The group leaned back as they made plans. When they all put their minds together, the world had better watch out because they were surely a force to be reckoned with. No one was able to withstand them when they were on a mission.

CHAPTER FOUR

“What call was so important you had to stop in the middle of our bout?” Cooper asked as Maverick put down his phone and grinned at his brother.

“It was Uncle Sherman. Should I have ignored the call?” Mav said with a raised eyebrow.

Cooper held up his hands in mock surrender as he grinned. “Oh, hell no. The old man would have shown up down here and taken far longer than a couple minutes of our time,” Cooper said.

“Yeah, that’s why I have a special ringtone for him. I know better than to ignore the old man.”

“Ha. Me too,” Cooper said. “What was the call about?”

“Are you just trying to get out of the fight?” Mav asked.

He was now incredibly distracted after the call with his uncle. Sometimes Uncle Sherman had the most amazing ideas ever. Mav refused to tell him that, though. The old guy’s head was full enough.

“Hell no. I can kick your ass any day of the week. I am curious about the grin on your face, though,” Cooper said.

Maverick danced across the ring as he gave his brother a look he knew would egg him on. Boxing wasn’t his favorite sport, but sometimes a decent brawl was good for the soul. And nothing was better than taunting one of his brothers. Okay, taunting all of them at the same time was actually better, but Nick was on duty and Ace . . . well, he just missed Ace like hell.

“Ha. You became a new daddy, and all of a sudden you forgot how to move,” Mav said with a laugh as he got a right jab into his brother’s jaw.

“I can still take you to town any day of the week,” Cooper assured him as he managed to get a hard hook to the left. That one actually hurt his hand.

But Maverick could tell that taunting Cooper wasn’t such a great idea after all. Not when he was so distracted by that phone call and what Uncle Sherman had suggested he do for Lindsey. Nah, he couldn’t be that distracted by the beautiful brunette, could he? Maybe he just had to pick up his speed.

“I don’t think so, old-timer. Matter of fact, I can see a few gray hairs beginning to appear at your temples,” Maverick said, trying to knock Cooper’s concentration off balance.

It wasn’t working.

Cooper managed to get a right hook followed by a quick triple jab to the left side. He was going to hate life in the morning. But he would make sure his brother was hurting too. Going on the offensive, he backed Cooper into the corner and got off a couple of good shots before Cooper came back swinging.

That’s when it went downhill fast.

Cooper threw a punch to his brother’s side and Maverick spun wrong, lost his footing, and slammed forward against the mat. The room went silent as a crunch louder than Cracker Jacks being eaten could be heard echoing through the gym. Cooper instantly paled as he looked at Maverick.

“Shit, Mav!” Cooper shouted as he dropped to his knees beside his brother. “Did it break?”

Breathing heavily through his nose, Mav didn’t need to look down to know. He’d broken plenty of bones in his day.

“Yeah, my arm’s broken,” he said through gritted teeth.

“I’m sorry, brother,” Cooper said.

“Not your fault, bro. I was fighting like a girl,” Mav told him. Cooper smiled before he pulled out his phone and started to call 911. “I’m not riding in a damn ambulance. Help me up, and take me in,” he said as he began wobbling to his feet.

Cooper dropped the phone and gave his brother a hand. He didn’t argue because he would have insisted on the same thing.

Mav felt the world tilt as he, more shakily than he’d ever admit, climbed out of the ring. No way would he black out in front of his brother or the other patrons in the gym.

His arm snagged in the rope, but Cooper grabbed him before he could go down. Leaning heavily on his brother, Mav let Cooper help him into his ridiculous sports car. Normally, Mav loved the fine piece of machinery, but at the moment, he could only curse at it as he ducked his throbbing head to sit down in the passenger seat.

“Now, you gonna tell me what that call was all about that had you fighting so damn badly?” Cooper prodded, as he started the engine.

Mav swore. “I’ve been trying to get Lindsey to talk to me all year, been trying to get her to get out of the house and go out with me—anything but sitting there in your guest cottage.”

“She’s been back at work,” Cooper pointed out.

“Yeah, she goes to work, school, and then back home.”

Cooper frowned. “Stormy has been worried about her too,” Coop said. “To tell you the truth, I’m pretty dang attached to the girl as well. I know she hasn’t been doing too good, but I haven’t known what to do. It’s not something I’m familiar with.”

“We don’t like to fail. It’s something in our blood,” Maverick told him. They hit a bump and Maverick winced. Cooper smiled at him. A curse word was uttered in his direction, but Cooper pretended not to hear it.

“So what did Uncle Sherman say?”

They were getting closer to the hospital, and Mav was grateful. He would swear on a bible that his brother was hitting every hole and bump on the damn road just to make the trip that much more unpleasant.

“My chair dropped out for the fund-raiser. He suggested I ask Lindsey to step up,” Mav said with a real smile, ignoring his pain.