CHAPTER 26 Tanner Banks
You’re No Fun
“She’s five?” I ask when she walks back into the family room. I don’t know why listening to her conversation was so…light.
It’s been darkness for days, but a little kid talking about trying to disguise a Mickey waffle with a bow is the first thing that has prompted a real, true laugh from me since the accident.
And listening to her be a mom was something else entirely. It was heartwarming. It’s something that’s been missing from my life for a long time, and even though I had a bit of a breakthrough last night with my own mother, there’s something about Cassie’s honesty with her kids that came through in just one simple conversation.
“Five going on seventeen,” she says, and she rolls her eyes. “I’m so sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. You can bring them here.” The words are out before I can stop them, but I heard the kid ask her mom if she could come with her, and she was sobbing when Cass answered the call. Clearly the kid misses her mom, and I feel bad that I’m taking her away from them .
She sits down next to me, and she checks my knee before she props it into the next stretch. “That’s nice of you, but I can’t do that. This is work, and trust me when I say they will only be a distraction.”
Maybe it’s the kind of distraction this place could use. “I’d say bring them tomorrow, but I’m not sure I’ll be in the right headspace to entertain given it’s the first Sunday since I got taken out. But maybe next Saturday?”
She clears her throat. “They’ll be at their dad’s house.”
“Oh, right.” I press my lips together. I’m sort of curious to know more about that dude. Mainly so I could kick his ass.
“Will you go to the game tomorrow?” she asks.
I shake my head. “I’m not ready, and I figured my PT would tell me to stay off it at least through the weekend.”
“I can say whatever you want me to say,” she confirms.
I offer a small smile. “How does your girl do when she’s over at her dad’s house?”
“Usually fine, but we’ll see what next weekend brings. She’s going through a bit of a mama phase.”
“What’s that?” I ask, and I know I should put a clamp down on all these questions, but I’m suddenly genuinely curious what life is like with kids.
She sighs as she leans back onto my couch while I do another one of those twenty-minute stretches. “Attachment. She just started kindergarten, and the divorce has been tough on her. I think she feels like everybody leaves her or is trying to get rid of her.”
“And then I made you leave her to come here today.”
I shake my head. “I could’ve sent someone else in my place.”
“Why didn’t you?” I glance over at her to try to catch her eye, but she avoids my gaze.
She folds her arms over her chest. “Because you’re my patient. ”
I want it to be more than that. I want to tell her that, too, but I’m afraid she’ll stop coming by every day if I do. And the one highlight in my day lately is getting to see her.
“Then tomorrow. Bring them with you. I’ll come up with some shit for them to do.”
She forces a thin smile. “That’s nice of you, Tanner, really. But I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
I don’t want to push, so I don’t. “Okay. That’s fine. But the offer is on the table, and if you change your mind in the morning or she’s having a hard time, bring her.”
“Thanks.” She shifts the topic to my next exercise, and we leave it at that.
I get a text the next morning a little after eight.
Cassie: Lily is having a rough morning. I’m horrified to ask this, but are you sure it’s okay if I just bring them?
Me: Positive. Pack their swimsuits.
Miller hasn’t left yet, and I yell his name. He appears in the family room a moment later.
“What?”
“I told my PT to bring her kids today. Can you make sure the game room is decent and set up for a seven-year-old?”
“Is that a good idea?” he asks. He relents with a sigh at my glare. “Anything else?”
“Are those lifejackets still in the deck box? I told her to bring their swimsuits.”
“The ones the previous owners left?” he asks, and I nod. “Yeah. I didn’t move them.”
“Can you grab the towels and sunscreen too?”
He nods. “I’ll grab the good snacks off the top shelf, too.” He grins at me, and I laugh.
He takes care of everything, and he heads out to practice a little before the bell rings. I’m moving slowly, but I’m able to walk today, so I walk over to open the door .
I’m greeted by Cassie and her two kids, and they both look exactly like her. The boy is tall for seven and has spiky hair and blue eyes, and the girl is a mini version of Cass. Her blonde hair is pulled into two pigtails, and her blue eyes are bright as they look up at me. She tugs on her mom’s hand, and I can’t help but take in this whole scene in front of me.
Somehow it makes Cassie even hotter. I have no idea why, but my chest feels warm, and I feel lighter than I have in days with the three of them standing on my front porch.
Luca murmurs, “Whoa, it’s really Tanner Banks.”
I grin. “It’s really Tanner Banks. And you must be Luca. Come on in.”
“I can’t believe I’m at Tanner Banks’s house. Isaiah is going to be so jealous!” he says.
“Honey, I told you, this is confidential,” Cassie warns.
“Mama, what’s con-tent-shul?” Lily asks.
“It means you can’t tell anybody you were here,” she explains.
“You can tell whoever you want that your mom is friends with Tanner Banks, and I invited you to my house,” I say, a gleam twinkling in my eye. I glance at Luca. “Remind me to grab a couple footballs to sign so you can have one, and you can give one to Isaiah.”
My eyes move to Cassie’s, and she mouths thank you to me. She looks truly embarrassed that she brought her kids, but on the one hand, it takes some of the pressure out of the day for me. It’s shifting my focus just like my brother told me to do, though I’m positive this isn’t what he meant by that.
Still, it gives me some ideas of where I want to put my focus—you know, if it’s wrong for that focus to be on Cassie and her two kids.
I walk slowly through the house and back to my spot on the couch. “Make yourselves at home. There’s a game room upstairs, snacks in the pantry, soda in the fridge—if your mom says it’s okay.”
“Can we, Mama?” Lily begs at the same time Luca looks at Cass and says, “Please?”
She glares at me a little and purses her lips before she relents. “Fine.” Both kids pump their fists into the air and head toward the kitchen as their mom calls after them, “But no sugar and no caffeine!”
“You’re no fun,” I tease quietly as they squeal over by the fridge, and she rolls her eyes. She follows them in to help with the sodas, and she gets them set up at the kitchen table with a snack, their tablets, and headphones.
“Okay, you two. Mama has work to do, so you sit here, okay?” They both nod solemnly, and they engross themselves in whatever it is kids watch on their iPads. She walks over toward me, and she says, “You didn’t have to get them soda or snacks. I brought stuff to keep them occupied.”
“I didn’t. We had it around.” I shrug. “But they might as well get something fun for having to spend the day with their mom while she works, right? Oh, did you bring their swimsuits?”
She nods. “Lily isn’t quite independent in the water yet, though.”
“Is swimming okay for me? I can get in with them.”
“Swimming would be great for you, actually. Low impact, and we can add it into your rotation. Just no twisting. And absolutely no picking up my kids and throwing them into the water.”
I roll my eyes this time. “You really are no fun.”
She swats at my arm with a little chuckle, and despite my words, today feels a lot more fun.
But it’s early, and the games haven’t started yet. They will, and surely my mood will sour then…and that’s why I decide ri ght then and there that I’m not going to turn on the television until Cassie and her kids leave.
I can watch football all night after that. And I will. I can review film, watch footage from our own game, look objectively at all the teams in the league in a way I usually can’t on a weekly basis because I’m too busy studying our one opponent.
It’s another new focus I hadn’t really thought of before.
I clear my throat after Cassie outlines my first stretch, and I glance over at her. “My brother thinks I need a focus.”
“What sort of focus?” she asks.
“I don’t know. A hobby. Something other than football.”
She stares thoughtfully at me before she says, “I agree. What are you into?”
“Football,” I mutter petulantly. “Running. Golf.”
“Okay, so activities. Exercise. You could do something low impact like swimming or cycling. Yoga would be great.”
“Since we’re already planning to swim today, maybe you could help me in the water,” he suggests. “You said Lily isn’t independent yet?”
“She’s a little scared of the water,” she says. “She’s taken lessons, but she prefers a life jacket, and she won’t jump in. Her brother, on the other hand, is fearless and will do flips and dives all day.”
“I have a diving board.”
“That you will stay off of, Mr. Banks.” She purses her lips at me and raises her brows, and I have to admit, I like a woman who can set the rules.
Truth be told, I need a woman who can set the rules.
And the more time I spend with Cassandra Fields, the more I want it to be her.
We do a few more stretches, and then Lily comes over to watch her mom work on me. She seems curious at first, but then she loses interest since mostly it’s twelve repetitive movements.
“Can we go swimming now?” she asks.
“Go get your swim stuff on, and we’ll go in a few minutes. You can get changed in the bathroom down that hallway.” She points, and Lily runs to the extra bag her mom brought, grabs her swimsuit, and darts down the hallway.
Our eyes connect, and I say, “You brought your swimsuit, right?”
Her lips tip up a little, but she’s careful not to give too much away. “I did.”
I lean in a little closer and whisper. “Please tell me it’s a two piece.”
She leans in, too. “It’s not.”
I don’t hide my disappointment—or my erection at the thought of her in a swimsuit.
But the truth is that it’s getting harder and harder to deny that I want Cassie.