Page 17 of One Pucking Destiny

“Hey, Stepdaddy!” I tease.

“Don’t even start with that.” Mom grins with a roll of her eyes.

I follow her into the condo as Beckett heads outside to retrieve my bags of clothes. “What? You marry a man five years older than me, and I’m not allowed to make any jokes. That hardly seems fair.”

She slaps my arm playfully. “Stop. So what should we do first?” She shakes her head. “Never mind.Eating. That’s what we’re doing first. You can’t survive off caffeine and a granola bar. What are you in the mood for? I can cook, or we can order in.”

“Chinese?” I follow her into the kitchen.

She nods and reaches for her phone. “Chinese it is. Beckett is going out with the team, so it’s just you and me tonight.”

Admittedly, that bit of information makes me very happy. Beckett is cool and all, but for twenty-one years of my life, it was just Mom and me. It will be nice not having to share her tonight.

Beckett joins us in the kitchen. He leans his elbows against the granite countertop of the island. “I put a load of darks in for you and used your favorite-smelling detergent.”

With a grin, I say, “Thanks. You didn’t have to do that.”

“No problem. Anything for our girl.” He shoots my mom a wink, and the cuteness is nauseating. “What do you ladies have planned for tonight?”

“Girl time. Chinese. Good conversation. Maybe a show,” Mom answers.

He nods. “Sounds great. You two have a lot of catching up to do, I’m sure.”

The front door opening catches our attention, and the three of us look toward the hallway as a handful of the team joins us in the kitchen.

“Feltmore’s going out tonight!” One of the guys pumps his fist in the air.

“Sorry, Doc…but we’re keeping him out late,” another one says.

Beckett, totally amused, says, “You guys can’t just bust in here anymore. You gotta knock. Plus, soon there will be?—”

My mom cuts him off. “You should get going.”

“Oh right,” Beckett says with a sheepish grin.

One of the guys sets a plastic container of cookies on the countertop. “Cookie Monster wanted you to have these in case you were craving them,” he addresses Mom.

“No Cookie tonight?” Beckett asks.

“No, he’s spending the weekend with his family,” one of the guys answers.

“Someone on your team is named Cookie Monster?” I ask, my brows furrowed.

Beckett swipes his hand through the air. “We have a whole nickname thing going on. It’s a team thing.”

Another guy extends his hand. “I’m Heartbreaker, and this is J-man, TJ Maxx, Eddy, and Sean.”

“Eddy and Sean don’t get nicknames?” I ask.

Eddy shrugs. “I’m the equipment manager and have always just been called by my name.”

Sean shoots me a little smirk. “And my real name is actually Logan.”

The absurdity causes me to laugh. “Okay then.”

“What’s yours?” Sean/Logan extends a hand to shake mine.

Beckett steps between us and pushes Sean’s hand away. “Off-limits is her name.”

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