“Says the man wearing a visor. Seriously, Buster, WTF? It’s not card night.”
“Yeah, loser, man up,” Cubby added.
“I brought extra Longhorns caps, thinking you guys would finally back a winning team,” Tex said.
Everyone but Brad scoffed.
“Joe Trainer is coming to town from Ryker Falls. He wants to check out the Howler, and Fin Hudson is tagging along,” Jake said. “We can show them how real men work.”
That produced a round of hell yes’s.
“You started assembling your potato muffins, Baker Boy? Or are you stepping it up to potato vol-au-vents?” Brad asked.
“At least I can bake.”
“I’m thinking potato ice-cream,” Newman said. “Maybe with a touch of cinnamon.”
“You say cinnamon because it’s the only spice you know.” Buster threw the ball from hand to hand.
“I know parsley.”
“That’s a herb, you idiot. You stick with your pasta sauce.”
The insults got them warmed up and then they were ready. The play would be hot, fast, and physical, just what Noah needed.
He ran and took the pass and a Texan at the same time and felt the sting in his ribs. He’d be sore tomorrow. It was always a no-holds-barred game and not for the fainthearted. Noah loved it.
“Willow will kill me if the first thing our baby sees is a black eye,” Buster gritted, bracing his hands on his knees and gulping in air.
Noah made clucking noises.
“Whipped baker boy,” Jake said.
Noah jogged back and let go of the ball. It was a good spiral, if he said so himself, however the idiot catching it had hands like flippers.
“One job, McBride!”
Jake grunted as he hit the ground with Newman on top of him.
The play was hard and fast and when they were done, his shirt stuck to his body, so he tore it off and ran to the lake. Buster beat him with a war cry as he cannonballed into the cool, crisp water.
“God, that feels good,” Noah sighed, floating on his back. Above him was clear blue sky with a few wisps of cloud. It was cold, but energizing. Fall was cooling things down, but for now they could still handle swimming in the lake. Life, he had to acknowledge right then, was pretty damned good.
“I talked to Mikey again.” Jake paddled up and trod water beside him. “He was all attitude and aggression. I got him in a headlock, but he wasn’t giving anything away. Bran’s worried. Especially when Mikey didn’t take the time to read to Rose before she went to sleep. Those two love each other.”
“Home life, maybe?” Newman said.
“Maybe, but Connor seems to be getting his shit together, and their mom is back in town permanently. I thought everything there was good.”
They all thought about that as they floated about like flotsam on top of the lake.
“We need to keep an eye on him,” Jake added.
“That’s a given,” Noah added. “Do you think he could be into something he shouldn’t, Jake?”
“Like drugs?” He’d known his buddy’s sharp mind would make the leap.
“Yeah.”
