Hayes slides out and hooks his phone up to the Bluetooth speaker in the kitchen. “Happy” by Pharrell comes on, and Hayes dances over to us. He holds out his hands, and I take one, but Lake shakes her head.
Lincoln and Monroe rush into the room, both dancing, which is mostly jumping around.
Hayes spins me and dances us over to Lake. We hold our hands out to her, and she shakes her head, but Hayes grabs her hand, dancing in front of her as their arms swing back and forth.
I leave them and make a little circle with Monroe and Lincoln.
“Come on,” Hayes begs, and Lake finally moves her upper body back and forth.
I watch from the corner of my eye as her hips move. Hayes learned his dance moves somewhere because it doesn’t take long before he’s got her in full dance mode. The other two kids and I dance over to them, and we make one big circle. Hayes is clapping to the beat, Monroe joining in.
I grab Lake’s hand and dance with her. Finally, she’s smiling and laughing at Hayes as he falls to his knees and pretends he’s singing into a microphone to Monroe.
As the song ends, Lake’s laughing and dancing with her brother and sister, and I’m in Hayes’s arms. I lean my head on Hayes’s chest. Seeing them happy and smiling makes me feel as if we might be turning a corner.
“Movie time!” Lincoln runs into the family room, to the spot he made up himself, and tucks himself under the blanket.
Lake and Monroe follow, but I linger in the kitchen with Hayes.
We look at one another, and he places his finger and thumb on my chin, tilting my head. Then he bends down and kisses me. It’s short but sweet, and I already know what to name this feeling developing between us. It might have always been there and just had to bloom, but I love him, and that thought scares me more than it should.
“They’re kissing again,” Monroe groans.
“Come on,” Lincoln calls.
Hayes’s hand finds mine, and he leads me to our spot on the couch. I look at Lake after I snuggle into Hayes’s chest, and she smiles at me. Smiles like she’s happy for me, and like maybe she loves Hayes too.
Lincoln and Monroe are asleep within an hour, and Lake asks to go upstairs so she can chat with her friends. We say okay, and that leaves Hayes and me essentially alone.
“So how are things over at The Stables, The Barn… Paddock? Have they settled on a name yet?”
Hayes shakes his head. He’s rarely there, and he tells me Ruby keeps giving him shit for not bringing the kids by. She said she serves chocolate milk. It’s just hard to find the time.
“Jagger wanted us to become a little family, but when we have two twin brothers who don’t even talk to one another, that makes it difficult.”
I sit up straighter and tuck my legs under my body to be face-to-face with him. “I’m sorry, that sucks.”
“Yeah, but the plus side is that Ripley’s a great manager. He’s really been giving me props lately. I’ve been in the media room every game.”
“You are playing pretty amazing.”
He smiles, and I feel it in my chest. I’m so happy for him.
“Easton says it’s the power of Leighton.”
I chuckle. “Me? No.”
He holds out his arms, and I turn so I can still face him and rest my back over his body. “I think he’s right.”
I place my hand on his cheek. “No, Hayes, you’ve always been an amazing player. And if other people didn’t see that, then that’s their loss. Last year your mom was going through cancer treatments. You were lost.”
“That’s just it—you found me.”
I shake my head, but he shakes his back. I don’t want to be responsible for his success on the field because what happens if he has a bad game? Then am I the reason for his failure too?
“I think you found yourself.” I sit up, glancing at the sleeping kids, then straddle him. “Let’s take these kids up to bed.”
“You okay?” He grabs my hand, stopping me.
