“Wait, really?” he asked with wide eyes as he scrambled to hisfeet.
“Yeah, man, keep the streak up for me,” I said while giving him a knuckle punch.
He’d been watching on the sidelines cheering the last couple points and you could tell he was itching to join in. I was impressed the kid was so well-mannered, other kids would’ve thrown a tantrum to play right at that second, but it seemed he just wanted to be accepted as one of the guys, even though he was about half the size.
I watched a minute of their first round before trying to inconspicuously slip away to join the ladies. I was looking forward to catching up with my girl…My girl.The phrase felt so right in my mind, and it brought a smile to my face. I could see her talking over there and I’d fight a man just to catch any word coming out of her mouth. I wanted to know what she was saying, what she wasthinking…
I wandered up behind Ellie and put my hat on her as she was playing peek-a-boo with little Indie.
She pushed the hat further up so she could see and turned around to look at me with uncharacteristically loose posture, and she gave a real, authentic smile, with no eye-roll. It was like the tension had drained out of her, the mask had come off, the clouds had truly opened this time. I vowed right then to try to earn more of those smiles… even if I did have to steal babies and shove them in her arms to get them.
“So, give us the deets, how long have you guys been together?” Sav, who was sitting at the head of the ladies table, asked in a conspiratorial tone. Soon all the chatter died down and it felt like everyone was looking at us. It’s almost like there’s a beacon system in women- like relationship talk was coming out, so everyone shut it and listen up.
I saw pink rising into Ellie’s cheeks and knew this one would be up to me. It’s not like we weretogethertogether… even though I wanted us to be… and I definitely blurred the lines between fact and fantasy when it came to the two of us when Griff asked if I had a girl earlier today. But that was something Ellie didn’t need to know.
“Umm… since a wedding earlier this summer. Did you ladies know that Ellie’s a wedding organizer?” I tried to turn the subject away from us. “So, any of you ladies with a new rock on your hand, she’s your girl. She makes people stay on the dance floor as long as possible. Apparently if one couple leaves the dance floor it can throw the whole night into jeopardy,” I said seriously.
Ellie looked at me with a smirk. That got the ladies really going into wedding talk though, and they all had questions for Ellie. Two things almost all women seemed to love- again, don’t chew me out if I’m wrong because I’m strictly speaking according to my sisters -were #1- weddings, and #2- babies.
“Alright, y’all!” Griff announced, cutting through the women’s chit chat and the other lawn games going on. “Quick boat trip before food. So, everyone grab whatever drinks you want and meet on the dock. Break!” he called out and clapped his hands together.
Everyone slowly dispersed then- Sav grabbed up Indie to suntan lotion her chunky limbs again, and others started to wander around to find their beach towels and drinks.
Two defensemen were rolling out a hefty looking cooler and handing out beers and seltzers on their way to the dock.
“Bathroom?” I asked Ellie, causing her to jump a bit.
I followed behind her as she walked into the house. I guess one good thing about a shorty girl was that I could see everything over top of her. When she approached the sliding door, I reached around her to open it for her, and as we entered the large, state-of-the-art kitchen together, I could see those shoulders starting to tense up again.
“Hey.” I touched her lower back, and she jumped a couple inches away from me. “Easy,” I laughed. I tugged her arm to turn her around. “You don’t have to drink anything, no one will pressure you,” I assured her. That had to have been what was on her mind, unless… “You’re not afraid of water, are you?”
She threw me an ‘are-you-stupid?’ look and crossed her arms, but I just shrugged. If it was the drinking she was worried about, that was nothing that couldn’t be fixed. I knew how even harmless people could get pushy sometimes with a bit in their systems. It always turned into- ‘Why aren’t you drinking? What do you want? C’mon, we’ll have whatever you want, I’m sure of it…’ But I was a pro at trying to avoid those kinds of conversations. I knew from Grey’s experience that a lot of guys got trapped in the lower leagues because of the toll partying took on their bodies, and I was always determined not to let that happen to me. So, I always took partying in small doses, such a bad boy, I know.
I quickly moved around her and grabbed a seltzer from the fridge, looked around us to make sure the coast was clear, then dumped it down the drain. I filled the empty back up with tap water.
I turned and handed her the full can. “Good?” Iasked.
Her mouth seemed to fall open a little, and she slowly took the drink from me.
“Thank you,” she uttered with her eyebrows up, seeminglysurprised.
I took the opportunity to smooth a hand down her back and she ever so slightly leaned into me. “I told you I wouldn’t leave you hanging. Linemates.”
She chewed the inside of her lip and the softness in her won out. She gave me a small smile. I was pretty sure I was starting to finally win her over and make her believe just how interested I was in her.
“What was that out there? You telling them I was a wedding planner? Trying to set me up for some goals?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow up at me.
“I do like to score, baby.”
She looked around to make sure we were alone before whispering up to me. “I get the sense they think we’re really dating, TJ.”
Shit. I felt my body pause.
I grabbed at the front of my hair, thinking of how to smooth it over. “Huh. Yeah, maybe… Is that so bad?” I cracked a smile at her, trying to play it off.
She looked back at me like I was crazy.
“I mean… So, I might’ve fudged some details,” I admitted. “I wanted you to come with me today. I figured it’d be fun spending some more time together.”
