“I understand. I won’t say anything to Grant.”

   “I appreciate it.”

   He saw Grant walk in so he waved to him. Since it was near the end of the lunch shift, there were hardly any people in the restaurant. Grant spotted them right away and headed over.

   Flynn stood and hugged his brother. “Hey,” he said.

   “Hey,” Grant said, then hugged Mia.

   “I’m so glad I’m here at the right time to see both of you,” Mia said. “You’re not going to hurt each other this weekend, are you?”

   Grant looked over at Flynn and cracked a smile. “Of course not.”

   Flynn grinned. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

   Mia scanned both of them and then frowned. “You’re both lying. You guys suck.”

   Grant laughed. “Come on, Mia. You know how it goes. We’re going to play each other like we play any team. Tough, and to win.”

   “Exactly,” Flynn said. “If I break through Grant’s offensive line—and I will—I’m not going to pull up just because he’s my brother. I’m going to lay him flat.”

   “Just as I’d expect from you. Not that it’s going to happen, because I have the toughest offensive line in the league, and you aren’t going to get anywhere close to me.”

   “Uh-huh. We’ll see, Little Brother.”

   “Yeah, we’ll see your defense huffing and puffing as they run after my receivers all the way into the end zone.”

   Mia rolled her eyes. “It’s going to be like this all through lunch, isn’t it?”

   Grant’s lips lifted. “Most likely.”

   “I should have grabbed a burger at In-N-Out.”

   Grant slanted a glance at Flynn. “That does sound good. Should we leave now?”

   “It shouldn’t be crowded this time of day.”

   Mia sighed. “You’re both assholes.”

   Flynn laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m on board for eating here.”

   “But we don’t promise to behave ourselves,” Grant added.

   Mia picked up her menu. “I don’t know why I agreed to have lunch with you two.”

   Flynn knew why. She was hungry. Plus, she loved both of them as much as they loved her, and with all of the siblings spread around the country, they didn’t see each other much. Flynn was more than happy to have his brother and sister in town this week.

   Mia ordered pho, Grant ordered the duck and Flynn decided on the sea bass. For appetizers, they went with shrimp spring rolls and lettuce cups.

   He was suddenly starving. Then again, a hard practice always worked up his appetite.

   “Will Katrina and the kids be joining you this weekend?” Mia asked.

   Grant shook his head. “Katrina’s in Singapore this week on a photo shoot, and both Anya and Leo have tests so we didn’t want to pull them out of school. Plus, Thanksgiving break will be coming up soon and everyone will get together then.”

   “Oh, good,” Mia said. “I haven’t seen Katrina or the kids in a while. I’ll be happy to see them at the ranch in a few weeks.”

   Grant looked over at Flynn. “You’ll be there?”

   “For at least a couple of days.”

   Mia took a sip of her water, then smiled. “He’s bringing his girlfriend, too.”

   Grant’s brows popped up. “You have a girlfriend? One you’ve managed to keep for more than a week?”

   Flynn glared at Grant. “Screw you. And she’s not my girlfriend. Or I don’t know. Maybe she is. We’re kind of seeing each other.”

   Grant slid a confused glance over at Mia. “What the hell does that even mean?”

   Mia shrugged. “I have no idea. She’s the head chef at Ninety-Two. She’s smart and gorgeous and a lot of fun. Her name is Amelia. She’ll be at the game this Sunday.”

   “Oh. Great,” Grant said. “After my team wins, maybe I’ll get a chance to meet her.”

   “After my team wins, I might introduce her to you. Loser.”

   “Don’t make me go sit at another table.” Mia shot both of them warning glances.

   Flynn laughed. “Now you sound like Mom.”

   “I could get her on the phone, ya know.”

   “I think even she’d laugh at you if you tried that,” Grant said.

   Fortunately for Mia, appetizers arrived and Flynn and Grant both shut up long enough to shove food in their mouths. And when conversation started up again, it was fairly benign. They talked about Mia’s trip to Stanford, and it was obvious she had decided not to tell Grant about her potential business venture, which meant he’d have to keep quiet about it. He made a mental note to mention that to Amelia as well, though he doubted she’d bring it up in conversation unless Mia was the one to initiate it.

   After lunch, which was amazing, they went outside.

   “What are you doing tonight?” Flynn asked Grant.

   Grant shrugged. “Nothing. I have to be at practice in the morning pretty early.”

   “Yeah, here, too. Why don’t you come to the house? We can go to the restaurant tonight if you want. Or I can fix dinner.”

   Grant slanted him a suspicious look. “I don’t know about having dinner with you. You might be trying to give me food poisoning and knock me out of the game.”

   “You’re both stupid,” Mia said, rolling her eyes. “I’ll see you at the house.”

   Flynn laughed after Mia left. “She’s so serious all the time.”

   Grant grinned. “Too grown up for my liking. Maybe she needs a boyfriend.”

   Flynn shook his head. “No, she doesn’t. In fact, that’s the last thing she needs right now. She’s got her head on straight and she’s focused. She doesn’t need some asshole derailing all of that.”

   Grant shoved him as they made their way to the parking lot. “Now you sound like Dad.”

   “Fuck off.”

   Grant laughed. “I’ll follow you to your place.”

 

 

SEVENTEEN

 

   Amelia jotted down notes as she worked through a particularly complex stir-fry recipe.

   Her kitchen was a wreck, but she was happy about the way this braised eggplant with chilis and garlic had turned out. Though she loved meats and cooked with them often, she wanted to include a vegetarian and vegan section in her cookbook.