“What?” I yell out. “No fucking way. The season is about to start. I can’t shut down now.”
Harper lifts her head and gasps from her seat, coloring at Fallon’s desk. “Kennedy. No cursing. You owe me a bag of Skittles. You’re very capricious with your word choices.”
Harper Montgomery is officially the coolest kid I’ve ever met in my life. She’s like a mini adult. Her vocabulary is insane. Apparently she has word of the day toilet paper and remembers to use the words in her daily conversation. I thinkmyvocabulary has increased tenfold since meeting her just a few weeks ago.
Despite having a slightly darker hue to her hair than Fallon, she otherwise looks just like her mother, meaning she’s gorgeous. They both have button noses and blue eyes that are nearly turquoise. Harper is a lucky little girl in more ways than one.
Fallon has quickly become my friend. More than a friend. A confidant. I almost told her about the Vegas wedding last week. She’s just so easy to talk to and has taken a genuine interest in my life, always asking questions, and always vested in my answers. For the first time in my life, I have an older woman who I look up to. She’s not quite fifteen years older than me, but she’s a mother and acts like one. Arealone. Watching her interactions with Harper shows me what motherly love and affection are supposed to look like. I know I’d be less fucked up if Fallonwas my mother. I would have done anything to be loved the way Harper is so obviously and outwardly loved.
Fallon also does way more than I’m guessing she’s under contract to do for the Beavers. She talks to us about our diets, clearly fascinated by the science of food intake and muscle building. I know Beau believes in that too. I think I’m pretty good about what I eat, but I don’t make myself crazy. I’m lucky I don’t have to. Yet.
She’s also participatory in practices with an endless supply of energy. Coach Carroll’s belly is getting bigger by the minute. Fallon steps in all the time to help with the more physical drills. She’s like the Energizer Bunny, and every single person on this team loves the breath of fresh air she brings to our group.
I jokingly narrow my eyes at Harper. “Why do you like Skittles so much?”
Her chin drops in shock. “Because it’s the greatest candy ever created. Mommy says every woman has a sweet tooth. There’s one sweet item that’s their weakness, and they can’t live without it. It’s a rite of passage, and it’s okay to indulge from time to time.” She whispers, “Mommy indulges every night in her weakness.”
“What’s her weakness? I need to know how to bribe her to clear me to play.”
Fallon covers Harper’s mouth, but Harper manages to mumble, “Rum raisin ice cream.”
Fallon scrunches her nose. “Traitor.”
Harper giggles. “It’s true. Mommy eats a pint of it every night I sleep at her house.”
“Harper,” Fallon jokingly chastises, “enough with the big mouth.”
I both love and envy their relationship. Even though I know Fallon shares equal custody with Tanner, she and Harper are just as close as mothers and daughters are supposed to be. I missed out on so much by having a shitty mother.
Harper and I smile at each other. I offer her a high-five. “Thanks for the intel. You just earned yourself two bags of Skittles.”
She smacks my hand hard and then pumps her fist. “Yes!”
I look back at Fallon and then point to my thigh. “Can we negotiate this? I don’t want to be shut down the whole week. It’s an important week.”
Our season begins in two weeks. I can’t be shut down now when the intensity of practices is reaching its height. Our team is gelling. We could very well make a run for the championship this year.
Fallon toggles her head back and forth in contemplation. “Three days. Give me three days of solid rest, and then I’ll reevaluate. If I feel any tightness in the leg or see any swelling in the ankle, I’m extending it. Get as much protein, fruit, and veggies as possible into your diet. Make yourself a good piece of steak or salmon for dinner each night. Lunch too.”
Harper hangs on every word her mother says as if it’s gospel. She nods in agreement and says, “Daddy is crazy about Bailey’s diet with my sisters in her belly. He makes her dinner every night and forces her to make it all gone. I heard him whisper to her the other night that he was going to spank her if she didn’t finish her veggies. The weird thing is that Bailey smiled. It was like she wanted to get spanked.”
I can’t help but let out a laugh. Fallon and I share bemused looks, and she says, “Yep, that sounds like your father.”
As if on cue, Bailey walks into the training room and asks, “What sounds like Tanner?”
Fallon and I remain tight-lipped, but Loose Lips Little Harper responds, “That Daddy spanks you if you don’t finish your veggies.”
Bailey stops short and pinches her lips together, trying to fight a smile. She shakes her head. “Your father is the worst whisperer on the face of the planet.”
Fallon lets out a laugh as she walks toward Bailey and pullsher into the warmest embrace. They act like best friends, not like an ex-wife and a current wife.
She rubs Bailey’s back, “How do you feel?”
Bailey exhales a long breath. “Tired. I’m always so darn tired.”
Fallon nods. “When I was pregnant with Harper, I’d sleep under my desk or in my car during my lunch breaks. I can take her tonight if you need to rest.”
Bailey shakes her head. “No, I promised Harper a few rounds in the batting cage tonight. Plus, don’t you have a hot date?” Bailey wiggles her eyebrows up and down.
