33. Will
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Will
“Lyla,” I yell across the dirt parking lot.
She spins around just before she gets to the field. “What?” she asks, tossing her hands out beside her.
Tone down the sass, kid.
“I don’t have enough hands to carry all of your stuff,” I shout.
Owen and Miles aren’t here yet. They were finishing a lumber delivery at the store, so they should be here soon—along with the Rivers brothers, who thankfully agreed to fill in for the rest of the season.
Lyla groans, looking up toward the sky the entire time she stomps back to the truck.
Dear Lord….
She grabs her water bottle and backpack from my hands as Avery rounds the truck with the cooler we packed.
“Let’s go find a good spot, since we’re going to be here for a while,” Avery tells Lyla.
We’re playing a double-header because the last time we played this team we had to end the game early.
Sienna, the owner of the local animal shelter, went into labor in the middle of the game. Her three boyfriends—yes, three— happened to be on the opposing team, so the game came to an end.
Following Avery and Lyla, I laugh to myself because I never understood how Sienna was with three men at the same time, or her best friend Hadley, for that matter, who’s with three of her own guys.
Maybe there’s something in the water in this town because look at us now.
Three of us. One of her.
I don’t regret it at all. It just is what it is. The only part that eats at me is the finite nature of our unconventional relationship.
She has another job lined up in a few short weeks, which will bring her time here to an end.
I wish there was a way we could manage to make this work, but I’d never want to take away her dream from her.
She’s worked too damn hard to earn her degree and to get this job. I would never jeopardize that by asking her to stay, despite how much I wish I could.
“Here,” Lyla says, pointing to a section of open space on the bottom of the bleachers. She and Avery get to work.
They pull out more blankets than I though they had with them, making a whole seating area for themselves that’s far more comfortable than sitting on the hard metal benches themselves
“You know you’re going to be here for two softball games, not an entire movie marathon. Right?” I ask them.
“You just focus on winning your games there, big guy,” Avery says, leaning back on the bench behind her as she stares up at me.
I want to kiss her so fucking bad.
“Too bad he isn’t going to win,” a familiar voice comes from my other side. I turn to find Tucker standing there with a smug look on his face.
Grayson and Warren stand behind him with Warren’s son, Jackson, perched on Grayson’s shoulders. They’re all firefighters and the reason why this make-up game is being played today.
Sienna walks around all three of her men, smacking Tucker on the shoulder. “Don’t badger him. They could have just said you lost the last game instead of playing it again.”
“I would have been worth it,” Warren says, which makes Sienna beam up at him.
I decide to ignore Tucker and turn to look at Sienna. “How are you doing?” I point to her daughter, who is strapped to her chest in a carrier. “How’s the little one?”
Sienna looks down at baby Mia with so much affection. “She’s absolutely perfect.” She looks up at me. “I’m doing a lot better than I thought I would only a few weeks after having her.”
We might bicker about the rivalry between our two softball teams, but I’m so happy for all of them. Somehow, they’ve made the perfect little family.
“Evelyn,” Lyla screeches, seeing one of her friends walking over from the parking lot. Evelyn is a few years younger than Lyla, but they’ve always played together when our two teams face off.
Her dad, Austin, walks behind her with Sienna’s best friend, Hadley, at his side. Hadley’s other two men, Conrad and Brooks, are a few steps behind them with their gear slung over their shoulders.
Their lovable dog, Cash, trots along right-on Hadley’s heels. I guess she has four guys wrapped around her little finger.
Everyone starts chatting while Lyla and Evelyn skip around, chatting with each other.
“Jackson, come play with us,” Evelyn says, looking up at the younger boy.
Grayson sets him down on the ground. He tentatively grabs Evelyn’s hand, following behind the much louder girls.
I turn to see Avery trying to take everyone in. “Oh… guys, this is Avery.” I pause because I don’t know how to label her presence in our lives. “She’s helping to take care of Lyla this summer.”
She’s sure a hell of a lot more than that, but they don’t need to know the extent of everything.
She smiles, waving at everyone. I go around pointing out everyone in the group.
Lyla pops back over and points at Sienna. “Her grandma is Louise. The crazy old lady at Peak Brews who said my uncles were hot.”
“Lyla,” I scold, not wanting her to call Louise crazy, even if it’s a little true.
Maybe a lot true.
“It’s okay,” Sienna says, laughing. “That old woman is a little batty.”
“She wasn’t wrong about the handsome part, though,” Hadley says, stepping up to her best friend’s side. She leans down, pressing a kiss to the top of the baby’s head.
“Hey,” Brooks groans from the back of the group, glaring at Hadley. She just smirks in his direction.
“Just eww…” Lyla says, shaking her head. She points one hand at Hadley and the other at Grayson who’s standing in the back of the group, then looks back at Avery. “You bought your car from their mom.”
How does she know all of this? She already acts like she’s fifteen sometimes with a vault for a brain.
“Maggie is your mom?” Avery asks Hadley.
“Yeah,” Hadley says almost tentatively. “Did she say something bad? She’s kind of ruthless with her humor sometimes.”
Avery starts laughing. “No, I thought she was freakin’ awesome.”
Avery is too much of a badass. Maggie’s dark-as-fuck humor wouldn’t scare her off. She would just laugh her butt off and add in her own dark quips.
“Well, good. I’m glad she didn’t run you out of town,” Hadley says. “Can we set up camp beside you?”
“Go for it,” Avery says. “They might be going at each other’s throats,” she gestures to the swarm of men standing in front of the bleachers, “but I’ll play nice.”
Cash walks over laying his big head on Avery’s lap. She beams down at him, running her fingers through his thick fur. “And who are you, big guy?”
I don’t comment on how that’s the same name she called me when she was teasing me earlier.
“That’s Cash,” Hadley says, sitting beside Avery. “Sorry if he gets his fur all over you. He’s kind of an attention whore.”
Avery busts out laughing as she continues to pet Cash.
Sienna sits down on Hadley’s other side. “We’ll let the boys go do boy things, and we’ll have some girl talk.”
A smirk crosses Avery’s face. “I am definitely on board with that.”
I look over, finding Lyla still playing with Jackson and Evelyn. I look down at Avery. “You good?”
She gives me a slow nod. Her eyes are saying so much that her lips can’t right now.
Same, baby. Same.
I should be paying attention to the game, but I couldn’t even tell you what inning we’re in. I could say it’s because we’re in the middle of the second game and it’s all a blur at this point. That would be a lie.
It’s actually because I keep finding myself staring at Avery. I don’t know when it happened, but I’ve completely fallen for her. Hook, line, and sinker.
I’m in love with her.
A small smile crosses my face as she throws her head back, laughing at something Hadley said. She’s been over there acting like the other two women are her long-lost sisters, not two women she met a couple of hours ago.
I get it, though. Avery is an easy woman to be around.
I would know.
She must sense my eyes on her because she looks right at me. The smile she gives me is enough to send my heart rate into overdrive.
I subtly wink at her before she turns back to her new friends.
I try to turn my attention back to the game, but it’s pretty pointless unless I’m on the field. All I can think about now is this new worry that’s settling over me.
How am I going to hold my whole family together when Avery leaves? I don’t know if I’m going to be able to keep my own head above water without her anymore.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Why does loving someone have to hurt this much?