It had taken us much longer than three hours to get to Chico with all the stops and lunch. Then there had been the fiasco with the rooms and the big game was early in the morning. I glanced toward the team—at least the members of it who hadn’t gone off exploring—and realized Gage was probably right.
They were getting antsy, grumbling and scowling when just a little while ago, they’d been all smiles. I nodded at my friend and grabbed my jacket off the back of a couch in the waiting area. “By the looks of things, we might not even have a full thirty minutes. What did you have in mind?”
“Pizza,” he said without hesitating. “There’s a little Italian joint a couple blocks away. It’ll be easier to walk it. We won’t need to worry about finding parking that way.”
“I’m right behind you,” I said, looking around for Maisie, but she’d disappeared with Brody a few minutes ago.
I fell into step beside Gage, the two of us pushing through the lobby doors and out into the October evening. On our way to the pizza place, we talked about the game and the strategies he’d devised for the kids.
When we drew close to the restaurant, I caught a whiff of garlic and molten cheese even out here on the sidewalk. Gage groaned as he inhaled. “God, what is about bubbling cheese that makes anyone weak at the knees?”
I laughed, but I wasn’t about to argue. “What areourplans for dinner? Are we getting pizzas for the parents as well?”
“Nope, we’re all fending for ourselves,” he said. “The first priority is the kids.”
“Got it.”
We put in an order so big that the guy behind the counter did a double-take. Twelve large pizzas with all the toppings, enough breadsticks to fill a bathtub, and a couple of salads so we had plausible deniability in case the parents expected greens.
While we waited, Gage leaned back against the counter and gave me a look I’d seen a hundred times in the last couple months. It meant he was about to scratch where it wasn’t itching. “So, did you buy that van just to impress Maisie?”
I barked out a laugh. “No. I bought it because her car is too damn small. Brody’s on the ice every other day, hauling around gear, and golf clubs, and God only knows what’s next. The van made sense. It’s a good investment for the future.”
His mouth tugged into a know-it-all grin. “Are you even hearing yourself right now?”
“Yeah?” I frowned. “What about it? You were a seven-year-old boy once. You know how much space you need for all your stuff.”
“Yeah, butyou’renot a seven-year-old boy and your other cars suited you just fine until now. Face it, the van isn’t an investment. It’s you being all in on Maisie and her son.”
I shoved my hands into my pockets, but he wasn’t wrong. The van wasn’t about convenience for me. It was about showing up, making their lives easier, and proving I could be the kind of man they could count on.
The kind of man she deserves.
Gage clapped me on the shoulder. “You’re doing the right thing, brother. Once all the awkwardness of this being an arrangement wears off, you and Maisie are going to be really happy together. I can feel it. And if not, there’s plenty of room in the van to sleep.”
The kid behind the counter called out our order number and slid stacks of boxes toward us. I grabbed half and Gage took the rest, but as we walked back toward the hotel, his words echoed in my head.
Happy together.
I’d never really pictured myself as a family man, the kind of guy who went home to the wife every night, excited to get home and see her. Having a kid in said home had factored into my planning even less.
I’d never wanted any of that, but now? With Maisie, the prospect of it didn’t feel like a trap. It felt like a possibility.
By the time we got back, the boys had taken over the biggest suite and they were sprawled across every surface. Video games were already blaring on the TV and duffel bags littered almost every inch of the floor, some of their contents already spilling out.
“Alright, guys,” Gage called. “Grub’s up. Come get it while it’s still hot.”
As if operating on a collective hive mind, they looked up, their faces turned our way, gazes honing in on the pizzas. They got up from wherever they’d been sprawled out and raced over. A couple of the moms laughed as they watched the boys swarm around us, but one in particular took charge, issuing orders like a drill sergeant and quickly getting them into a more orderly formation.
Once they were in lines for the pizza and the frenzy had died down, she looked over at us. “Why don’t all of you guys head downstairs for dinner? I’ll stay behind and make sure they don’t burn the place down.”
A few more moms volunteered to stay with the kids, apparently happy to grab some of the food that was already here. Maisie was hovering near the doorway, looking like she was torn between making an escape with the rest of the parents or staying up here with Brody and his friends.
I weaved my way toward her across the room, taking in the strands of dark hair that had escaped her ponytail and the uncertainty in those deep green eyes. When I reached her, I nudged her elbow with my own and tipped my head to the hallway.
“Come downstairs with me,” I said. “They’ll be fine. The boys aren’t leaving this room and they don’t need everyone to stay behind.”
She gave me a side-eyed glance, her shoulders tense under her light jacket. “I’m not sure. Shouldn’t I stay with Brody?”
