Page 71 of Tight Spot

Later.

Cole’s thing was supposed to last four hours.

We’d stay for one, be back here in two. Naked in two hours and five minutes.

I could wait.

* * *

“She fits right in.”

“Looks like she belongs.”

“This is temporary, remember?” I swallowed the nasty taste of my own words with a bottled water and tried to find a way out of this conversation with Davis and Mason.

“Doesn’t need to be,” Mason replied. “You can’t take your eyes off her.”

I couldn’t take my eyes off her because her dress was shorter than I’d first thought. Tight at her chest, slim little straps I could tear with one quick tug, and every time the breeze blew, the skirt lifted to give me a peek at her creamy thighs.

Also because Hailey kept laughing, and with Eden so massively pregnant, she was trying to help her out with her little kids, which currently meant she has hold of one of the youngest ones by the hand and was helping her grab a plate of snacks from the long buffet table on Cole’s back patio.

“I will discuss my situation with Hailey when you find a woman who can stand you for more than one night, Yeets.”

“Aw. That’s not fair. I don’t want any woman for more than a night.” He scratched the scruff on his chin. “Maybe two if they’re really bendy.”

I rolled my eyes. Kids these days. So he wasn’t a kid, he was actually Hailey’s age, but when I was with her I didn’t feel that small gap like I did with Mason. Maybe that was because he was still thinking with his smaller brain. Hailey had her head on right.

Today hadn’t been horrible, even if we’d now been here for much longer than the hour I’d wanted. As soon as we were welcomed into Cole’s house by Eden, she swept Hailey out to the back patio where the rest of the women had congregated. Kids chased each other, husbands brought their wives fresh drinks or snacks, maybe an errant child who’d escaped the backyard.

Jasper, Cole’s son, was currently jumping his life away in one of the three inflatable bounce houses and the smaller ones were alternating between a small bounce house and a splash pad that included a sprinkler that somehow, forced them to squeal at the tops of their lungs like the water was acid every single time they darted through it.

Kids were madness.

I glanced back at Hailey who was crouched down in front of one, smiling as she wiped their cherry juice-stained cheeks off.

Kids were madness, but were they as horrible as I always thought they were?

Fuck. I took another swallow of water. What was going on with me?

“You talk to Caldwell yet?” Davis asked.

“Trying to avoid him.” I shouldn’t have. He was my coach. OTAs were coming soon, and it’d be best to be in a good position with him when they started. From what I’d heard, he seemed to understand our team was tight and didn't need any major overhauls. Perhaps I should have given him more credit for not changing up the assistant coach or coordinators. Bowles retired, but he retired on top.

We could stay there without a massive change in coaching staff. Either Caldwell saw that, which would earn my respect, or he was giving them a chance to screw up before canning them.

Either way, it still felt strange to take coaching direction from a man who would have been eight when our old coach started coaching thirty years ago.

“I like him,” Mason chimed in. “Talked with him yesterday after practice, seems like a cool guy. Wants what’s best for us, which is winning, and I don’t fault him for that.”

“We already win almost every single game.”

“Yeah, he said that too. Said he wanted to fine-tune the lines to get better blocks for offense to keep us on top. But likes our plays. Knows the way we run them.”

Which was exactly what I would have done. We’d lost a starting cornerback and the right tackle. One was traded, one retired. Their drafts and trades had so far filled in those gaps and the new guys to the team slid right in.

“I’ll go find him.”

Had to sooner or later.

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