Page 77 of Lee

Peyton turned to Layla and Amelia. “Do you guys want to play, too?”

Layla shook her head, and after a glance at her older sister, Amelia shook her head too.

“Carisa, you up for a game?” Jackson asked.

“I don’t know. Am I going to be the only girl playing?”

When Jackson looked over at the others, Misha stuck her hand in the air. “I’ll play.”

“Me, too,” Janessa added.

“Not me,” Charli said.

“Nor I.”

Charli and Kayleigh’s responses weren’t a surprise. Neither of them were much into sports as adults. Janessa wasn’t really either, but she seemed to enjoy creating some chaos for whichever team she joined.

“How about you, Rori?” Jackson asked.

Rori’s smile was tentative as she glanced first at Carisa, then at Lee. “Not me either. I’ve never been very good at the game.”

“She’s going to keep us company,” Kayleigh said with a wink at Rori. “And help with the babies.”

They divided into teams, then headed back to the court to play another game.

Will was the first to serve on their team, then it was the other team’s turn. Carisa took the ball back to the line to serve.

The moment she spun the ball in her hands, eyeing her opponents through the net, Lee knew they were in for a world of hurt. Something told him that she’d played more than a game or two in her life. Carisa might have Jackson on her team, but she also had Jay. The two of them were going to wipe the court with them, he was almost positive.

Lee stepped across the back line and kept on the balls of his feet so he could move as soon as he saw where her serve was headed. Hudson looked over his shoulder at him, clearly having spotted what Lee had. He moved back into the middle of their half of the court.

When Carisa’s serve came hard and fast, Lee managed to reach the ball and bump it up. Will set it, and Hudson spiked the ball over the net. The problem was, Jay was right there and with his arms stretched up, he was able to block the spike.

There was a mad scramble on their side to get to the ball before it hit the ground. Will got it, but unfortunately, it flew in the opposite direction of where he bumped it, and no one was fast enough to get it before it hit the ground.

“Hey, you!” Janessa marched up to the net and pointed a finger at Carisa. “You didn’t tell us that you could play.”

Laughing, Carisa shrugged. “No one asked. Jackson just asked if I wanted to play. And I do.”

“What’s your playing experience?” Jay asked.

“I was on teams throughout high school and college. Volleyball was my sport.”

“Mine was basketball, but I played plenty of volleyball too,” Jay said.

“Well, whenever Carisa is here, we’ll have to put her on Jackson’s team to compensate for him,” Janessa said.

“I’m on board with that,” Jackson called out.

Lee was sure that would be no hardship for Jackson. It couldn’t have worked out better for the guy. He had no idea how long Carisa was going to be in the area, so he hoped that if she was only there for a short time, Jackson didn’t get his heart broken again.

“Let’s get on with losing this game,” Janessa groused. “And next time, Carisa and Jay aren’t going to be on the same team.”

Janessa ended up being correct about the outcome of the game. It moved much more quickly than the first game, and when it was over, Lee was happy to return to where the ladies were.

He dropped down on the blanket beside Rori. “I think I’m done with volleyball for today.”

“Carisa is really good.”

---