Thomas puts his car into park. “I told you almost everybody on the team RSVP’d. Hoffman told me yesterday that his daughter was excited to come play with Luca again.”
I smile instantly. His head coach’s adorable daughter, Gemma, had a playdate with Luca almost a year ago now. Since, they’ve insisted on meeting up every chance they get. Whenever Luca tags along with Kourtney, and a reluctant Brad, to games, he always finds Gemma and spends most of the time with her.
“He’s got a crush,” I tell Thomas, my smile growing. “Apparently, he’s always asking Kourt when they can see each other again.”
He chuckles. “From what I gather, it’s mutual.”
I should have known it would happen. The last time I went over to Kourtney’s, Gemma and Luca were in his room watching videos of kids playing claw machines. Gemma told Luca all about the prizes she’d won from them in the past and made me drive them to the nearest store that had one so she could prove it to him.
She won them both stuffed animals.
I’m excited for their future wedding.
“I still can’t believe you got him a vending machine,” I grumble, getting out of the car. It’s been two years of the ongoing joke, and Thomas finally found one. “You did it just to piss off Brad.”
Thomas grins. “Of course I did. The dude is a prick.”
I roll my eyes. “Luca is going to officially crown you his new favorite person, and Kourtney will no longer like you. You’ve been warned.”
He grabs my hand, interweaving our fingers, and walks me toward the front entrance. It took a long time for me to be comfortable with the public affection. Even something as simple as holding hands made me cautious. People would watch, somea little too closely. It wasn’t until about a year after truly giving this a chance that I stopped caring. Inevitably, so did they.
Thomas and I weren’t new news anymore at that point. He was happy. I was happy. His ex-wife and hernewwife were happy. Whatever the press came up with to get a quick buck stopped mattering because people were rooting for us, not condemning us. There was no story and there were no villains.
“I’ll find a way to make it up to her,” he tells me, breaking me from my thoughts.
I eye him. “How?”
He shrugs. “Do you think finding her a good divorce lawyer and paying for everything would do?”
That makes me snort. “Good luck. I’ve been trying to make that happen for years.”
He hums but doesn’t have a chance to speak more about it when we walk in and see everybody spread out. His teammates all greet him with handshakes and high-fives. A few of them give him a half-hug and back clap before hugging me and pointing to where the birthday boy is showing Gemma a game. Puck, Honor’s service dog, is sitting on the ground beside her while looking in our direction.
Bodhi Hoffman and Honor, who I’ve come to adore, are watching their daughter with a similar smile as mine. “Are you guys picturing their wedding too?” I ask, sidling up beside them.
Honor laughs at the twisted face her husband makes. “I’m pretty sure Luca is the only boy Bodhi will approve of.”
“As he should,” my sister says, popping up from who knows where. “My son is amazing.”
Bodhi sighs heavily. “He is,” he replies, almost sad by it.
I get it, though. Kourtney tells me all the time that she’s sad how quickly Luca has grown. I’m not even his parent, but it feels like yesterday when I held him as a baby in the hospital.
Honor leans her cheek on Bodhi’s shoulder, wrapping her arm around his. “Are you going to be this way with your other daughter too?”
I stand straighter, looking between them with a huge smile on my face. “Are you pregnant?”
I’ve gotten to know Honor since ‘officially’ dating Thomas, and I’ve learned her battles with PCOS and infertility over the years. They’ve talked in depth about having a child if they could, but I never pressed them on it because I know it’s a sensitive subject.
Honor bites down on her bottom lip, peeks at her husband, and then nods as she meets my eyes again. “We are.”
Thomas claps his head coach on the arm. “I didn’t know. Congrats, man.”
Bodhi smiles. “Thanks. We’re very excited about it. Gemma is too. It’s a wonder she hasn’t told more people. She decided to announce it to her class during show and tell by taking the ultrasound in.”
“At least she didn’t draw a picture showing how the kid was made,” Thomas muses.
Kourtney snorts. “That would have been hilarious.”
