Page 48 of Romancing My Grumpy Goalie

So much for keeping things professional.

Nolan’s spinning donuts in the grassy field near the baseball diamond, shouting at the car and laughing hysterically.

“See if you can do a jump off that tree root over there,” Lucas suggests when he starts getting closer to the woods.

Nolan speeds to the root, and the Maxx launches into the air.

Now that was impressive. My stomach did a little flip-flop watching that.

“Yeah!” Nolan cheers. “I did it!” He’s getting braver now and ramps up the speed.

Lucas wasn’t kidding. The beast is crazy fast. Nolan guns it so hard the Maxx flips over three times before landing upside down.

“I can’t believe you have a Saturday off,” I say.

“Just a break before the big one,” he says. “If we win next week, we go to the Atlantic Cup Championship.”

Nolan runs after the car and turns it over atop the little hill where he crashed. But he doesn’t come back, and Lucas is still next to me. He drives the Maxx toward us.

“Whoa, buddy. Better slow down,” I say.

But he doesn’t react. He swerves the rig away from us, thank goodness, but then he’s racing it down the hill, and it’s picking up speed fast toward the duck pond.

Lucas jogs toward Nolan to take over the controller, and Nolan slams on the brakes right before hitting the water. But instead of stopping, the car cartwheels into the water.

Lucas changes course from Nolan to the pond and chases after the RC car that’s quickly sinking in the slimy water.

I run to Nolan and take the remote from him. “I think that’s enough for one day.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to!” Nolan says, his eyes mournful.

“You should say that to Lucas.” I don’t know anything about this car, but I hope he didn’t break it just now.

We head over to where Lucas is retrieving the Maxx from the muddy water. The same pond where Layla fell face-first into the mud before she married the town’s police chief. I know because she likes to tell that story all the time.

Lucas’s feet and legs are covered in mud. And so is the Maxx.

Nolan’s voice is small. “Did I ruin it?”

Lucas shakes his head. “Nah. We’ll have to clean it off and take out the battery so it can dry out, but other than a few tweaks, it shouldn’t be too big of a deal. You can help if you want.”

“Okay.” Nolan looks so eager to please Lucas. It’s like he worships him. Lucas is Nolan’s example of how to be a good man. Something my boy needs desperately. Too bad we can’t make a relationship work out. It could have been such a positive thing for Nolan.

“Yoo-hoo!” Mrs. Wheaton approaches in her favorite wide-brimmed hat with orange flowers. Aubrey wears a black tank top and leopard print shorts with her red hair down in loose waves. Sunglasses cover her eyes, and she waves over at us.

“What are y’all doing?” Aubrey asks as she approaches.

“We had a little accident,” Nolan says. “It was my fault.”

“And we can fix it together,” Lucas promises. “I have extra parts in the toolbox in my truck.”

Nolan brightens. “Okay.”

Aubrey eyes the mud caked on the Maxx. “What a mess.”

“And the boys don’t seem to mind,” Mrs. Wheaton says with a high-pitched chuckle.

“Not at all,” I agree.

---