Page 20 of Catching Feels

I get where Locke is coming from; I only thought I was falling in love once, and that was enough for me to never allow myself to blindly fall into anything like that again.

“We’re not the same,” Vanders states as he adds more weight to his bar.

“Same boat, different ocean,” Turner admits.

“Nah, man, not even close. You’ve cruised in the Atlantic; I set anchor in the Artic.”

I watch as a look passes between Steel and Pope, one that says, Defuse the situation.

Pope chuckles. “I don’t know about all that, but I will confirm that Locke’s not wrong. He’s had that same stupid look on his face from the day Gwendolyn York moved to Walton, Texas, until the breakup. It’s back, and it’s not going anywhere. The whole team needs to learn to deal with it, just like the Walton Warriors did back in the day.”

“No disrespect to your wife, Pope—she’s a smoke show, too—but having known Gwen before they got married, I’m having no doubt they’ll make it,” AJ states, and the room goes silent. “What did I say?”

“You just called their wives hot.” Blaze shakes his head. “Show some respect for the sanctity of marriage.”

“I said no disrespect!” AJ defends. “I didn’t ask how many times a day they get to lay hands on them.”

Locke’s face busts into a grin. “Let’s just say, my pregame rituals have changed, and so has my batting average.”

AJ chuckles then looks at Pope, expecting him to dish, too.

“Tereria”—he shakes his head as he scrubs a hand over his face then clears his throat—“my wife and I have five kids.”

Grinning, AJ looks around the room. “See? That’s what I’m talking about.”

“You don’t get married so you can stop beating off in the shower,” Bennett scolds him.

“You get married because, one day, you’re lucky enough to come face-to-face with the person who gives your heart an erection, not just your?—”

“Momma Joe,” Amias Steel gasps as his grandmother walks into the center of the gym.

“Good morning, Amias.” She walks over and kisses each of his cheeks.

“Good morning,” he says with a slight smile.

She turns and looks at Bennett, who is beet red. “As a mother of four boys, Grandmomma Joe to five young men, not including those by choice and by marriage, great-grand to eight”—she smiles bigger—“make that nine after last night when Gabrielle became a mother on Mother’s Day?—”

Claps, whistles, and congratulations pop off throughout the area.

“—and I can assure you that self-care in the shower doesn’t end with I do.”

Everyone, including Amias, laughs.

“I am sure Justice will be spending much more time doing just that in the coming weeks.”

Bennett actually smiles.

“Any questions, feel free to ask me, after you’ve all come up for May’s birthday cake.”

“What kind is it this month?” Amias asks as she heads toward the exit.

“Cannoli,” she calls back.

After a shower involving no self-care, eating a piece of Momma Joe’s amazing cannoli cake, where I heard Momma Joe thank more than half the team for Mother’s Day cards, flowers, or gifts, I head out to my vehicle to wait for Bennett and Tereria.

I make a note in my phone to send Momma Joe a Mother’s Day gift next year, hoping I’m still here, and check the app.

Grinning from ear-to-ear, I look at the pictures she’s sent.

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