Page 24 of Power Play

“Long time no see,” I say to her. She smiles back at me and tucks a piece of hair behind her ear.

“It’s been ages,” she says back, biting her lip. She walks by me and Tyson, her hair flying behind her and leaving me in an intoxicating cloud of whatever she’s wearing.

I’m brought back down to Earth when Tyson clears his throat.

“Easy, killer,” he says with a devious grin. “That’s still my little sister.”

I hold my hands up in innocence and smile back at him.

“Shut up,” I say as he claps my back and leads me out to the patio.

The night goes off without a hitch. Tyson really did keep it small like he promised, and it’s perfect. A few of the guys from the team showed up earlier, and Mr. C. set up some of our high school film on the TV they have hanging from the pavilion that’s on the patio. A few of the guys brought their wives and girlfriends, and every few minutes, I’d look around to keep an eye on Lo. She’d been back and forth from bartending, to chatting with the other girls, to playing with Harper. Just as I’m looking over to find her again, I see her making her way toward all of us with a very sleepy Harper in her arms.

“I’m off to put this little thing to bed,” she says, hoisting Harper up higher in her arms. She nuzzles into the crook of Lo’s neck and breathes softly. For a moment, I can’t take my eyes off them. How perfectly safe and content Harper is, just knowing that she’s in her mother’s arms. It doesn’t matter to Harper that her mother is five-foot-nothing and would blow away with a decent breeze. It’shermother. All that she needs to know is that those arms around her would keep her safe from anything this world may throw at them.

I wonder if Lo ever feels like that.

Mr. C. and Tyson get up to kiss Harper goodnight, and I stand to see what Lo says.

“Can you say goodnight to Levi?” she whispers, and Harper lifts her little head, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Goodnight, Levi,” she says, her voice whiny. I rub the top of her head.

“Goodnight, Harper. Thanks for letting me hang out at your house tonight,” I say.

“You’re welcome,” she says, nuzzling back into Lo’s neck. I look at Lo, and we both smile.

“You staying in for the night?” I ask.

“Heck no,” Tyson says. “You better get your butt back down here and have some grown-up time.”

She smiles and rolls her eyes.

“I guess I’ll be back down,” she says with a laugh, then turns back to the house. I take my seat back on the wicker patio furniture and try to focus on the high school hockey film that’s in front of me, but all I can think about is the girl inside.

A few minutes later, she’s back outside, an oversized Crooked Creek High School sweatshirt wrapped around her. She has her arms crossed over her chest, and her eyes look heavy.

This girl is tired.

I almost feel bad that she came back out, but I have to admit, I wasn’t ready to stop looking at her tonight.

“Sit down, sweetie,” Mr. C. says. “Take a breath and have a drink.”

Tyson reaches across me into the cooler that sits on the patio and pulls out a beer. He twists the top off and hands it to Lo who is now beside me. I scoot over closer to Tyson to make room for her, and she takes a long sip before she sits down.

“Here she is,” I say, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her in for another hug. Maybe it’s the beers I’ve had, but I just want to be closer to her. She laughs as she lays her head on my shoulder for a brief moment before we both loosen up and rest back on the couch. After a few more beers, she gets up and walks to the bar at the far corner of the patio. The film is over, and everyone, including Mr. C., is reliving the glory days. Laughing and howling, no one notices when I stand up to follow her toward the bar.

“Need something stronger?” I ask her as I watch her sift through the bottles. She jumps at my voice, then smiles when she sees it’s me.

“Somethin’ like that,” she says. Then she puts the last bottle down and shrugs. “Although, I don’t really need it. I could fall asleep standing up at this point, I think. That girl runs me ragged.”

She laughs nervously, and I force a smile, but then our eyes meet. She drops hers quickly, clutching onto her arm and clearing her throat.

“Lo…”

“Don’t,” she says, her eyes locked on mine now. My eyebrows knit together.

“Lo, I just need you to know that I’m sorry about what happened earlier,” I say. Her eyes are big and worried.

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