Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
ADDIE
“When will you be back?” Gracie asks.
Finn, who made dinner yet again, sits across from her, forking a giant bite of chicken and fried rice into his mouth.
While he cooked, the kids sat at the counter, watching him like he was performing at one of those teppanyaki restaurants, chopping up food and tossing the vegetables into the air so the kids could try to catch them in their mouths. It was a whole experience.
“Finn is in the playoffs,” Hope explains. “He’s got to be fully focused from now until the World Series.”
“Can I come to the World Series?” Declan asks as a hunk of carrot flies off Beck’s fork and smacks him in the face.
“See what you started?” Winnie glares at our brother as she snatches Beck’s fork from his hand. “You don’t get to use utensils if you use them to throw food.”
Beck beams at her. “So I can eat with my hands?”
I bite back a cackle as Winnie groans. “No.”
Vivi, who’s sitting beside Beck, hands him a spoon, her lips twitching. “Don’t throw food or we’re not going to watch the first preseason game.”
Beck’s face grows serious and he focuses on his plate. My nephew loves hockey, much to his grandfather and namesake’s chagrin. The little troublemaker would rather behave than miss a game, even if it’s only on TV.
Well played, Vivi. Seems like she’s taking to this position better than we expected.
“Of course you can come to the World Series,” Finn says, bringing us back to the conversation.
“You sound pretty sure you’ll be in it,” I tease.
He looks at me, wearing a bewildered frown. “Of course I’m sure. Have you seen the Revs this year? We’re on fire.”
I laugh. My brother has always been the most positive person I know. He’s genuinely a happy guy, and he’s right, his team is primed for this.
“You know who else is on fire?” JJ prods.
Avery, who’s seated next to him on the long bench on one side of the enormous table, shifts, giving him her full attention.
The benches were my mom’s genius idea. Makes it easier to squeeze kids around the table, and they’re not upholstered, meaning no stains on expensive fabric. Pretty important now that we’ve got six preschoolers living here.
“My sister?” Finn grins, dark eyes twinkling. “I heard.”
Vivi nods. “Me too. Dad was going on and on about how amazing she’s been.”
My cheeks burn in response to the praise. It’s been a full week since I first stepped into the net, and every day since, we’ve run similar drills. The team is looking really good, and preseason games start next week.
That, thank god, means it’s almost time to say goodbye to Dirk.
He’s still an asshole, though he’s done a better job of hiding it since our talk.
But luckily, he hasn’t performed well enough to threaten JJ’s or Sidney’s spots on the team.
In a matter of days, he and the other rookie will be heading back to their own teams.
“Nah, though she’s done well.” JJ winks at me, the look making my heart stumble. “I was talking about Avery.”
“Daddy.” Avery’s giggle floats around us.
I nod at her from across the table. “It’s true. She even did a little spin today.”
We’ve been out on the ice with her three times so far. It’s the least I can do since JJ has shown up to every extra practice with the rookies and every early-morning yoga session.
And I love spending time with her. I want so desperately to be a constant positive force in her life, but those feelings I used to have, the ones that were always so impossible to ignore, are getting louder.
“I want to go skating,” Beck yells. “Why haven’t you taken me skating?”
Winnie picks up her wine and takes a long swig. “Not everything is about you, bud.”
“You can come next time,” I promise him, “if it’s okay with your mom.”
“Can I go to the baseball field with Uncle Finn, then?” Dec whines.
“Maybe I can take you and my girls down there one day when they’re practicing,” Hope offers, eyes darting to Winnie. “If that’s okay with the big boss.”
My sister huffs out a laugh. “Are you saying that because I’m their mom or because I’m the CEO of the Revs organization?”
“The CEO part,” Hope says with a laugh. “They don’t care that you’re their mom.”
Winnie snorts. “Yeah.”
“Mommy’s not the boss of the Revs, Grandpa is,” Dec argues.
“So he continues to think,” Winnie grumbles into her glass. She is the official CEO of the baseball division of our family company, but as COO of the entirety of Langfield Corp—including both the Revs organization and the Bolts—Dad has had a tough time letting go of control.
Mari, Hope’s two-year-old, flings a piece of chicken across the table, hitting Finn in the face.
From there, the room falls into complete chaos. In unison, the twins scream food fight! and we’re all pelted with rice. Once the chicken and veggies start flying, parents scoop up their children, putting an end to the madness and dinner.
“I’ll clean this up after bath time.” Winnie nods at the mess on the table as she pushes her boys toward the stairs.
Finn and Hope have already taken her girls upstairs to get cleaned up.
“Don’t worry about it. Get the kids taken care of. I can handle this.”
“I’d stay and help,” Vivi says, “but I promised Willow I’d watch a movie with her and I’m already late.”
Not only is Willow Vivi’s best friend, but her dad, Cortney, is Dad’s best friend. Even if the two men act more like an old married couple.
Cortney and his wife live next door, and if Willow is in town, that means she’s home from college for the weekend.
“I’m fine. I promise,” I say as I stack plates.
JJ follows me, his hands full of cutlery. “I’ll help her.”
My jaw clenches. Why can’t he give me five fucking minutes alone? He’s everywhere lately. Home and practice and workouts. I can’t even shower without thinking of him because his damn body wash taunts me from its spot next to mine.
I put the dishes in the sink and when JJ reaches around my shoulder to add the silverware to the pile, I growl.
“I’ll wash them. I’m not leaving them for you to do.” His breath is warm as he teases me, his chest to my back.
I flex my shoulders, forcing him back and giving myself some space.
“I’m just putting them in the dishwasher. I don’t need your help for that,” I snap.
I should feel bad about my reaction. I would, truly, if I could get five fucking seconds to myself.
“Right, of course.” His heat disappears instantly, and then he’s gone, hustling out of the kitchen.
Head hanging, I growl again. Dammit, Addie. Way to be an asshole.
I scrub each plate before loading it into the dishwasher, working out my frustration. Then I add soap and hit start.
Still feeling like I’m bursting from within, I decide to go for a run, so I rush up the steps, change, and head out.
The moment I step back inside, Finn mutters an “Oh duck!” from the kitchen. It’s followed by an “Oh shit, what happened in here?” from JJ.
I rush into the kitchen, only to slip the second I hit the first tile. “Holy duck,” I squeal as I cling to the kitchen counter.
“Bubbles!” Dec rushes in, sliding just like I did, though he goes down, landing on his butt with a thunk.
“What the—”
“Winnie, no,” I warn, as my sister rushes in. Fortunately she grabs the wall before her feet go out from under her.
“Where is it coming from?” she asks, her face twisted in confusion.
Laughing, Finn points at the dishwasher and the bubbles pouring out from either side and the top of it.
JJ smirks, his focus landing on me. “Thought you said you could handle the dishwasher, Angles.”
I groan, my stomach dropping. “This is so embarrassing.”
Winnie shuffles along the wall. “Did you use dishwashing detergent?”
“I don’t know,” I say, the words a little too high-pitched. “I used the one on the sink.”
“That’s dish soap, Addie. Not for machines,” she groans.
“How do we make it stop?” I ask, my cheeks hot with embarrassment.
JJ glides over to the dishwasher with ease, like he’s skating on the ice, and presses a button on the front. The machine goes quiet.
“At least we don’t have to wash the floors,” I say meekly.
The way Winnie rolls her eyes makes her look so much like Mom.
“True.” JJ snags a towel from the counter near the sink and throws it at me.
“Rude.” Laughing, I catch it, then assess the soapy mess surrounding me. “How in god’s name are we going to get this all wiped up?”
He reaches into the drawer and produces a few more towels, throwing one at each of my siblings. “We’re going to have a dance party.”
“A what?” Winnie asks, eyes narrowed.
“Dance party!” he howls, throwing his head back like a lunatic.
Upstairs, Avery screams, “Did you say dance party?”
A thundering rush sounds above us, then two little girls come flying into the kitchen.
My siblings and I shout “Wait!” at the same time, but JJ is already sliding over to them and snagging them each around the waist. “You heard that right, Avey girl,” he says, hauling them up on either side of him. “What do you say? Should we show them how it’s done?”
“How what’s done, Uncky JJ?” Gracie asks with a giggle.
“Dad, get out the iPod,” Avery squeals, bouncing in his arm.
He sets her on the counter and pulls that damn iPod from all those years ago out of his pocket, then scoops her up again.
Seriously? Does he still keep that on him at all times?
Peering over Avery’s head, he presses a few buttons. A second later, music blasts through the speakers my dad had installed in the kitchen years ago.
Why am I not surprised that JJ is already hooked up to the system?
“What’s happening?” Winnie asks as Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off” starts playing.
The girls go wild in his arms, making it hard to hear even the music. The song may be decades old, but it’s still a hit.
JJ drops his towel to the ground, steps on it, and shimmies, cleaning up the mess while dancing.
Finn does the same, holding out a hand to Gracie, who jumps from JJ’s arm into his.
JJ spins toward me with Avery in his arms, the two of them wearing matching bright smiles. “You going to join us, Angles?”