“Aubrey! I’m home!”
Looking up, she saw a very happy and relaxed-looking Hugh standing in the doorway. If she wasn’t mistaken, he might even be a little bit tipsy. She almost giggled at the thought. Men didn’t get tipsy, did they? “Hey, you,” she said, smiling up at him.
“Whatcha doin?” he asked, walking slowly across the room until he could plop down on the bed beside her.
“I was just going to read for a bit while I was waiting for you.” His hair was tousled, his shirt was untucked, and he looked completely adorable to her. Reaching out, she ran a hand through his hair. “How was your night?”
Hugh stretched out beside her as he kicked his shoes off. “I took fifty bucks from my brother. It was awesome.”
She chuckled. “Which brother?”
“Owen,” he said around a yawn. “Served him right. Trying to trick me up with math.”
Her brows furrowed. “Math?”
“Yeah. Such a smarty pants. Thinks he knows everything. But I beat him. He may know about angles and lines and spots but I know how to provide a good distraction,” he said with a silly grin.
“So you cheated.”
“Ha! That’s a good one! No, I did not cheat. I just happened to notice how Owen kept sneaking looks at this girl standing over by the jukebox. So while he was doing his geo…geolo…geomethology…”
“Geometry?”
“Yeah…so while he was doing that stuff in his head, I went over and introduced myself, then brought her over to meet Owen.” He laughed. “Then he forgot all about how to do…you know…and Riley and I were able to kick his and Aidan’s butts. It was fun.”
Yeah, he was definitely a little tipsy and it was adorable. It was nice to see he could unwind and have fun with his brothers. “I’m glad you had a good time.”
“How about you, darlin? Did you have fun tonight?”
“I did. Anna made burgers and…”
“Oh, man! And I missed it?” He sat up and looked around for his phone. Pulling it from his pocket, he began scrolling through his contacts.
“Hugh? What are you doing?”
“I’m starving. Do you think she’ll make some more?”
“Who?”
“Anna,” he said with a huff. “Sheesh.”
“Hugh Shaughnessy, you cannot call Anna now and ask her to make you a burger!” She tried to sound firm but couldn’t stop laughing at the confused look on his face. “Give me the phone.”
“But…do we have any burgers here?”
She shook her head. “Nope. Sorry. No burgers.”
“Well damn,” he muttered, flopping back down on the bed. Looking over at her, he smiled sleepily. “They were good, right?”
Nodding, she said, “Yup. They were.” Aubrey knew he was going to be asleep in a matter of minutes, but figured she’d humor him for a little bit longer. “Do you want me to make you something to eat? Or maybe just a little snack?”
“Mmm…”
Turning on her side to face him, she nudged him around until she got him undressed down to his boxers and even managed to get him under the blankets. He made several sloppy attempts to kiss her but she kept it playful to distract him. By the time he was settled, she was exhausted.
“Sweet dreams, wonderful man,” she whispered, kissing his cheek.
Hugh smiled sleepily. “Love you,” he murmured in response. Aubrey was glad his eyes were closed and he was already snoring softly, because she was certain the look of shock on her face would have been hard to explain.
Did he really mean what he’d said? Was it possible Hugh was really in love with her? It was hard for Aubrey to wrap her head around. No one had ever said it to her before. And to be honest, Hugh really hadn’t said it to her either—not consciously, anyway.
But now that it was out there, she had a feeling it was going to be pretty hard to forget.