Chapter 22 – Logan
Twenty-Two
LOGAN
“Love you, Gigi, love you, Dad, see you Sunday,” Coop says over his shoulder while running out of the dugout to join his mom and sister, who are walking ahead of him down the path to the parking lot.
“Love you, too,” I yell after him, then shout, “Slow down,” when he stumbles over his own feet.
“It’s okay, I’m okay,” he shouts back, righting himself before looking back with a wide grin.
“That boy.” Mom laughs, taking a seat on the bench in the dugout. “I’m surprised Nalia didn’t show up with Zuri for the game today.”
“Zuri has a soccer game at noon, so it would have been cutting it close for them to show up to Coop’s game.”
“Are you going to go watch her play?”
“I’m gonna head over there after I get done here.” I toss the last of the baseballs into the bucket that got knocked over by one of the boys when they were leaving the dugout after the game.
“You two have been spending a lot of time together.”
“Yep,” I agree, feeling her stare at the side of my face.
“Billie mentioned that you’ve all had dinner together every night this week.”
“We have.” I pick up my duffel and hook it over my shoulder.
“And Kristy said that she had dinner with you guys.”
“She did.”
“She was a little upset that the kids have been so open to spending time with Nalia.”
I grab the bucket off the ground as my jaw gets tight. “She told you that?”
“Not in so many words, but yes.” She steps out of the dugout ahead of me. “She doesn’t understand why the kids are so against spending time with Aaron but okay with spending time with Nalia.”
“She’s going to have to figure that out, Ma,” I mutter, and the truth is, I don’t give a fuck.
“I know.” She sighs. “I just feel bad for her, and I don’t understand what happened. I thought that the kids liked Aaron when they first started dating.”
“I thought so too,” I mutter. The truth is, the kids did seem okay with Aaron in the beginning, but not long after Kristy moved him in, something changed.
Neither of the kids have told me if something happened that changed their opinion about him, not even when I’ve asked, so I’ve made my own assumptions.
But with how cool they both are with Nalia, I wonder if those assumptions were wrong.
And if it’s not about them wanting their mom and me to get back together, but that something happened they aren’t telling me about.
“Maybe you could talk to them.”
“I’ve spoken with them about spending time with Kristy.”
“And?”
“And they’ve been spending time with her without Aaron. I’m not sure if that’s their choice or if Kristy has been avoiding having all of them together.”
“I guess it will all come out in the wash eventually,” she tells me as we reach her car in the parking lot.
“Yep.” I agree dropping the bucket of balls I’m carrying so I can give her a hug. “Love you.”
“Love you, too.” She hugs me tight. “Ask Nalia if she’d like to come for dinner this next week with you and the kids.”
“I’ll ask her.” I agree, then let her go. After telling her goodbye, I head for my Jeep and dump my shit in the back.
Twenty minutes later, as I’m pulling into the soccer complex, I search the fields until I find the one that Nalia told me her and Zuri would be at and park.
As I’m walking through the parking lot, I say hi to a few people I know, then make my way to the field.
It only takes me a few minutes to find Nalia standing on the sidelines with her dad, mom, and her brother Bax, and another guy who looks a lot like Nalia.
I’m pretty sure it’s her brother, Sage, but I’m not sure.
Lifting my chin to her brothers and dad as I approach, she turns to me and her whole face lights up with a beautiful fucking smile that takes my breath away.
“You made it.” She hugs me, then leans up on her tiptoes, pressing her mouth to mine, catching me by surprise. It must surprise her, too, because her cheeks get pink. “Zuri is going to be so happy.”
“How's she doing?” I glance out to the field.
“The game hasn’t started. They have just been practicing,” she tells me as I turn my attention to her mom and kiss her cheek, then shake her dad’s hand and pull Bax in for a one-arm hug.
“You and my sister,” Bax mutters, and I chuckle.
“Sorry.”
“It’s all good.” He pats my back. “She could do worse.” I smile at that, then turn when Nalia says.
“I don’t think you’ve met Sage.”
“I haven’t. What’s up?” I shake his hand he holds out towards me.
“Good to meet you, man.”
“You too.” I let his hand go.
“How was Cooper’s game? Did you guys win?” Sophie asks, leaning into her husband’s side.
“It was good, but we lost today.”
“Darn,” she whispers, shaking her head.
“Was Cooper okay?” Nalia asks, leaning into me.
“He was a little bummed but fine.” I wrap my arm around her waist and turn my attention to the field when a whistle is blown.
As the girls run out and line up to kick off, Zuri looks in our direction and waves with a smile. Then, Zuri wipes the smile off her face and turns to face the opposing team.
“Shit, she’s not playing around,” Bax mutters, coming to stand on the opposite side of me with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Has she played before?” I ask Nalia as Zuri juggles the ball down the field avoiding the girls attempting to take the ball from her.
“In PE at school, but besides that no.”
“She’s a natural,” I mumble and hear Nico hum his agreement when she jukes another player, making them believes she’s going to go one way then sending the ball to another player who’s able to get it in the goal.
“Shit, she is really good,” Sage says as the parents on the side start to cheer and the girls on the field high-five and hug each other.
By the time the second half is coming to an end, the girls are all slowing down.
It’s hot, and they have all been running hard for the last hour, with only a fifteen-minute break between rounds.
And with only ten girls on the team and seven required to be on the field, it hasn’t given some of them much of a break.
When the final whistle is blown, Zuri’s team celebrates their win by all collapsing into the grass out of exhaustion.
Smiling, I listen to Nalia laugh.
“She’s going to sleep good tonight.”
“Alright,” Sophie says, gaining everyone’s attention as the girls all get up and run over to their coaches to tell the other team good game. “So, we’ll all head to lunch, then follow you home so that Zuri can pack her bag for tonight.”
“Or we can go to the house, Zuri can change and pack, then we can go to lunch,” Nalia says, then looks up at me. “Do you want to join us? I was telling everyone about Olive and Oregano and thought that we could have lunch there.”
“That works for me.”
“Perfect.” She smiles, then looks between her parents. “Do you guys want to come over to the house or just meet us at the restaurant?”
“We can meet you at the restaurant and get a table,” Nico says as Zuri runs up to us carrying a juice pouch and a bag of snacks.
“You did amazing.” Nalia lets me go and wraps her arms around Zuri, hugging her tight and kissing her forehead. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks.” She smiles at her, then falls against my side, and I wrap an arm around her.
“You did good, kid.”
“Did Coop win his game?” she asks, looking up at me.
“Not today.”
“Aww, that sucks.”
“It’s okay, he’ll be happy when you tell him you won yours.” I give her a squeeze before I let her go.
“Are you starving?” Sophie asks her as she opens her bag of chips after giving her, Nico and Bax a hug and not even hesitating to give Sage one too.
“Yes.”
“We’ll get you fed, but first we are going to go to the house so you can change and pack to go to Grandma and Grandpa’s,” Nalia tells her as she wraps her arm around her shoulder and starts walking towards the parking lot.
“Do you want to come with us to the house and we can all ride together to the restaurant?” she asks looking up at me as I rest my hand on her lower back.
“Yeah, that works.” I make sure the girls are in their car, then head for my Jeep and follow them out of the soccer complex.
When we get to Nalia’s house, I stay in my car while they head inside.
A few minutes later, they come back out, with Zuri changed and carrying a bag.
I get out and meet them so I can put her bag in the trunk and open the doors.
“Do you think that Coop will be able to play ROBLOX with me?” Zuri asks me, climbing into the back seat.
“I’m sure he’ll be around this evening.”
“Cool.” She smiles as I slam her door then I wait for Nalia to get into her seat and buckled in.
I walk around the hood and get in then drive over to the restaurant where everyone is waiting for us.
The moment we step inside, Bion greets us with a huge smile then ushers us over to the table where everyone is already seated and starts taking drink orders.
He’s so happy to have us back, he offers us a couple appetizers on the house and sits down with us to chat while we eat.
By the time we’re all done, Sophie, Nico, Bax, and Sage have all promised to come back again and tell everyone they know about the restaurant, and we are all so full that we can barely walk out the door.
It’s a good meal and good to see Nalia so relaxed and at ease with her parents after the last time I saw them together.
I’m glad she’s so relaxed with me spending time with her and the people most important to her.