Monroe groans as he sinks his hand into his pocket and pulls out a couple of bills.
Sutton curls her fingers around the money before dropping to her haunches beside Monroe. She reaches out and pats his cheek patronizingly. “Better luck next time, buddy,” she says before racing toward Casey to hand over her gains.
Monroe mutters something under his breath while the rest of us laugh at his expense.
“Careful, she’ll keep charging you all day,” Cole points out from behind me. “Ask me how I know.”
Kodie and Sutton are about to serve again when two sopping wet dogs come racing through the court.
Their presence isn’t much of an issue, but the second both stop beside me and shake…yeah, that’s not great.
“What the fuck?” I bark. “Handsy, get your dogs under control.”
“Aw, but you’re their favorite,” he coos.
“I am not. They can’t stand me.”
“Ah, yeah. Sorry, I guess that explains why they chose you to do that next to. They know an asshole when they see one.”
The second the dogs have stopped showering me with water, Sutton appears, her hand once again outstretched.
“You’ll have college paid for by the end of the day,” Cole states as she marches toward him to collect more fines.
“I don’t need college paid for. I’m going to be on a hockey scholarship,” she announces confidently. “I just haven’t decided how long I’ll stay. I want to play professionally as soon as I can.”
“You’re graduating first, Peanut,” Kodie calls, clearly having heard this a million times already.
Sutton, apparently also tired of this argument, rolls her eyes and calls back, “I’ll have time after playing professionally to get my degree.” She shakes her head in exasperation as she takes more cash to Casey.
“You’ve got some fun years ahead of you, Big D,” Killer points out.
“Don’t,” Kodie mutters, rubbing the back of his neck, attempting to ease the tension. “Just don’t.”
I chuckle, but my mind quickly wanders to what my own future might look like. In a few years, am I going to have my own little determined, sassy girl? Or will Bea give me a boy? Obviously, a boy seems easier. I am one; I know what boys want and how to make them happy. Girls are a whole other beast entirely. But thanks to Sutton, I’m learning that they’re not all that different, really. She’s just as hockey mad as every boy I know. And I’m not going to inflate her ego by telling her, but she’s better than most of them as well. Talking about playing pro might be a dream for her right now, but we all know it’s going to happen one day. She’s going to take the PWHL by storm, I just know she is. At some point in the next twenty years, everyonewill know Sutton Rivers’ name, and it’ll have nothing to do with her father.
“Are we playing or what?” the girl in question asks the second she’s back on court.
“We’re playing,” Monroe confirms before throwing her the ball to attempt that hit again.
We spendall day at the beach. The volleyball turned into soccer at some point, and the girls went off to grab food and more beer, and by the time the sun began to sink in the sky, we all headed back to Kodie and Casey’s for a barbecue. Kodie wasn’t all that on board with it, but much like Linc and Cole, he is powerless but to go along with his woman’s plans.
Now, Sutton is splashing around in the pool, despite Kodie telling her a while ago that she needs to get ready for bed, and the rest of us are lounging around drinking beer and eating whatever comes off the grill. It’s been the perfect kind of summer day. I might be missing Linc and Parker, but these guys have welcomed me in as if I’ve always been here. From my very first day back in LA, they’ve accepted me without question. Linc told me they would, but I still didn’t believe it until I saw it for myself.
I was welcomed into Seattle with open arms, but I was a rookie back then; everything was overwhelming and incredibly exciting. Starting over here has been very different, and it hasn’t been helped by where my head has been at.
When I first moved here, I was in a bad place.
I’m still in a bad place. Hell knows I’m still fucking up left and right.
As they have all day, my thoughts drift back to Bea. I haven’t heard anything from her since lunch. Unable to stop myself, I pull my cell from my pocket and pull up our conversation.
Rett: How was your day?
The only other person I’ve ever checked in on like this has been Parker. But as weird as it feels to care about how someone else’s day has gone and if they’re happy, it also feels natural.
Baby Momma: It was good. Tiring. My feet are throbbing.
Rett: You need to get Sienna to give you a manicure.
