It was her first official game back, and I was nervous for her.
Margie stirred from sleep against my chest and sat up, her face covered in wrinkle lines from my tee.
She blinked and looked around, surprise to find herself out in the open air.
She yawned, making the cutest sound.
Then she spotted the man beside her and leaned over to him.
Sawyer, her grandpa, spoiled the absolute fuck out of her.
The two were disgustingly cute together.
Sawyer took her out of my hands and cuddled her close, wrapping the blanket around her to keep her from getting cold.
It was the first of March, but a small dusting of snow had covered the ground overnight, and the temperature was still a brisk thirty-five.
My girl was bundled up like an Eskimo, and the only thing you could really see were her cheeks, nose, and eyes.
She also had the blanket that she could never sleep without to keep her warm, as well as the body heat of Dad’s chest as he unzipped his coat and tucked her inside before covering them both up.
“I’ll be back,” I said.
Denver stood up to let me by, and I jerked my chin up at the rest of the Dixie Wardens that were able to make it that day.
It wasn’t often that they could drop what they were doing during the middle of the day to catch a game. But they did when they could.
“Tell her if she scores a goal, she can pick where we go to eat tonight,” Mable, Romeo’s wife, tittered as I passed.
“She’ll be ravenous after the game, so that might very well motivate her,” I teased.
I climbed down the rest of the stairs toward the Cowgirls bench where I could see my girl standing on the sidelines juggling the ball, looking cool as a cucumber but knowing she was anything but.
She didn’t see me coming until I was directly behind her at the bottom of the stairs.
The sound of her juggling the ball got louder and louder the closer I got.
“Net,” I called when she’d lost control of the ball.
She whirled and turned, and the grin that crossed over her face was nothing short of magnificent.
Jesus, she was so beautiful.
“Hey,” she breathed, abandoning the ball and heading my way.
She stepped up onto the bench, her cleats making a loud clattering noise, and stretched up onto her tippy toes to offer me her lips.
The trainer and another girl that were working with each other just a bit down the bench said, “Awwww.”
The team dynamics had changed considerably since Nettie and Magnolia had arrived.
They weren’t a cohesive unit yet since they hadn’t really played many full games together, but they were getting there. Much better than what they’d been only a few months ago.
The teammate that was on the bench had been one of the least likable not too long ago. But it was obvious that her and Nettie had bonded.
“Oh, stuff it.” Nettie stuck out her tongue to the woman. “Didn’t I see you making out with your husband before we came out here?”
The woman blushed. “Shut up.”
