When her brother climbed out of the truck, he looked sunburned, dirty, and he smelled like fish. He was also grinning like crazy.
“Catch any fish?” she asked.
“I caught two,” Leo said. “Easton said I didn’t do badly at all.”
“He’s a natural fisherman,” Easton said. “Born to it. With a little more practice, I could take him out on the boat at sea and I’d bet he’d be catching bigger fish in no time.”
She was certain Leo’s face might explode if he smiled any broader. “I’m glad you had a good time. I hear there’s going to be a football game out here soon.”
Easton nodded. “Then we’re back just in time.”
Lydia decided it might be better for everyone to have lunch first, and let Easton and Leo cool off a bit inside the house, so they made sandwiches and had leftover fruit salad from the night before. Easton told them about fishing and told everyone how well Leo did baiting his first hook.
“Yeah, the kid was born to live in the country,” Easton said. “You’ll need to drag him out of the city more often, Katrina. Plus, I hear he wants to play football.”
“So he tells me.”
“I guess we’ll find out during the game this afternoon if he’s any good at it, since he’ll be playing with the best there is.”
“And Tucker, who sucks,” Barrett said before taking a bite of his sandwich.
“Screw you. I’m going to knock you flat on your ass,” Tucker said.
“You wish, pansy.”
“Someday, Katrina, maybe you’ll end up with a houseful of boys who love each other as much as ours do,” Easton said. Then winked at her.
She laughed. “Oh, I have siblings who love to give me a hard time. This is not unfamiliar to me.”
“This is true,” Anya said. “Though we don’t beat each other up.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing, Anya,” Barrett said, winking at her.
“Please don’t give her any ideas, Barrett,” Katrina said.
Anya laughed, then shot Katrina a look of pure devilish delight.
It was a good thing she knew they’d never get physical with each other, or her sister would be in deep trouble.
After lunch everyone scattered to rest up before what everyone had now dubbed the first annual Cassidy football tournament to the death.
Or until everyone got tired, or until Lydia decided enough was enough. Whichever came first.
“They call it the first annual,” Lydia said to her as they all marched out to a clearing behind one of the barns. “But honestly, they’ve been doing this for years. Someone will get their ego in a knot over something, and then it’s a free-for-all.”
“And you’re not worried one of them will get hurt?”
“Not really. They’re all athletes, all in shape, and I think they know their limits as far as how much they can hurt themselves—and each other. They have professional careers to watch out for and none of them will put any of their brothers’ careers in jeopardy. It’s all in good fun.”
Katrina wasn’t so sure about that. With all the guys dressed in shorts and sleeveless shirts, the muscles on display were impressive. And they were all incredibly tall. They all looked fierce and prepared to kill their opponents. Even Easton was still in amazing shape for a man she guessed had to be in his mid-fifties. She supposed working a ranch kept a man in good shape.
Which was no doubt why Lydia had that gleam in her eye.
And in the middle of that mix of giants and testosterone was her brother, who looked so small in comparison.
As if Lydia could read her mind, she said, “They’ll protect Leo, so don’t you worry. They’d never put him in harm’s way. They’ll mostly pound on each other.”
Which meant Grant could take a pounding.
Not that she thought Grant couldn’t hold his own, because standing out there in the field, sweat soaked and looking just as determined as his brothers, she was convinced he’d be victorious. But she couldn’t help the tiny feeling of trepidation that had crept in.
She didn’t want him to get hurt. And there was a small voice inside of her—call it competitive spirit—that really wanted to shout to him to kick his brothers’ asses.
A voice she decided would be prudent to keep silent. But when Grant came over to where they were sitting to grab a bottled water from the cooler, she went over to him, grasped his arm. “You’ll watch out for Leo?”
He smiled at her. “Of course. He’s not going to get hurt.”
“Okay. And Grant? Kick their asses.”
He grinned. “I intend to.” He gave her a quick kiss, which caused his brothers to whistle at him. He rolled his eyes, then headed back out on the makeshift field.
Katrina pulled up one of the chairs they’d brought out to the field. She and Lydia, Mia, and Anya had taken seats under a group of trees in the shade and sipped glasses of lemonade from the jug Lydia had prepared.
It looked like Easton, Barrett, and Leo were going to be on one team, and Grant, Flynn, and Tucker on the other.
They flipped a coin, and Easton’s team would have the ball first. After a quick huddle, Easton dropped back and threw, but Leo missed the catch.
Leo was disappointed, too. She could tell from the way his chin dropped to his chest.
“You’ll get the next one, kid,” Easton said, slapping him on the back. “Even the best receivers drop passes.”