Chapter 20 #2
I can’t think of anywhere I’d want to be less tonight than in a crowded bar with hockey players celebrating a big win. Normally, we’d have a Saturday game, but this weekend we only had a Friday night game, so I’m sure they’re going to be insane. “Sorry, I’m taking Momma out for dinner.”
“What about you, Jones?”
“Are Coop and Nate going?”
Shane laughs, running his fingers through his dark flow of hair still damp from showering. “They’re both coming, but Coop only said yes after Ellie did. He figured Jack wouldn’t be going out tonight, so someone needs to babysit everyone.”
Momma turns toward me, and I know what she’s going to say before she says it. “You should go out with your friends. It’s getting late anyway, and I could go back to the hotel.”
“Hel—heck no, I want to celebrate with you,” I say, managing to catch myself just in time, but she still lifts an eyebrow at my close call.
“We see Jack too much, please, go with him. Give us a break,” Dylan adds, and I roll my eyes, but at least this is better than our conversation this morning.
“And he tried to tell you I was being mean to him. Momma, do you see what I have to deal with?” I ask, but I can’t even fight the smile on my face because I’m just so damn glad she’s here.
She’s too busy talking to Al to hear me. “—coming too, right?” Momma asks, and Al’s cheeks flush as she twists a curl. I wonder if she knows how much it distracts me when she does it.
“I really don’t want to impose. Jack’s been so excited to see you, and I don’t want to take any time away from you,” Al says, glancing at me. Does she want to go to the bars with everyone else?
“Don’t do anything stupid tonight,” I say, and Shane chuckles, pulling Dylan with him.
“No promises, Captain,” he says, saluting me before they walk away.
“Jack, will you please tell Alondra she’s welcome to come to dinner with us?” Momma asks, and my smile widens. I knew she’d love Al once she met her.
“Please come with us. It’s not imposing at all if I want you there.” I give Alondra my best smile, hoping she’ll say yes. I can’t think of a better way to end today than with dinner with both of them.
“Are you sure?” she asks, still seeming doubtful we’d want her there.
“It’s decided, you’re coming,” Mom says, looping her arm with Alondra’s, and I flex my hand, fighting the urge to place my arm around her again. Am I acting like she’s my girlfriend if I do that?
I shove the thought to the back of my mind, trying to focus instead on how everything tonight seems to be going right.
It doesn’t take us long to get to the local diner I usually take Momma to when she’s here.
It reminds me of the diner back home she used to take me to after my games if we had the money to spare.
I left my jacket and tie in the truck, but I was worried that if I stopped at my house to change, Al would change her mind about coming with us.
“Three hot chocolates coming right up,” the waitress, Cindy, says, skillfully balancing all three mugs to set them carefully on the table. I reach to help her pass them, needing to feel useful. “Are you ready to order some dinner?” she asks, pulling a notepad out of her apron, and I shake my head.
“Can we have a few minutes?” Momma asks, and the older woman nods.
“Of course, sugar. I’ll circle back,” she says, walking off.
I take a sip of the hot chocolate, immediately burning my tongue, and I wince, swallowing it.
“I’m sorry, did you just drink your hot chocolate without even blowing on it?” Al asks, gaping at me in surprise from her seat next to me, and a quiet laugh rings from Momma across from us.
“He’s never waited to drink his hot chocolate. You’d think Jack would learn after all the cups of hot chocolate we would drink after his games, but his skull is a little thick,” she teases, giving me a warm smile.
“Okay, wait, let me explain,” I say, laughing. “If you burn your tongue to start with, then it’s already burnt so you can just keep drinking it.”
Alondra’s hazel eyes widen and she wraps her hands around her mug. “No. Just . . . no. That doesn’t make any sense, Jack.”
“I’ve tried to tell him that for years, but maybe he’ll listen to you,” Momma says, combing her light brown hair back into a bun. It’s crazy to think that when she was the same age I am now, she was chasing around a three-year old.
“It works,” I argue, trying to defend myself. I set my mug down, pushing up the sleeves of my button-up to try to get more comfortable.
“I don’t want a burnt tongue,” Alondra says, blowing on her mug to cool hers, but whatever, I think my way works just fine. “So what do you guys have planned to do tomorrow?”
“I promised Jack I’d make some cookies for his roommates this weekend, but I think we’re going to go to the aquarium,” Momma says, picking up her menu to look through it.
“I’ve heard a lot about your cookies. They sound legendary,” Al says, and my stomach rumbles at the thought of them.
“I’ll make sure to set some aside for you.
I’ve heard about the fights that have broken out in their house over them, and there’s no reason for you to get caught in the middle of grown men fighting over cookies,” she says, shaking her head.
“You’ll have to send me the recipe for the face masks you guys did, and maybe we’ll do that tomorrow night.
I bet I could get all four of them to try it,” Momma says, and Al giggles, taking a small sip of her hot chocolate.
“If anyone could convince them, I think it’d be you, but you’ll probably want to use the cookies as leverage.”
“You might be a genius,” she says, but my mind is stuck on how she found out about the face masks in the first place because I don’t remember telling her. What exactly did they talk about during the game?
“Did you show her the pictures?” I ask, looking at Alondra, and she bites her lower lip, trying to hide her smile as she shakes her head.
“Wasn’t me, but now I wish it was,” Al says, giving me a smile before turning back to my mom. “Did Jack tell you how he got me to go to his games last weekend?”
Momma shakes her head, looking at me curiously. “No, he didn’t say anything other than you went, and he thinks you’re his new good luck charm.”
“Oh really?” Al asks, and I feel my face flush because I did tell Momma that, but I wasn’t planning on letting Al know she’s my new superstition, even if the way I played tonight confirmed it.
“Momma,” I complain, rubbing the back of my neck.
“Oh hush, you’re fine,” she says, waving me off. I definitely underestimated the trouble they could get into together. “So how did he get you to go?”
“He cheated at rock paper scissors.”
“How do you even cheat at rock paper scissors?” Momma asks, her blue eyes lighting up with amusement.
Al opens her mouth to explain, but I scramble to answer before she can throw me under the bus any further.
“I’m friends with Alondra’s cousin, Macy, and she might have shared with me that Al’s default when there’s a disagreement is to play rock paper scissors, but she always picks rock,” I explain, and Momma shakes her head.
“Just don’t play cards with him. Jack has sticky fingers.
He’s not as innocent as he pretends to be,” she warns Alondra.
I hide my smile by taking a sip of my hot chocolate as I drape my arm over the back of the booth.
She then tells Alondra about the time I hustled her out of a whole bowl of candy while playing Go Fish because she didn’t realize there was a mirror behind her showing me all her cards.
I’ve told Momma a lot of stories about Alondra, and I didn’t have any doubt they’d like each other.
What I didn’t expect was how happy I would feel seeing them get along.
I wait for Momma to shut her door before I get back in my truck, but when I glance over at Al in the passenger seat, her eyes are shut as she leans against the headrest. “Hey, darlin’?
” I ask, and her lashes flutter as they open for a brief moment to look at me before closing again as she hums an unintelligible response.
“Thanks for coming tonight. Momma was excited to meet you.”
“Aw, pretty boy. I think it’s sweet you talk about me to your mom,” she says, yawning while I reverse and pull out of the parking lot.
I clear my throat, trying to sort through the storm swirling in my head. “I’m really glad you came tonight, Al. I hope you had fun,” I say, taking another peek at her after stopping at a red light, unable to hide my smile at the sight of Alondra wearing my jersey.
She blinks her eyes, catching me staring at her, but instead of saying something sassy with her smart mouth that haunts my dreams, Al smiles back at me. “Everyone was right, your mom is pretty great.”
I tap my fingers against the steering wheel, looking back at the stoplight. This red light is taking forever.
“She is,” I agree.
“You look just like her.”
Thankfully. “I know. I’d rather look like her, though,” I say, feeling restless.
I bet everyone’s still at Twin City. I could drop Al off at her place, and lock everything up myself before going to meet everyone and then backtrack to crash on the couch again.
“Back to your place?” I ask, and this time her eyes are shut again when I look.
“Can we go back to yours?” she mumbles, and I’m surprised.
“You sure?”
She nods, shivering a little, and I turn up the heat, directing the vent toward Alondra. It doesn’t work as well as it used to, and it’s colder than it should be for this time of year.
Al’s asleep by the time I’m parking in the driveway, and I feel bad waking her up. “Sleep,” she moans, and I huff a quiet laugh.
“You can sleep, but you have to get inside first.”
She sighs, reaching to undo her seatbelt as I get out. I help Al open her door, and she looks so tired. “Ellie said she was staying at Sara’s tonight, but I don’t have to crash here tonight if you don’t want me to,” Alondra says, blinking slowly at me.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind,” I reassure her, offering a hand to help her out of the truck.