Tucker put his arm around her. “You sure?”

She nodded. “Absolutely. Have fun catching up with your brothers.” She kissed him good night, hugged Flynn and Barrett, then took herself to Tucker’s bedroom.

She could have gone home to her own condo, but it was late and she’d brought a bag with her scrubs for tomorrow.

Besides, Tucker had asked her to stay, and she wanted to. Something about sleeping next to his body at night had become so natural, so seemingly perfect.

And tonight she was too damn tired to dissect all the reasons why, so she undressed, washed her face and brushed her teeth and crawled into Tucker’s bed, pulling up the covers without thinking about their relationship.

Instead, she smiled and turned off the beside lamp, closed her eyes and was instantly asleep.

“LEO’S GOT A GOOD ARM,” TUCKER SAID. “LEFT FIELD is a good position for him. Plus he’s fast, so he can run down base hits.”

Tucker’s brother Grant nodded. “His on-base percentage is decent, too. He’s enjoying playing baseball.”

Tucker turned to his brother and grinned. “You sound surprised.”

“Grant thinks it should be all about football,” Leo’s older sister Anya said. “Kind of like your other brothers.”

“Hey, kid. I didn’t say a word.”

“It was implied, Barrett.” Anya winked at him.

“Actually, he’s enjoying both sports,” Katrina said. “I’m just happy he’s found something that fulfills him. My little brother is a different kid this year.”

“Yeah,” Anya said. “A lot less surly. And, unfortunately, a lot more outgoing. You can hardly shut him up now. I miss the quiet, hides-in-his-room-all-the-time Leo.”

Katrina nudged her sister. “You do not.”

Anya gave her sister a quirky smile.

Tucker enjoyed Grant’s fiancée Katrina and her siblings. And Grant loved them all, which meant they were family now.

With the pitcher on Leo’s team throwing a strikeout to end the inning, they were now up to bat and Tucker waited for Leo to get his turn. He hadn’t yet seen him bat, but hoped for something good from Leo and his team. He wasn’t disappointed—the first and second batters singled, then the third batter drove in two runs with a double, putting Leo’s team up two runs in the bottom of the first inning. The fourth batter grounded out, and Leo was fifth in the order, so he was up next.

“I am so nervous,” Katrina said.

Grant took her hand. “He’s going to do great, so relax.”

Leo took the first pitch, a called strike.

“Oh, God. He’s going to suck,” Anya said.

“He isn’t going to suck,” Tucker said. “He’s waiting to see what the pitcher’s got.”

He took the second pitch, a ball up and high. The pitcher for the other team was good, but hadn’t settled into his groove yet. He was all over the place in terms of pitch placement, so Leo was being smart in waiting for the right pitch.

Soon it was a full count, and Leo had fouled off about four pitches.

“He’s going to strike out, isn’t he?” Anya asked.

“No, he’s going to line one out to left field.”

She looked over at Tucker. “How do you know that?”

“Trust me. I just know.”

Two pitches later, Leo launched a double into left field. Everyone stood and yelled his name, clapping loudly.

When Tucker sat, Katrina looked over at him. “You were right. How did you know?”

“Easy. I know what their pitcher was throwing, and based on the way Leo was swinging the bat and hitting those balls foul, it was only a matter of time until he connected.”

“I’m impressed,” Katrina said.

“Me, too,” Anya said.

Grant leaned over his shoulder. “Fucking smartass.”

Tucker grinned.

Leo’s team ended up winning the game by four runs, a good start to the championship. They met up with him at the entrance to the locker room after the game. Tucker hung back while Leo got hugs from Grant, Katrina and Anya, and a huge pat on the back from Barrett and Flynn. Then he stepped in and shook Leo’s hand.

“You did good, kid.”

Leo smiled. “Thanks.”

“You should probably rethink the whole football thing. Based on your talent, football’s a waste of time.”

“Hey,” Grant said, frowning.

Tucker winked at Leo, who laughed. “Yeah, we should talk about that over pizza.”

Tucker and Leo walked away, but not before he heard Grant mumble something about kicking Tucker’s ass.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t join them for pizza since he had a game of his own to play. So he shook Leo’s hand, wished him luck on the rest of his games and said he’d try to get to another, but they’d for sure connect at Grant’s house as soon as possible to talk baseball. He said good-bye to his brothers, kissed Katrina on the cheek and hugged Anya, then drove to the ballpark.

He got into uniform and headed out to the mound for warm-ups. He’d been working on all his pitches, but mainly his curveball, hoping he’d see improvement on whatever quirk it was that screwed him up on his last game.

He wasn’t anxious—he was determined.

Tonight, he was going to win this one.

AUBRY FINISHED WORK AT SEVEN THIRTY, SO SHE cleaned up at the hospital, changed clothes and drove over to the ballpark, then made her way to the owner’s box. Her parents were both there tonight.