Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 99017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
I shove at his chest with a tight laugh before swiping at my face through my mask. “No, you fuck, I’m not having a Menty B.”
“Are you sure?” he asks, relaxing as I continue to smile. “Half the Olds I know are having Menty Bs this year. Something in the water or some shit.”
“No, I’m just—”
Before I can finish, Nix and Grammercy swoop in on either side of us, wrapping me in a stinky hug. “Kate! How’s it feel to be a bona fide legend?” Nix shouts, clapping my back.
“Aw, it feels good,” Grammercy says, shooting me a knowing grin. “Especially with your bébés here. I know those tears. Those are happy papa tears.”
I nod, fighting another wave of emotion, even as I laugh and swipe at my face again. Before I can finish pulling myself together, I’m mobbed by a riot of green jerseys delivering helmet-bonks and gloved hands hammering my shoulder pads. Torrance shouts something about “looking at Coach for a pic,” but I can’t hear clearly over the rush of blood in my ears.
I catch another glimpse of the Jumbotron, but it isn’t the girls up there anymore. It’s me, the old fogey of the Voodoo, caught in a tight zoom, looking like I just took a puck to the gut but kind of liked it.
Kind of loved it, in fact, because I’m a sappy old man.
I am a sap. I love these men, this team. I love Louisiana and all the fans cheering their heads off as we skate toward the tunnel. And I love my family—my mom, and brother, aunts, uncles and cousins and, most of all, my baby girls.
I love them so much, it’s a struggle to keep my shit together through the post-game interviews and a quick shower. I can’t wait to see them, to scoop them up and hug them tight and tell them how much their present meant to me.
As I finally jog toward the family waiting area, bag knocking against my side, it feels like I’m overflowing with emotion. With happiness. With love.
I’m a lover. I always have been.
All the darkness surrounding the end of my marriage, the crushing blow of the divorce, and the agony of the past few months since Frederica died almost made me forget…but now I remember.
Now I remember how good it feels to let love fill you up until it overflows.
When I burst into the waiting area, I don’t even try to contain it. I drop my bag and rush toward my girls, all my girls. Before I know it, Clover and Ava and Bella are all in my arms again, just like after the Muddy Ball Disaster. But this time no one is crying or sad or soaking wet.
We’re all beaming, bouncing, laughing, hugging, and kissing. Somehow, I retain enough self-awareness to keep the kisses confined to the girls’ heads, their cheeks, and then Bella’s belly as I lift her to blow a raspberry on her tummy to make her laugh even harder, but for a second there…
For a second, I’m tempted to wrap an arm around Clover, pull her in, and show her how much I’ve missed the feel of her. The taste of her.
I still dream about the way she sighed into my mouth every fucking night.
I still take myself in hand in the shower to thoughts of her coming on my fingers, her wetness hot on my skin. Still mourn the fact that I’ll never feel her drenching my cock with an intensity I know isn’t healthy.
And yes, I’ll likely be back in the “Fucking your Nanny Isn’t on the Table, and Neither is Falling in Love with Her” despair pit by tomorrow morning, but for now…
Now, I’m still flying high as I tell her, “You have to come celebrate with us. We’re going to Packy’s Pizza.”
She laughs. “The place with the talking elephant and the video games?”
I beam and nod. “Yeah. The whole team is coming.” I grin down at Ava and Bella. “The guys want to play Skee-Ball until they win enough tickets to get the girls a giant Packy stuffy to take home.”
“Yay!” Ava cheers, bouncing with excitement beside me as Bella gasps in happiness too intense for squeals. “I love Skee-Ball! And Packy’s cotton candy! Can we get cotton candy, Daddy?”
“You sure can,” I say. “And you can stay up until ten o’clock.”
Bella’s eyes get even bigger. “Oh my gosh. I’m like a grown-up now.”
Clover laughs. “You are, but I’m afraid, I am not. I really should get home and get some sleep. But you guys have so much fun and be sure to—”
“Please,” I say, taking her hand, fighting to ignore the electricity that flows up my arm the second her fingers brush mine. “This meant so much to me. The sign, and that you took off work with your band to bring the girls to the game. Really. I’d like to say thank you by buying you pizza and beer. And you don’t have to watch the girls or anything while we’re there. I’ll look after them. You can just…have fun. Play Skee-Ball. Eat cheesy garlic bread. Whatever.”