Chapter 20
COOPER
Dad Joke Of The Day:
How did the barber win the race?
He knew a shortcut.
Mom: How do you feel about us coming out to your game next week?
Mom: Miss you and that sweet grand baby of mine.
Me: When are you thinking?
Dad: Knoxville game? Lucas can stay with us that night if you want. I’m sure he still loves his room service.
Me: Sounds good. I’ll make sure to get you tickets. Call me tomorrow and let me know the details of your trip!
Mom: Love you!
“Can I be Yoshi?” Lucas says from his spot on the couch as he and Jax start getting set up on the game.
“Of course, you can. I was going to pick Princess Peach anyways,” Jax says.
“She has a pretty dress. But Yoshi looks silly when he sticks his tongue out,” Lucas says with a giggle.
“I agree, Yoshi has always been my favorite,” I say as I grab my controller and select Donkey Kong as usual since he’s my second choice after I gave up Yoshi to Lucas.
It’s Wednesday, which is usually wing night, but I wanted to give Ally the night off, so I asked the guys if they’d be willing to come here so Lucas could hang out with us.
I figured they’d moan and groan a bit that we wouldn’t have our typical time I know we all look forward to.
Instead, they just said of course and then made sure we had enough controllers to play Mario Kart with Lucas.
They even stopped and picked up wings on the way.
They are the best friends I could wish for, but really they’re more than that, and I hope they know how much it means to me.
They are my kid’s uncles. They may not be blood, but they’ve earned the right to that name.
They were with me every step of the way in the beginning of Lucas’s life, never letting me feel alone and always making sure that we were taken care of and loved.
I’ll never be able to repay them for the way they stepped in, but I’m certain I’ll do everything I can to return the favor in whatever way I can.
“Is everyone ready?” Nash says as he gets ready to press go.
As soon as we’ve all agreed, he’s loading us in and we’re off racing.
This game is one of Lucas’s favorites. He learned to play racing games with me when he was really little, since it was one way I could get him to go to sleep in the middle of the night when he wouldn’t stop crying.
It was specifically the rainbow road track.
He would just lay in my arms and then fall asleep while I played in the middle of the night, knowing the second I put him down, he’d wake right up.
Then three was a rough age, but after a few random months that his sleep routine went out the window, Lucas has become a great sleeper, preferring to sleep in his room over anywhere else.
Something I love because it’s true that parents need just a little time to recharge, and sometimes that means a little alone time—in our own space.
I used to feel guilty wanting that, feeling like any time I wanted to spend away from my kid made me a bad dad.
It was actually Coach who snapped me out of it when I kept mentioning I felt guilty for needing some time away from Lucas in the evenings, but he pointed out that we can’t pour from an empty cup.
If we want to take care of those around us, we have to take care of ourselves.
And sometimes that means taking a little time every now and then to recharge away from even your favorite people.
Moments like this help because when we’re all together, I’m reminded I’m not carrying the weight alone. They’re not just helping out of kindness or because they care for me. They love my son like he’s their own.
“Wahoo! I got sixth!” Lucas cheers, finally getting something other than 11th or 12th place after maybe six rounds.
He’s so proud, and I’m just as impressed with the way he’s learned to play.
I’m sure there’s going to be a time in his life that he doesn’t want to come hang out with us, so the least I can do is enjoy it while it lasts.
“Daddy, can you show Miss Ally how to set this game up? I want to see if she’ll play with me some time,” Lucas asks with a big smile.
“Yeah, of course,” I tell him. “Did I mention that grandma and grandpa are coming to the game with you this week?”
“Really?!”
“Wait, why am I just finding this out right now?” Jax pouts. He’s always been a fan of my mom—especially when she makes cinnamon rolls.
“I actually just found out about it this morning.” I shrug.
“Oh, well, I can’t wait to see them. It’s been since last season, and that’s way too long,” Jax adds.
“Hey, Lucas, you excited to see your grandparents?” Levi asks as he grabs more of the appetizers.
He blamed my mom’s cinnamon rolls alone for the year he came back after the offseason twenty pounds heavier.
In his defense, he was two years in and didn’t realize the importance of staying in shape, especially as we get older.
Now he gets it and takes it seriously. Although, when our coach at the time found out the weight gain was due to my mom’s baking, he totally understood.
“Yeah! Do you think grandpa will let me order room service again? Or play in the pool? They always go to the hotel that has the slide, and that’s so much fun!” Lucas starts, already talking a mile a minute.
“Does that answer your question?” I say, directed at Levi, whose eyes are wide from trying to keep up with Lucas and his fast talking.
“I’d say he’s a bit excited, but you never know,” Levi teases.
“Do you think Miss Ally can meet them?” Lucas blurts out, and I feel five sets of eyes all land on me.
It’s such an innocent question, but the way Ally’s been on my mind lately is anything but. Not exactly the kind of thing I should be admitting right now.
“I’m sure she will, bud,” I tell him, doing my best only to look at him and avoid the rest of these fuckers. “You’ll all be sitting together at the game.”
“Yay! I think they’ll really like her,” he says with a big grin.
“Do you like Miss Ally,” Nash says with a look that tells me he’s being sneaky.
“I do! So much!”
“Oh? I think your daddy is starting to really like Miss Ally, too,” Nash replies, and I would punch him right now if Lucas wasn’t here.
Remind me again why I’m friends with these assholes?
“Are we playing or gossiping?” I snap, not wanting to really get into this with the guys while Lucas is right here. Besides, it’d probably be better to get my head on straight before I try to tell anyone else what’s going on.
“A little of both,” Asher deadpans, and I just flip him off.
“Less yapping, more playing.”
“Okay, Daddy,” Lucas says as he acts out zipping his lips.
“Yeah, Daddy, we’ll be quiet,” Jax mocks.
Fuckers.
I sneak off to the kitchen to refill the tray of food and hopefully get a moment of silence, but I should’ve known it wouldn’t be long until one of them decided to follow me.
Of course it had to be Levi.
“Hey,” he says, grinning as he watches me stack more mini tacos on the tray. “I figured I would just come out and see if there was something I could do to help you?”
“Is that a real question or just the story you’re going with?” I return, quirking my eyebrow at him, trying to call his bluff.
We both know he did not come here to help.
Levi is the worst of them when it comes to gossiping—well, outside of Nash—but he hides it well.
I’m just not in the mood to get punched today, so I’m not really sure how much detail to go into.
Avoiding the topics all together really would’ve been preferred.
“That’s the story I’m going with. Unless you have something else you’d rather talk about?
Something about yay high? Dark hair? Sassy enough that she’s a little mean?
” Levi says as he holds his hand up to about chest height.
He’s doing his best to be serious, but I can see the fight he’s battling not to smile right now. Dick.
“Grab some sodas, asshole.”
“Okay,” Levi says with a salute as I go back to filling the tray with cheese sticks and mini pizzas to go with the wings. No one ever complained about too much variety.
I finish filling it up and put the rest back in the oven to stay warm. The entire time, Levi has stood in the same spot just staring at me, watching like he’s trying to figure something out, and truthfully, it’s a bit unnerving.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I feel like there’s definitely something we should be talking about.
You seem off, and I guess I’m just trying to figure it out,” Levi says, snapping out of his haze as he finally moves across the kitchen to the fridge to grab some drinks.
“You seem…frustrated. Way different than you seemed the other day at the pool. Just curious what’s going on, that’s all.
But I mean, I can always ask Quinn. I’m sure she’s finding out all about…
whatever it is while at lunch with Ally. ”
“It’s nothing,” I grumble as I grab the tray and start walking out to the living room, leaving Levi in the kitchen where I’m praying he leaves the conversation as well, but he stops me.
“Think I won’t ask Quinn? Or go to Ally myself?
” Levi says with a smirk. “I know what it looks like after someone’s just been laid after being damn near celibate for five years. ”
“We did not have sex.” I groan, setting the tray down as I accept defeat. He’s going to make me have this conversation whether it’s here or with everyone else. Might as well get it over with.
“Why do I feel like there’s a but?” Levi says almost hopefully.
“Because you’re stupidly intuitive. It’s fucking annoying.” I groan, and he just grins.
“We fooled around last night while you guys went inside with Lucas. I was in the pool, and she was sitting on the edge…”
“Was this when Quinn happened to walk outside?” Levi asks, and I want to be embarrassed that this is proof that we were either caught, or close to it, but I’m not. I’ve always thought that kind of shit was hot.
“Why do you ask?” I say, and by the way he’s smiling back at me—he knows he’s right.
“She didn’t actually see anything, just said that Ally looked…flushed I think was the word she used. Then said they went and had wine and Q just got this vibe that she was interrupting something.”
“Yeah, it was a bit of a disaster. But you really want all the intimate details of your best friend and your ex-fiancée?”
“Please. Q’s wearing my hand like a diamond necklace and I’m waking up to her in nothing but my jersey on the reg. I couldn’t be jealous if I tried. If anything, I’m inspired.”
“You say that now but—”
“Coop, shut up and just tell me.”
So, I tell him everything. I tell him about the drinking games, the questions, and the fact that she’d never gotten off before.
I thought he’d be offended, but he actually said he figured that was the case since those two weren’t exactly compatible in or out of the bedroom.
Then I told him about the day of the pool party, how she teased me, how I returned the favor, only hers ended better than I could’ve dreamed.
With her orgasm on my tongue. Her first one ever. So sweet, so delicious, and now the only thing I’m willing to chase.
“So then why is she running from me if this is something she wants? She’s been distant, every conversation since then short and sweet, and I swear she’s been avoiding eye contact with me, and dammit I don’t get it.
” I groan as I stare at Levi, who’s still thinking through everything I just divulged, feeling like two girls drunkenly yapping in a bar bathroom.
“It’s been a lot of change for Ally lately. She’s been going through a bit of a weird time, so she probably just needs to get her head straight.”
“But that doesn’t mean she should take it out on me. I mean, orgasms are a good stress reliever, right?”
“Are you sure she thinks she’s taking it out on you? Maybe she’s just not sure of what’s going on? Or do you think she’s actually avoiding you?”
“I guess I wouldn’t say she’s avoiding me, just not spending as much time with me as before, and I feel like our conversations are getting shorter and shorter.
Doesn’t help that whenever we do get to spend time alone and it feels like something might happen, we get interrupted.
Fuck, this is a weird conversation to be having with her ex-fiancé,” I tell him, realizing just how fucking weird this whole situation actually is.
Then again, he is currently dating his ex’s sister, so maybe it isn’t that weird to him.
“Look, here’s my advice—take it or leave it.
The Sullivan girls, they’re complex. They have layers.
If it’s worth it for you to figure it out, then go after it.
Chase her and catch her because that’s the only way these girls will let you tie ’em down…
literally and metaphorically,” Levi says with a wink, before grabbing the sodas and disappearing back to everyone else like we didn’t just have the weirdest conversation.
Although…I’d be lying if I said it didn’t give me an idea.