Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Sebastian
“G o, Nora!” I shouted, clapping my hands in front of me, as others in the stands cheered.
There weren’t really stands, they were groups of parents in camping chairs, blankets, and others pacing around as they watched five- and six-year-olds kick a ball around.
I smiled as Nora kicked the ball, and shouted again because it was a damn good kick.
“She’s a natural,” Raven said.
I smiled down at her. “She is.”
“And she’s kicking butt. Although I have to say when she invited me this morning, I wasn’t quite sure what I expected.”
I had been floored when after Raven had done a few things at the bakery that morning, she had come over to drop off a couple of things for us. I had ordered the snacks for the kids, so in addition to orange slices, the kids each had individual pastries, some gluten-free, some dairy-free, some sugar-free, because Raven wanted to make sure everyone could have something.
And when Nora had looked up at Raven and grinned, I hadn’t realized that my little girl was about to change everything.
“Are you going to come to our game?” Nora had asked.
Raven had looked between us, eyes wide. “Oh. Well. I mean. I have your treats for you.”
“But you’re off work. Daddy said that you were bringing it after you were done working. So, do you have time? I want you to meet Molly and Shane. Please?”
Raven had swallowed hard again and looked at me. There hadn’t been any other answer.
“Come on. You should come.” I’d held out my hand, and Raven had looked down at it, before sliding hers into mine. Nora had clapped, and then she asked for a kiss from both of us, and then in the way that little girls were, had shouted for us to kiss each other.
“Please? Kiss, kiss, kiss!” she had called out, and because I listened to my daughter, I grinned, leaned down, and brushed my lips chastely against Raven’s. “Good morning and thank you for the pastries.”
Raven had looked at me wide-eyed, and honestly I’d felt a little flabbergasted too.
“Good morning. Well then…”
“Well then.”
And that was how we found ourselves on the sidelines at a peewee soccer game, Raven shouting right alongside me.
“Greer keeps texting me that she’s annoyed she’s missing this.”
I frowned. “Greer wants to come to a children’s soccer game?”
“I think she wants to see me at a children’s soccer game, but she likes things like this.”
“Wait till we get to recitals. That’s when we have to draw straws for which Montgomerys come to which.”
“Do they all want to come?”
“We try to have at least four in the audience at all times. When I was younger there were enough kids that you could spread out the events. So if Aria and I had events at the same time, Mom and Dad couldn’t go to both, but they could split up and send along an aunt or uncle or grandparent. We hadn’t really cared in the end, because we knew that it wasn’t them choosing one over the other, it was covering everyone’s bases. We all took our turns, and it worked. I’m damn lucky that my family cares like that.” I froze. “Tell me I did not just curse.”
“You might have. But I don’t think anyone heard.” She paused. “Okay, probably everyone heard.”
I shook my head, and then looked back to see Shane running alongside Nora. The two fist-bumped, and then continued to go against the other team.
“Those two are so cute.”
“I think they’re fricking adorable. Molly’s the same way with them. They’ve all three just blended together.”
I lifted my chin at Molly’s parents and her mom waved at us, then Shane’s parents did too. They were with their extended families today, as it was coming up on a holiday, so everybody was doing a thousand things at once.
“Well, I’m glad to be invited.”
“It is hard to get a ticket in this place,” Noah said as he came up on Raven’s other side.
“Seriously. Since they don’t want forty Montgomerys at an event, they sort of have to ration us.”
I frowned at my cousin. “I thought Gus was coming today?”
“He had something pop up with a last-minute work thing. So I’m here. I hope that’s okay.”
“I’m glad that you’re here,” Raven said as she hugged him. Noah hugged her a little too tightly, and wiggled his brows over my head.
I narrowed my gaze at him, but I didn’t curse or flip him off, remembering we were at a children’s soccer game.
Nora dove on the ground, tripping over another kid. I nearly stepped forward, rage boiling through me, but Raven pulled me back and whistled.
“You okay, Nora?” she called out.
“I’m fine, Raven. Just got to get right back up, right, Daddy?” Nora called out.
I hated the fact that she had dirt on her knee and shin guards. No blood though, and she seemed to be moving all right, but I would check that knee later.
“She’s fine, Daddy,” Raven whispered.
“Don’t call me Daddy. That really freaks me out,” I said with a mock shudder.
She grinned. “Yeah, I can see that.”
Raven looked past me, frowned, then looked between me and Noah before shrugging.
I looked behind me and noticed a group of the moms standing there, smiling widely in our direction while continuing their conversation. I looked back at Raven, confused.
“What was that?”
“Nothing,” Raven whispered.
“Huh.”
“Oh, Sebastian,” one of the moms said as she came over.
I turned, nodded in hello. “Hi, Gretchen. How are you?”
“Oh, just enjoying the game as always. Is this one of your cousins? We haven’t met. We know all about you Montgomerys.”
I cleared my throat. “No, this is Raven. She’s a friend of mine and Nora’s.”
Gretchen looked Raven up and down before smiling.
“It’s nice to meet you. So, you’re a friend then?”
And that’s where it clicked, and I rightly called myself a fool.
Because bringing Raven to a function like this in front of all of the other parents was pretty much claiming her as my girlfriend. Or something that meant that she was part of Nora’s life.
And gossip was always bad when it came to me. Because I was the former teenage father turned widower, but now I was bringing a woman to a soccer game.
I was never going to hear the end of it, and I was the idiot who dragged Raven in the middle of it.
“It’s nice to meet you, Gretchen,” Raven said, after I finished introducing her.
“It’s nice to meet you, too.”
She looked up at Noah.
“It’s nice to see you here, Noah.”
“Nice to see you too, Rachel. I mean Gretchen.”
Noah had a mind like a steel trap, and he was just egging the other woman on, but as Gretchen’s daughter was going to be in the same classes with Nora for a few more years, I shook my head at my cousin. No need for that kind of interference.
Noah shrugged, then went back to watching the game.
“So, what is it that you do, Raven? Do you have children too?”
Knowing what Raven went through, I knew that that question was insensitive as hell. And it wasn’t something that I would truly have thought about, though I should have. Hell, I’d lost Marley in childbirth. I knew the complications of pregnancy, and Gretchen just threw that question out there without even thinking.
“No kids. I own a bakery and café. Latte on the Rocks? The new place.”
“Oh. Next to Sebastian’s tattoo shop. Interesting. I’ve been in there. The coffee’s amazing.”
“My best friend runs the coffee bar. Greer’s amazing and fantastic at what she does. The best.”
“So you’re the baker then? I wish I could. We try to be healthy, you know.”
I held back a growl, annoyed as fuck. I didn’t know what this woman wanted, but I was done.
Raven just grinned. “I get it. I try to have a healthy mindset when it comes to baked goods. I don’t need it as a treat, or as an excuse. I enjoy it. And I make sure that I have more nutritious options, and I don’t shy away from sugar unless I’m forced to.” She turned then, ignoring Gretchen, as she went to talk to Noah.
I raised a brow at Gretchen. “I’m going to watch Nora now. Good to see you, Gretchen. Now go tell all your little friends that I brought the woman that I’m dating here. I’m sure that’s what they want to hear.”
Gretchen went off in a huff, and I sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“No, she just wanted to dig at me.” Then she laughed, and I couldn’t help but notice the beauty of her. There was just something about the way that Raven laughed. “Whenever someone finds out I am a baker, they either say I’m too skinny to be one, or I must eat all of my goods because I’m too fat. There are always those people that have an unhealthy relationship with the food that they eat because of what society, the media, and generational trauma brings them. I get it. But I’m trying to create something different. I love a healthy relationship with food, and I love baking. It brings me joy. So, I go on a rant sometimes and I’m sorry about that. However, she didn’t come over here because I bake.”
Noah whistled beneath his breath and hugged Raven hard. “I like you more and more every passing day.” Noah laughed. “Seriously. Thank you for coming today. You’ve brought entertainment. Beyond the fact that my little niece over there is kicking butt.”
I turned to Nora, who was on the sidelines waving at me. I waved back, as did Raven and Noah. “What are you talking about? Why did she come over here?”
Raven laughed and her eyes danced. “You’re the hot dad . Even the non-single moms are hot for you. And some of the dads. It’s okay. They wanted to see if there was a claim laid. And to get the lay of the land.”
My cheeks heated. Noah turned away, but I saw his shoulders shake. “I’m exclusive. You know that. I’ve never slept with any of the moms here.”
“That’s fine. And I’m exclusive too. Nor have I slept with any of the moms. Or dads.”
I snorted. “I’ve only had one girlfriend, Raven. I’m not good at this.”
I hadn’t meant to say that out loud, and I was grateful that I had said it low enough that I didn’t think Noah heard.
Raven squeezed my hand before turning to watch Nora run back out on the field. “It’s okay, Sebastian. I’ll teach you how to be a boyfriend.”
I felt as if a weight lifted off me. I didn’t know why, but it felt damn good.
I just had to figure out what to do with this feeling.