"Are you wearing underwear?" he murmurs into my ear so only I can hear.
"Of course not."
"That"s what"s wrong with your dress."
"Hey, let"s get this game going!" Jules yells from our lane and we join them.
Natalie and Jules pull me into big hugs. I"m so excited to see them. I"ve really missed them over the past few years.
"Hey, guys." Will shakes hands with his brothers, kisses the girls on the cheek and puts his shoes on.
"Hey, Meg, how are you?" Stacy asks from her chair by the ball chute. Will wasn"t kidding when he said she"s incredibly pregnant.
"I"m good, thanks. How are you feeling, little mama?"
Stacy laughs and rubs her belly. "Oh! He"s kicking! Here." She grabs my hand, jerks me down to squat in front of her and lays my hand over her belly, and sure enough, the baby is pushing against my palm.
"He"s a strong little sucker." I smile up at her and she chuckles.
"My ribs would agree. He"s going to be a soccer player."
"Football," all of the men correct her at once and we laugh.
"I"m Brynna," a pretty, brown-haired woman with the darkest eyes I"ve ever seen smiles at me from her seat next to Stacy. "We met at the party, but I didn"t really get to talk to you."
"Hi, Brynna. Meg." I shake her hand and stand.
"Really? We just got here. G.o.d, you guys!" Jules exclaims. Nat and Luke are making out, again.
"Ignore them," Nate murmurs in her ear and Jules grins up at him. Wow, she loves him. The Jules I used to know never would have looked at a man like that.
Of course, Nate is a fine specimen of man. That tattoo he"s sporting on his right arm is bad-a.s.s.
"Stop ogling my soon-to-be brother-in-law," Will growls in my ear.
"I"m not. I"m appreciating the art on his arm."
"Speaking of art, what song is that on your arm, Meg?" Matt asks, referring to the tattoo on my inner bicep.
"Oh, just a song," I wave him off, and search my head for a conversation changer. I"d rather not discuss the song, or what it means to me.
Not yet.
"Okay, c"mere, sweetheart, I"ll show you how to throw the ball."
"Oh, you don"t have to..." Jules starts but I shake my head at her, halting her. She smiles sweetly at her brother. "You don"t have to wait. Go ahead and show her."
"Are you the man for the job?" I ask him sarcastically.
"I know my way around b.a.l.l.s, babe," he winks at me and all the guys snicker. "I work with b.a.l.l.s for a living."
"Oh dear G.o.d, please don"t talk about your b.a.l.l.s all night. I"ll be sick." Jules scowls at him and Will smirks.
Will chooses a ball and backs up onto the lane, crooking his finger at me with a knowing smile on his s.e.xy lips.
"Oh, thank goodness you"re here to show me how to handle the b.a.l.l.s," I announce sarcastically, earning laughter from our friends.
"Come on, smart a.s.s." I step up to him and he folds his large body behind me, wraps his arms around mine and places the ball in my hands. To torture him, just a little, I wiggle my b.u.t.t against him and lean into him. He growls low in his throat and swears under his breath before he begins his instructions. "You have to be gentle with the ball. Respect the ball. Visualize in your head where you want the ball to land."
I giggle-snort and feel him scowl.
"Pay attention."
I clear my throat. "Sorry."
"Do you want to give it a try?" he asks.
"Sure."
"Okay, good luck."
He pats my a.s.s and moves back and I have to bite my lip to keep from breaking down into hysterics. Taking my usual stance, I line the ball up with the arrow that will drive it home, take one, two, three steps and then roll the ball down the lane. It quickly moves over the arrow I aimed for and straight for the head pin and crash! Strike!
"Yes!" I clap my hands and turn around to applause and Will looking stupefied.
"You played me."
"You"ll live." I shrug and wrap my arms around him to hug him.
"You bowl?" he asks.
"She is a crazy-good bowler. We used to go all the time back in the day." Natalie tells him and I smile smugly.
"Why didn"t you say?" he asks.
"And spoil the fun of you showing me how to handle the b.a.l.l.s? Never."
Will"s eyes narrow and he glares down at me and I can"t help the wide smile on my face. Have I ever enjoyed tormenting someone so much? No, I don"t believe I have.
He leans in and whispers in my ear, "You"re going to pay for that later."
"I can"t wait." I respond and sashay past him to join the girls.
Caleb is up next and crashes all the pins into a strike. Jeez, he"s so muscular and, well, a little scary. He"s Will"s Navy SEAL brother, and he"s just as big as his brothers; tall, broad, muscular.
I"m surrounded by a whole lot of hotness. If I wasn"t me, I"d be jealous of me.
That makes me chuckle to myself.
"What are you laughing at?" Luke asks me. He has kind eyes. I never noticed that before. Luke Williams is super-hot, and very sweet. And completely in love with his wife and daughter.
"Nothing, just wondering how I got here."
He smiles knowingly.
"This clan can be a lot to handle."
"Everyone is so nice, it"s just..."
"I get it." He smiles rea.s.suringly. "I haven"t been a part of them for long, only about a year. It"s pretty overwhelming at first."
"Oh, I"m not a part of them, I"m just hanging out with Will."
"Right." He smirks down at me and shakes his head. "Megan, I don"t know you, but I"ve spent some time with Will. Trust me. He"s not just hanging out with you."
I watch Will throw the ball down the lane and scowl and cuss when he only knocks eight pins down. My gaze finds Luke"s again.
"You think?"
"I know. Be careful. Have fun. He"s a good guy." And with that, he pats my knee and moves back over to his wife.
"What was that all about?" Will asks as he takes the seat Luke vacated.
"Nothing. He was just saying hi. Do you guys really do this regularly?" I ask, trying to distract both of us.
"We try to. It"s not usually this many of us at once, though."
"It"s fun. And cool that you all like to hang out together."
"Don"t you like to hang out with your family?" Will asks.
f.u.c.k, why did I bring up family?
"Uh..."
"Hey, Meg, have you heard from Sylvia lately?" Jules asks and takes a swig of her beer.
G.o.d, I wish I could drink some beer right now.
"No, not for about a year." I mumble and immediately begin to twist my fingers in my lap. Please don"t ask about Leo.
Will frowns down at me. "Who"s Sylvia?"
"Her mom," Jules states matter-of-factly.
"You haven"t talked to your mom in a year?" he asks. Everyone has gone quiet now and are listening to this conversation and I just want to die.
"No. It"s no big deal."
Jules snorts. Natalie shifts uncomfortably. Matt, the quiet, but no less attractive, one of the bunch, sits back in his chair and watches me thoughtfully.
"More margaritas?" Samantha asks brightly.
"I"ll buy this round." Caleb and Samantha make a trip to the bar to order the drinks and everyone starts talking about other things, much to my relief.
"This subject isn"t closed," Will whispers in my ear.
"Yes it is."
"I love this song!" Jules hops up and pulls Natalie with her, who then pulls me and Brynna up to join them in a spontaneous dance about the lane. Carly Rae Jepson is singing Call Me Maybe. I hate this song.
And yet, I can"t help but love this song.
Sam and Caleb return with a fresh batch of drinks, and Sam joins us girls in our dancing frenzy, weaving and bobbing around us. Stacy grips her belly as she giggles at us and sings along to the fun song.
We are dancing about, being silly girls. I glance over at the guys and they are staring at us, with smirks on their faces.
"You all have the same taste in music as a thirteen-year-old girl," Nate taunts us.
"Every woman in this country loves this song," Brynna informs him. "It"s a law, I think. Hey, Matt, isn"t it a law?"
Matt laughs and then purses his lips like he"s thinking really hard about it. "I don"t pay attention to the girly laws," he finally responds, making Brynna scowl at him.
"Traitor."
When the song ends, another begins, and I cringe. It"s Lonely Soul by Nash.
As in Leo Nash.
As in, my Leo.
He and I wrote this song together right before he left for LA. Leo had been over at my place, hanging out with me and listening to me b.i.t.c.h about school and this guy that I went out with twice and never called me again after I slept with him.
Hence, the three date rule.
I could tell that he wanted to track the idiot down and pummel him, but he listened and drank beer with me, made me laugh. It wasn"t like I was crying over the a.s.shole, but venting to the only brother I"d ever known helped to put things in perspective. And he gave me the best advice he"d ever given me that night.
"Meg-pie," he said seriously, "we teach people how to treat us. If you don"t put up with s.h.i.t, and don"t settle for anything less than respect, that"s what you"ll get. But if you let the douchebags walk all over you and treat you like you"re disposable, then that"s what you"ll always get. You"re too good for that."
I miss him.
"I love this song!" Sam exclaims and sings along loudly.
"This is a great band," Jules agrees and winks at me.
I just shrug back at her and sing along in my head.
It really is a great song.