Page 48 of Laugh

“Dad,” I snap at him, drawing his critical gaze away from her. “Haddie and I have recently started dating. I’m pretty sure you already know this since I’ve already filled mom in. I asked her to come by so I can share this part of my life with her.”

Snorting, he looks back at my team where most are watching us, probably thinking there’s about to be some drama. “Not sure what you’re showing her, since they’re all just sitting on their asses. You need to focus on your job instead of standing around flirting with a pretty girl. No offense to you,” he says, nodding toward her.

“Oh, you think I’m pretty? Beau said something just like that when we first met,” she says, then slaps a hand over her mouth and looks up at me, embarrassed. Dragging her hand down her mouth, she whispers, “Sorry,” to me and I just shake my head at her, indicating not to worry about it.

Glaring at my father, I step partially in front of Haddie. “Not that I need to give you an explanation, but they just went on break. If you don’t need anything, I’ll see you next time I come over for dinner.”

He hesitates before nodding once. “Maybe you should bring your girlfriend to dinner instead of your job next time. Your mother, I’m sure, would love to meet her.”

I grit my teeth at his underhanded insult, wanting to follow and tear into him for not only making Haddie feel like she’s a hindrance. But I’m also fighting the need to hold my tongue, hoping that at some point, he’ll fucking respect me.

Shoving the whistle into my mouth, I spin around and get the team’s attention. Once they’re on the move and diving into the next round of drills I had scheduled for today, Haddie gets my attention.

She bumps into me with her shoulder and gives me a playful smile. “Hey Chris, what do you call a dad who falls through the ice?”

The corner of my mouth wavers, wanting to smile at her attempt to cheer up my noticeably sour mood. I have no desire for her to think I want her to leave. So, I lift my shoulder in a shrug and play along. “I dunno, Happy, what do you call him?”

She curls her lips between her teeth as she fights her grin, then loses the battle. “Apop-sicle.”

It’s tough to laugh because he really did upset me, but Christ, she’s adorable. Smiling appreciatively at her, I sling my arm over her shoulder and tug her into my side, then press a kiss to the top of her head.

“Thanks, happy girl,” I say softly, grinning a little bigger when she nods her head in understanding. A random thought pops into my head while we’re watching the guys rotate through their lineups. “Hey, how’s Marcus doing? Were you able to figure out whatever his mom was upset about?”

She frowns at my question, chewing on her lip before answering. “I spoke to him on Sunday. He was supposed to come over, but ended up canceling at the last minute. His mom had been trying to get a hold of him for two days and he wasn’t answering the phone. Marcus said he was busy with work and got in a little extra sleep.”

I watch her face and can tell something is bothering her. “What’s your concern?”

Sighing, she tilts her face up to me. “I’m not sure. He seems off. Lately, he’s been dipping out on our plans and he hasn’t let me go over to his place in quite a while.”

“How long has been since you’ve been over there?” The two of them seem extremely close, so keeping her away seems like an out of character thing to me as well.

“It’s probably been a couple of months now that I think about it. He’s coming over later tonight, though. We’re going to have anOfficemarathon while I work on edits for my next submission.”

“Is this going to be the one I get to read?” I ask, teasing her in an attempt to draw her away from worrying over her friend.

Giggling, she pretends like she’s considering it. “Maaaybe. How do you feel about vegetables and fruits getting it on in a refrigerator?”

I blink slowly at her, trying to decipher if she’s being serious or not. The twinkle in her eyes tells me she’s being one hundred percent serious. “Explain.”

Bouncing on her toes, she clasps her hands in front of her chest. “Okay, so it’s calledCrisp This, and it’s about a torrid love affair between Mr. Cucumber and Ms. Raspberry. They live in Crispland, which is run by the Mayor, Mr. Tomato–”

Interrupting her, I have to ask, “Why is a tomato the mayor? I don’t feel like a tomato is a very intimidating vegetable.”

“Ah-ha!That’s the thing! Is a tomato a vegetable? Or is it a fruit? It’s one of the rare types of produce that carries both fruit and vegetable qualities, so I thought he’d be perfect as the leader of everyone. See, the vegetables and fruits are segregated so that there’s no inter-produce matings. If a vegetable ran Crispland, then they would show favoritism to the other vegetables, and the same if the leader were a fruit.”

I’m trying to picture what she’s explaining, but I keep circling back to one question, which I’m almost embarrassed to ask. Scratching the side of my face in thought, I decide to just suck it up when she’s obviously very excited about sharing this with me.

“Okay, I have to ask. How the fuck does a cucumber fuck a raspberry?”

Her loud burst of laughter has my guys pausing and turning to watch us. Yelling at them, I call, “Get back to it!”

“Sorry,” Haddie says through her giggles, but I suspect she doesn’t really mean it.

Planting my hands on my hips, I narrow my eyes at her. “Seriously, answer my question. How is that even remotely possible?”

Winking at me, she shrugs. “You’ll just have to read it and find out. Maybe suspend your belief in reality before you start as well.”

My mind dances between running my drills and trying to figure out how the size difference would work after Haddie pats my shoulder, informing me she’s going to go sit in the bleachers and work on a bit of writing. I also realize that she’s completely drawn me out of my dark mood that my father dragged me into with his unplanned visit.My mom is going to love her.

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