Page 96 of In The Game

They all raise their hands and say, “Hi” in unison. Then they shift their eye contact to me while trying to hide smiles. My face feels like it’s on fire.

“Can I help with anything?” he asks.

Just then, Danielle walks through the sliding glass door. “Okay, everybody has cake and one of those stupid healthy-organic-whatever juice boxes. Where did I set my White Claw?” She looks around and her eyes catch on Barrett. Two seconds later, Cora enters and halts in her tracks. “Shit, save some pussy for the rest of us.”

I roll my lips together and give a pregnant blink. “And now you’ve met Danielle and Cora, Ezra’s moms.”

I grab a wad of napkins and shove them at Barrett. “Can you make sure the kids have napkins?”

“Sure.” He smiles over his shoulder at me as I try to shove him toward the sliding screen door, knowing I’m trying to get him out. “Ladies. Nice to meet you.” He nods.

In the backyard, Arthur yells, “Barrett!”The sound wraps me in a hug.

“What the hell, Raleigh! When were you going to tell us you’re dating an NHL player?!”

I don’t see these ladies often, but we have invited each other to all the birthday parties as a way to get together. We have a text thread we keep in touch in, but it’s not something I wanted to start sharing with everyone until he was ready.

“It’s still new.” I shrug. “We’re trying it out.”

“Well, we’ve been here for an hour and all we’ve talked about are the kids and stupid decorations, no offense, babe. They’re cute, but he’scute.”

“I’d climb him like a koala.”

“Where did you meet?” Jill asks, a big smile on her face.

“A hockey game, we had a work thing at the arena. There was a meet and greet with some of the players.” That’s our cover story for now. It’s hard not to smile just as wide; it’s fun having something new and exciting in my dating life. Something for me.

“I’m surprised he goes for, you know, normal women. Don’t hockey players usually date models and stuff?” Rochelle asks. The other women glare at her, and the silence suddenly feels heavy and awkward.

“I suppose it depends on the player,” I answer.

Jenna rescues the group from the building tension. “He better treat you well. You’ve been celibate for way too long to break it for some shithead. But I’ve heard Barrett’s a really nice guy, does a lot with charity and stuff. Do you think it’s getting serious?”

“Maybe? He’s an awesome person. Sometimes it’s like he’s too good to be true, ya know? And he’s been amazing with Arthur, it’s like they’re becoming best friends,” I say, looking outside and watching the two do some secret handshake.How come I don’t have a secret handshake?

“All I’m saying is that if you think it’s too good to be true, maybe it is…” Rochelle adds.

I keep staring out the window at how seamlessly Barrett has entered our life. It’s surprisingly been an easy adjustment. But saying it was too good to be true was meant as an expression,and she’s kind of being a bitch.

“Hey, Rochelle, you might want to check Henry and Harriet’s hair later. I saw them itching a lot.” Dani scrunches her nose and mimes scratching her head. “You wouldn’t want to be responsible for giving the rest of the kids head lice.”

“Oof, lice is such a pain in the ass. That would really suck. You have to wash every—”

“My kids don’t have lice!” she snaps. Jill turns around, rolling her lips together, attempting to cover her laugh at the outburst.

“Okay, so he’s phenomenal with Arthur,” Michelle says, getting us back on track. “What about…” Her eyebrows bounce up and down.

I simply smile. “Also phenomenal. Okay, come on, let’s go outside with the kids. He’s unarmed.”

We walk out to the backyard to find Barrett attempting a poorly done sleight-of-hand magic trick with a napkin.

Caleb wrinkles up his little nose. “You’re not very good at magic.”

“He’s really good at hockey though!” Arthur comes to his defense.

Barrett holds out his fist to Arthur, and he taps it with his miniature one. “My man.”

My heart.

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