Page 76 of Lee

“No, so hopefully she’ll see me.”

Thankfully, the traffic moved slow enough that he could see each driver’s face.

“There she is,” he said when he spotted someone madly waving inside the front windshield of their car.

He stepped over to where Rori waited on the grass curb. Together, they watched Carisa pull into the spot.

When she got out of the car, she gave another wave as she approached them.

“Hey, Rori!” Carisa said with a huge smile. “Lee was hoping you’d come.”

“It’s good to see you again,” Rori replied.

“Let’s join the others,” Lee said after greeting Carisa.

As they approached the group, Lee caught Jackson eyeing Carisa and shook his head. That man…

“Do you want to play volleyball, Carisa?” Jackson asked as the guys prepared to head to the net for a game.

She gave him a smile. “Maybe not this first game. Do you usually play more than one?”

“Yeah. We play at least two, sometimes three or four.”

“Maybe the next one, then.”

Jackson looked disappointed, but quickly said, “You can cheer us on.”

“Sure. I’ll join the cheerleaders.”

Lee glanced over at Rori and found her watching the pair with lifted brows. Hopefully, she wasn’t disappointed that Jackson had moved on so quickly from his interest in her.

As Jackson focused on Carisa, Rori looked over at Lee. She smiled at him, her eyes sparkling with warmth.

“Gonna cheer loud for us?” he asked, then winked. “For me?”

Rori’s cheeks pinked as her smile turned demure. “Of course.”

That made Lee chuckle. She said it like she was one for loud cheering. But what did he know? Maybe now that she was getting to know them better, she would cheer loudly.

As he jogged across the short distance to where the guys were dividing into teams, Lee tried to ignore the part of him that wanted to show off for Rori. Somehow, he doubted she’d be overly impressed by his ability to serve a ball over a net.

In the short time he’d known her, he’d sensed that she had a depth that he hadn’t yet been able to plumb. She seemed to protect much about herself, but he could only hope that her earlier revelation wasn’t the last of what she’d share with him.

However, Lee sensed that she would only share further parts of herself if she felt safe. So he would do his best to provide that place of safety for her.

“Let’s do this,” Jay called from the other side of the net.

Soon, the first serve sent the ball sailing over the net. Some called out to claim the ball while others—Jackson!—just dove for it, apparently hoping for the best.

The guy had a habit of going for balls that were clearly headed out of bounds, but he usually got a touch on them, with meant the call would be against his team. Still, Lee couldn’t help but appreciate the guy’s enthusiastic approach to life. He went after things with great gusto and didn’t let failure keep him from trying again.

The first game was actually fairly close, which meant it took longer than usual to play. The older kids had jumped around on the sidelines cheering for them, while the women had stayed on the blanket.

“Who all is joining us for the next game?” Jay asked when they rejoined the ladies.

“Can I play, Dad?” Peyton asked. “I’ve been practicing with you.”

“Sure thing, buddy,” Jay said with a smile, holding his hand up for his son to smack.

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