“Sleeping in this morning?” Flynn asked, grabbing a cup and shoving it under the brewer.

“Yeah, right.” The smell of coffee was almost enough to wake him up. Almost, but not quite. When Flynn handed him the cup, he grabbed it and inhaled a deep breath of the awesome aroma before he took his first sip.

Yeah, that’s what he needed.

“Ready for a workout?” Flynn asked.

Barrett held up his hand. He just needed this one cup. “In a minute.”

Flynn was already geared up and stretching. “Sure. Let me waste my time while your wussy ass sips your cup o’ tea.”

Unconcerned, Barrett continued to drink his coffee. He sipped it slowly.

Flynn sighed. Loudly.

Finally, Flynn said, “Time’s ticking, asshole.”

“Fuck off. I might have a second cup.”

“Yeah, you do that. And I’m leaving you.”

Barrett laughed and put his cup in the sink. “I’m ready. Jesus, you’re grouchy. When was the last time you got laid?”

“Too long. And don’t remind me.”

They headed to the gym, which fortunately had an outside track. After warming up with a fast walk, they took off on a run.

This was when Barrett really missed his brothers. No one motivated him to be better, run faster and push harder than one of his brothers. They were nothing if not competitive with each other, especially Flynn and him because they were both defensive players.

If Flynn started dragging, Barrett would kick up his pace, making Flynn keep up. The same would happen if Barrett found himself slowing. Because there was no way in hell either one of them would lag behind.

As a result, their three-mile run was done in damn good time. They slowed to a cooldown mile to catch their breath, then headed into the gym.

They warmed up with light weights, then went to the heavier ones, spotting each other. Within an hour, Barrett was soaked in sweat and his arms and legs felt like overcooked spaghetti.

He’d already drunk a gallon of water and still felt drained, so he went to the beverage bar and grabbed an electrolyte drink.

“Wimping out on me?” Flynn asked, ordering the same thing for himself.

“Yup. You go ahead and do several more sets, though. I’ll spot you.”

“Nah, that’s okay. I’ll quit now so you don’t feel like a big baby.”

“Sure. Thanks.” Barrett knew damn well Flynn was as wrung out as he was but would never admit it. As the oldest Cassidy brother, Flynn would be the last one to admit defeat. He always saw himself as the leader of the pack of brothers, which was bullshit. They were all strong, but if Flynn needed to feel that way, Barrett would never let on that he knew Flynn was just as tired as Barrett was.

Flynn drove them back to the house.

“Hungry?” Flynn asked.

“Yeah.”

“You gonna wake Harmony?”

“I’ll wake her when breakfast is ready. We were up kind of late.”

“Doin’ what? Watching old movies on TV?”

Barrett grinned. “Something like that.”

They got out pans along with bread, potatoes, eggs and bacon and started working side by side.

“So what happened with Tess?” Barrett asked as he started peeling potatoes.

Flynn took the potatoes after Barrett peeled them and sliced them into small chunks, then heated the pan to fry them.

“Not sure exactly. Things were going great for a while. We saw each other a lot. She loved football and came to the games. Then all of a sudden, it became a lot more about having her picture taken whenever she was with me. And she was more interested in the limelight and being at the clubs and the VIP spots, and less about doing things with me that didn’t involve spotlight stuff, ya know?”

Barrett grimaced. He knew the type. “Yeah, I know.”

“So I thought, okay, let’s try hanging out alone more often. She was disappointed. I told her being in the spotlight wasn’t my thing, and if that’s what she was interested in, it wasn’t what I was about. Suddenly she stopped being available. Her replies to my texts became more infrequent. I asked her what was wrong and she told me nothing, but you know when something’s up.”

“Yeah.”

“And then I saw a picture of her on social media with some basketball player.”

“Sports groupie, for sure. I’m sorry, Flynn.”

Flynn shrugged. “Not the first time it’s happened.”

“Yeah, it happened to me before, too, but it sure as hell sucks.”

“It does. I liked her. I thought she was genuine. I guess I was wrong.”

Flynn turned the sizzling potatoes over, then added chopped onions to the skillet.

“Smells good already.”

Flynn smiled. “We haven’t even started yet.”

Once the potatoes were done, Flynn poured the potatoes onto a plate and covered them, then got out the package of bacon and put the strips in the already hot pan while Barrett opened the carton of eggs and took a pan out to cook them.

“So what now?” Barrett asked.

“What about now?”

“Anything on the woman front?”

Flynn let out a snort. “Hell no. I’ve got the restaurant and training camp coming up, and that’s all I’m focusing on. I think I’ve had enough of women and relationships for a while.”

“Can’t say I blame you for that.”

But Barrett felt bad. Even though Barrett gave his brother a hard time, Flynn was a good guy. He knew his brother was ready to settle down. But man, Flynn was having a hard time finding the right woman.