Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
THE FINE MERITS
WESTON
On the plane ride home, we’re exhausted after our win against the Jets. 23 - 20, entirely too close for me, but we won. Penn is next to me, and his eyes narrow as he lifts his head from the back of the seat.
“We haven’t talked about the photos,” he says, as quiet as he can.
I groan and hold up my cell phone so he’ll text instead of talking. He starts typing away and a message from our group chat with the guys comes up.
Penn
We haven’t talked about the photos of Sadie everywhere, but seriously, what the fuck? She’s hot as fuck and those pictures make her look like…I can’t even say. It’d be too mean and it’s not true.
Henley
I’m sorry. I’ve been meaning to bring that up. I’ve been preoccupied with some things going on at home with Cassidy. Pissed me off so bad when I saw them. I hope Sadie’s okay.
Rhodes
What pictures? I have no idea what you guys are talking about. Not nudes, right?
Bowie
Of course, they’re not nudes. That’s not Sadie.
Rhodes
Hey, even the most appropriate women are capable of sending a nude every now and again. We don’t judge.
Bowie
I’m not judging. I’m just saying that’s not Sadie.
No, it wasn’t nudes. She’s been on multiple covers and in various magazines not looking her best.
Penn
I wouldn’t have even recognized her if it hadn’t had your name in big letters next to her. You can tell her I said that.
I’m bummed because it just makes her less likely to come to a game now…or to go anywhere in public with me, for that matter. Joan doesn’t think the press is good for us, and Sadie is taking it as gospel. It’s okay for now, but thinking about her holing up at home for the next five months is just sad.
Rhodes
Yeah, if anything, she needs to strut her shit around everywhere, looking sexy as hell.
Henley
Tell her we’ve got her back.
I will. Thanks, guys. Is everything okay with Cassidy?
Henley
She’s having trouble at school, and she doesn’t want me to get involved, but if it doesn’t get better, I’m going to have to.
Bowie
Hate that.
Rhodes
I hate school, period.
Penn
Hey, so I saw Sam this week, and he was quiet. That’s not like him. I mean, he doesn’t always talk about things I’m comfortable talking about, but he’s always talking. He was NOT that way this week, and when I tried to ask what was up, he said he didn’t want to talk about it. What am I supposed to do with that?
Henley
Are you able to call and check on him?
Penn
He doesn’t have a phone and we do all our scheduling through the program. I guess I could ask if they’d give me the number to his foster home.
Bowie
You could ask if anyone’s heard anything about him. Maybe the people from the program have talked with his social worker or something. They probably wouldn’t tell you anything though.
It’s quiet as I think about it. I assume everyone else is too.
Rhodes
Can you set up appointments to see him?
Penn
I’ve never done that. I’ve just shown up when it’s set up for us. I know he’d like to meet more than once a week though.
Rhodes
You could try that. And ask if you could get him a phone so he could connect with you if he wanted.
Henley
Sometimes you have to ask specific questions for kids to start talking. And sometimes that doesn’t work either, and they just have to come to you when they’re ready.
Penn
I don’t know why I ever thought I could help the kid. I obviously don’t know what I’m doing.
Henley
Just be there for him, Penn. You’re doing more for him than you think you are. But for the record, I still feel like I don’t know what I’m doing most of the time with my kids.
Rhodes
Same.
Bowie
Yes.
I’m glad it’s not just me.
When I climb into bed a few hours later, Sadie is sound asleep. My hands roam down her side and pause when I feel the soft lace. When I reach her ass, I feel her bare cheeks beneath the lace, and I inhale, trying to rein myself in. I know she was exhausted from her trip with the girls, but it sounded like she had a great time. Instead of waking her up, I pull her back against my chest and rest my hand around her tit. I ignore the way my dick tries to jump its way into her and force myself to think quiet thoughts. It eventually works and I fall asleep.
I’m in for the most amazing surprise when I wake up the next morning and she’s standing over me in a blue lacy thing that matches her eyes. The swell of her breasts between the plunging neckline makes my mouth water and I press my thumbs to my eyes, thinking I might be dreaming.
“Am I awake?” I ask.
She giggles. “I was just checking to see if you were.”
“The way you look right now makes me…speechless.”
Her smile grows. “Seems like you’re talking just fine to me. It’s a teddy. You like?”
“I like you in whatever you wear, Chapman, but yes, I really like this.”
“Scarlett made it for me, and you know I don’t normally wear stuff like this, but I kinda like it.” She turns around and flashes her backside, looking at me over her shoulder.
“Oh, the view is outstanding on either side,” I tell her.
I reach out to squeeze her perfect heart-shaped ass, and she sighs when my hands make contact with her.
“I missed you,” she says.
“Not as much as I missed you. You know what I like best?”
She turns and I tug her over until she’s straddling me. “What?”
I undo the ribbons at the shoulder and grin when her breasts are bared. “When you’re out of whatever you’re wearing…”
We spend a considerable amount of time in bed and in the shower, going over the fine merits of her not wearing anything.
I’m in the living room later, playing with Caleb when she walks by, and I do a double take. I reach out and grab her waist, pulling her toward me and turning her around so I can get another look. She laughs when I curse under my breath.
“You didn’t tell me you were going away to buy things like this,” I say reverently. “I’m already in a constant tortured state around you. That will be the case whether you’re in the baggiest sweats known to man, which are also fine by me, or these…what are these amazing things called?”
“Leggings,” she says, cracking up.
“These are not just any leggings. They are the goddesses of leggings. They are one of the next best things to you being naked. They are?—”
She skirts away from me when I start to feel her up. “Ahem. Little eyes are present.”
“You are feeling very sleepy,” I coo to Caleb.
She laughs. “Don’t wish away his awake time!”
“I’m not. I just want him to rest his eyes for a minute while I do very naughty things to you.”
She ducks out of my reach again and I sigh when she walks into the kitchen.
“I think she enjoys torturing me,” I tell Caleb.