Page 83 of I Got You

He shakes his head.

I’m tired of messing around, and it’s time to be frank like Maggie had. “Do you want this beyond this facility and stadium?”

After a minute, he answers. “Yeah.”

“Are you sure because that sounded half-assed to me?”

“Yes. I want this.”

“Then quit making it so hard. Play because you love it, not because you’re trying to prove something or get people to notice. They’ll notice, but you want them to see your talent and what you have to offer them. Show them. Show me what you’ve got.”

He gives me the slightest nod, and I know that’s all I’m going to get. It’s up to him now.

He pushes away from the door but stops. “Do you think she meant what she said about Thanksgiving?”

“Which part?” I ask, just because I want to make him say it.

He huffs. “The part about coming to dinner.” He pauses. “I don’t…have anywhere else to be.”

“She meant it. You should come only if you can handle noise, pranks, and playing princesses.”

He scoffs. “Yeah, I bet Cole plays princesses all the time.”

“Cole,” I say matter-of-factly, “makes the prettiest of them all, and he’d be an excellent person to have your back this season and in the future. Not everybody is who you think they are. Give them a chance to prove you wrong.”

There might be something in that bit of advice that I might also need to chew on.

He nods and leaves while I rest back, curious if this conversation will actually change anything. Hope. I have hope. I think he’s a good kid. He’s young and has a lot to learn, but maybe he’ll give himself a chance.

I try to finish some computer work in the short time I have left, but my mind keeps going back to my conversation with Maggie. She’s going to be dancing with Danny The Flip Flop. I groan and run my hand over my head. I don’t know this guy, but I don’t like him…at all. He hurt Maggie, and I want to rip his head off. I can’t do that if she needs to dance with him, but I will make sure he and I have a clear understanding, and that is – she’s mine.

I remember we didn’t get to finish our conversation about what her lawyer advised. Maggie was about to tell me something when Coach interrupted. She was fidgeting with the hem of her shirt and seemed to shrink, so I think it was important and not necessarily something she wanted to share.

I shuffle the few papers on my desk and close down my computer. I need to get focused and get out to the field so I can go home and try really hard to keep my hands to myself and off my wife.

∞∞∞

I walk into the scent of garlic and the sound of rap music. I drop my keys and phone on the counter. Hank stands at the stove, dumping a large box of pasta into a steaming pot. Teddy and Garrett are at the island doing homework, and Liv is playing with one of her dolls.

“Who knew you were Chef Boyaredee?”

Hank rolls his eyes. “Yeah, right. Maggie said if I burn the pasta, I’m cooking dinner for the next two weeks.”

“So you’re going to watch the pot boil?”

Hank scoffs. “Absolutely.”

I’m just about to ask where she is when I hear her scream from down the hall. It’s a blood-curdling scream that has me running. I push through the bedroom door like I’m ready to take a hit. The screaming hasn’t stopped as I throw open the bathroom door, and Maggie launches herself at me, still screaming.

I spin around with her clinging to me like a spider monkey and see…nothing. I try to scan her for wounds or blood, but I quickly realize she’s plastered to me, practically naked. At some point in my state of panic, my hands found their way to her thighs, holding her legs wrapped tightly around me. In the mirror, I see she has on some sort of very tiny shorts and nothing else, but she’s covered because she’s glued herself to me.

“Get it! Get it!” she yells.

“Get what?” I try to search with my limited mobility but see nothing.

Her face is tucked into my neck, and I have no idea what she’s talking about. Given there’s no immediate danger, I’m perfectly happy to stay just like this for as long as she wants to.

“Down there.” She points towards the floor. The feel of her breath on my neck makes it difficult to think straight.

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