Page 16 of Wes
Natalia: I enjoyed it too. Why do teen boys always stink?
I burst out laughing and ignore the people who stare.
Wes: I’m not really
“Wes?”
My fingers halt at the voice, and my head shoots up. Her deep brown eyes look at me with confusion. Lines form on her forehead, making my hands eager to smooth them away. “Natalia?”
“Mom?”
“Dad?”
Outside looking in, the scene is amusing. The boys stare between us. Two of them are more confused than the others. Something must go off in Shorty’s head because some sort of knowledge flashes across his face.
“I thought you were picking up your son from the theater?” she asks before she looks at the quad in front of us.
“I am.” I clasp Reece on the shoulder and smile at him.
“How do you know Shorty’s mom, Dad?”
I glance between Shorty and Natalia and see a few similarities: the shape and color of their eyes and the same oval face. “I—remember I went to the doctors?”
“Yeah?”
“She was the nurse who helped me.”
The other boys coughed an “oh, yeah” under their breaths, but from the looks on the others’ faces, we all heard it. Shorty’s face is beet red and his fists are clenched.
“Boys!” I firmly state.
“Sorry…”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Kruze.”
“I’m sorry, Shorty’s mom.”
Thinking hard, I wonder how the hell I didn’t know she was one of my players’ moms. “You don’t make it to the games…” I mutter.
A mix of sadness and anger flashes in her eyes. Her mouth parts, but I grab her by the elbow and shift us a few feet away from the boys. Our sons watch us closely and speak quietly between themselves.
“I didn’t mean it that way, sweetheart. I’m just trying to figure out how I didn’t realize this.”
She nods and looks at our boys. “I didn’t realize it either. I suppose we would have figured it out on Thursday.”
“Thursday?” I ask.
She scoffs. “The game, I worked it so I could go. He doesn’t know.”
I smile. “You’re a really good mom, Natalia. Stop beating yourself up.”
She nods and stares at the boys. “Reece is really handsome. He takes after you.”
“Thanks. I can’t believe I didn’t ask your last name, or we would’ve figured this out by now.”
“It’s not like we’ve gone out on that many dates.”
