofa. “She’s… nice. Smart. Funny. A bit chaotic in a way that keeps things interesting. But we’re just friends. She’s on this whole self-discovery, no-dating ban thing, and I respect that.”

Geoff watches me for a beat, then nods. “And that works for you?”

“Yes.”

His expression doesn’t change.

I know that look. It’s the same one he used to give me when I was fifteen and trying to convince him I hadn’t stolen his jacket, even though I was standing there wearing it.

I shake my head. “You can drop the sceptical older brother routine. There’s nothing to dissect here.”

Geoff makes a vague, unconvinced noise, folding his arms.

I exhale, dragging a hand through my hair. “Ivy and I are friends. That’s it. She’s not dating, I respect that, and honestly, I like having a friend, someone in my life aside from you and Jasper.”

After I left my job, I realised that most of my friends were my work colleagues.

We tried to stay in touch, but our lives were so different.

They would work hard and play even harder.

I had Lucy to look after. So, overtime my brothers became my best friends, but to be honest, I wouldn’t mind a friend outside the family.

A friend who doesn’t rat me out to my mum if I do something silly, like grow a moustache. I looked like Borat.

“But you do like her,” Geoff insists.

I pause—not because I don’t have an answer, but because I know exactly how Geoff is going to interpret anything I say next.

I keep my voice even. “Of course I like her. She’s a good person, and she makes Lucy laugh. But that doesn’t mean I like her in the way you’re trying to suggest.”

He lets that sit for a moment, like he’s waiting for me to take it back.

I don’t. Because it’s the truth. And yet, there’s an odd flicker of something I can’t quite place in my chest.

Geoff sighs, running a hand over his jaw. “Alright. If you say so.”

“I do say so.”

He studies me for another long moment, then shrugs. “Fair enough.”

I grab the last of Lucy’s fairy wings off the floor and toss them into the dress-up bin, signalling that this conversation is over.

Geoff smirks like he knows he’s getting under my skin. “Jasper’s going to ask about her next, you know.”

I groan. “Brilliant. Can’t wait for the full family interrogation.”

“Just giving you a heads-up.” He pats me on the shoulder, far too amused for my liking. “I’ll leave you to sit with your totally non-existent feelings in peace. ”

I shake my head as he grabs his jacket and heads for the door.

Just before he steps out, he pauses. “For what it’s worth, you do seem lighter these days.”

I frown. “Lighter?”

He shrugs. “Less weighed down. Whatever it is, whoever it is—I’m glad you got some joy back in your life… aside from Lucy of course. You’ve been alone for too long.”

Before I can figure out a response, he’s gone, leaving me alone in my mostly clean living room.

I stare at the door for a moment, then exhale, shaking my head. Geoff and Jasper are reading too much into things. Ivy’s a friend. That’s it. And I’m fine with that.

Lucy and I are waiting outside the coffee shop, soaking in the late morning sun. Lu is practically buzzing with excitement, her little hands gripping the ends of her jumper sleeves as she rocks on her heels.

“She’s coming, right?” she asks, tilting her head up at me. Here we go again.

“She said she would,” I reply, though I barely get the words out before the upstairs flat door swings open.

Ivy steps out, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets, her hair slightly tousled like she’s just woken up.

Lucy gasps, as if Ivy appearing is the most shocking and exciting thing to ever happen. “Ivy!”

Ivy grins. “Morning—no, wait. Almost afternoon. Time is fake.”

Lucy giggles. “You’re silly.”

Ivy smirks. “Silly is good, right?”

Lucy waves a hand. “The best.”

I nudge Lucy forward so we actually start walking. “Come on, we’ll be late if you start getting sidetracked.”

We set off at an easy pace, the early summer sun feeling nice on my skin.

For all of two seconds, there’s peace. Then Lucy turns to Ivy, her eyes wide and sparkling with that particular kind of joy that tells me we’re about to hear the full retelling of a major event.

“Guess what we did on Saturday?” she asks, not waiting for an answer. “We played dress-up with Uncle Geoff, and he wore my princess dress!”

Ivy’s eyebrows lift. “Wait—your dress?”

Lucy nods, looking absolutely delighted. “It was so funny! It was way too small for him, and his arms were too big, and it almost broke!”

Ivy lets out a snort. “Oh, I would pay to have seen that.”

Lucy sighs dramatically. “Next time.”

Ivy grins. “Looking forward to it.”

“Oh! And then we had pizza, and I picked the toppings, but Uncle Geoff said pineapple was wrong.”

Ivy gasps in mock horror. “Did he now?”

Lucy nods gravely. “He doesn’t understand the truth.”

I glance at Ivy, who’s barely holding in a laugh. “Sounds like I missed an eventful evening.”

Lucy hums thoughtfully. “Maybe next time you can come too. But you have to be a princess.”

Ivy grins. “Deal. ”

I don’t know whether to be concerned or amused by the fact that Lucy is already recruiting more people for her chaos. Probably both.

We keep walking, Lucy still animatedly recounting every detail of Saturday’s excitement.

I glance at Ivy more than I should, Geoff’s words replaying in my mind. I really am starting to hate the dating ban.