My mother smiled and her eyes lit up. “I’d be honored, Preston, if it’s okay with Nick.” She looked at me.
I nodded and lost my boyfriend to my mother’s kitchen.
After a delicious latelunch of roast turkey and every imaginable side dish, we all settled onto the sofas with dessert to watch the Pirates play. It was way more fun when you knew some of the players.
“Go, Declan. Go, go, go!” I yelled at the TV as Declan Miller took off down the sidelines, dodging defenders before he dragged the last one with him into the end zone.
“Yes! Fucking yes!!” I yelled again.
Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. I shrugged. “Hey, I know him. A lot of them, actually. They come into the bar all the time.”
“Any of them single?” Nicole asked.
I chuckled. “Not the ones I know.”
“Figures,” she muttered under her breath.
We watched as the kicking team took the field, and Dominick Rossi set up for the extra point. I didn’t look at Preston, because it was a non-issue for me.
The announcers were relaying all his stats and how he became a kicker after playing soccer for most of his life. If he made this kick, he will have made every field goal and extra point attempt over the last two seasons.
“Do you know him?” Nicole asked. “He’s cute.”
I chuckled and had to glance at Preston. “Andverymarried to a former Navy SEAL. Sorry, sis.”
She pouted and made us laugh.
We watched intently as Dom kicked the ball and split the uprights. The Pirates fans went nuts. The TV coverage showed him jogging off toward the sideline to be congratulated by Jackson Kincaid.
“Is that his husband?”
I laughed. “No. That’s his mentor, of sorts. They’re really close. Jackson is the reason Dom is kicking now.”
My dad looked over at me. “Seriously? That’s really cool.”
“Damn,” my sister said, “I should be a bartender at Alejandro’s.”
Preston snorted, and I leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.
“Nick,” my mom called, “would you boys like to come to dinner on Sunday?”
I looked at Preston. “Sorry mom, but we’re flying out to New York on Sunday for a business thing.”
Preston leaned forward to look at my parents. “I’m taking him to see the architecture of the buildings I want him to emulate in my new restaurant.”
My mom looked surprised. “That sounds amazing. Can I go? Your dad can handle things around here. I’ve never seen New York City.”
“Mom!” Nicole scolded.
My eyes widened at her request before she started laughing. “I’m kidding. Relax, son. I wouldn’t dream of interrupting yourbusiness trip.”
Preston relaxed back into the sofa, then whispered to me. “I see where you get it from now.”
I grinned, because he was right.
* * *
“Why didyou let me eat so much?”
