Chapter 20 Colton
Chapter twenty
Colton
Colton didn’t typically get to see his family for Thanksgiving since the chances of him, Landon or Maya playing on the day of were high, and without the support of his siblings, he wasn’t really interested in having a tense dinner with his father.
Which meant he usually ended up at Rudy and Jenna’s house for a slightly late Thanksgiving dinner, often with Cooper and some of their other teammates in tow.
This year, Lucia’s father was on a cruise for the weekend, so she’d agreed to accompany him to the Barrett household.
He knew her only other option was to sit alone in her house all day, but he had still been ecstatic when she’d finally conceded.
Lucia had also asked him on several occasions if the reason he wasn’t going to his father’s house for the holiday was because of her outburst. To which he continued to respond honestly that, no, he just couldn’t stand to be around his father for very long, especially if none of his siblings were there with him.
When he and Lucia arrived, Jenna immediately put them both to work mashing potatoes, making casseroles, and warming bread—notably passing the easier jobs to him, as she’d learned over the years that he wasn’t the best in the kitchen.
Colton spent most of his time bothering Lucia, bumping into her, or rearranging the utensils she was using. When she got tired of his antics, a barely there smile pulling at the corners of her mouth, she banished him from the kitchen, telling him to make himself useful and play with the kids.
Cooper was already outside kicking a soccer ball around with the twins and Hayley.
Cooper, Colton, and Lucia had all gotten there a bit earlier to help out where they could before Jenna’s friends and more of the team showed up.
The Barretts didn’t usually host too many people, but every year, more and more showed up.
As couples and families trickled in, Colton split his time between playing with the kids, getting the adults drinks, and setting up the folding tables and chairs in Rudy’s massive living room.
Rudy was so busy helping Jenna that Colton was happy to take over hosting duties.
Plus, setting up the living room meant being able to subtly glance over at Lucia as she helped in the kitchen.
After a couple of hours of letting people into the house, he opened the door to a very familiar and very distressed face.
“Mai? What’re you doing here?”
Her eyebrows remained knitted even as she tried to smile at him. Voice raspy, like she’d been crying, she asked, “Does Rudy have room for one more?”
Colton wrapped an arm around her shoulders and walked her inside. “Of course,” he said softly. He led her down a quieter hallway. “Tell me what happened.”
Maya cleared her throat and shook her head.
“I don’t really feel like talking about it.
I just—I needed to get away from my friend group, and you were the first person I could think of, and I knew you would probably be at Rudy’s like you usually are for Saturday Thanksgiving, and…
” She inhaled a shaky breath. “Is Lucia here? I’d like to pretend everything’s okay.
I don’t want to talk about it,” she reiterated.
Colton looked over her reddened cheeks and tired eyes, battling with himself on whether he should press her or not. He wasn’t used to his vibrant and happy sister being so sad, and he felt his protective instinct increase. Still, he wanted to respect her wishes.
“Okay, that’s okay. Let’s go hang out with Lucia.”
They walked back toward the kitchen, Lucia’s worried glance finding them before it morphed into excitement at seeing his sister.
“Maya! It’s so great to see you.” Lucia’s eyes found his, and without even meaning to, he seemed to communicate something to her that she understood.
She approached them, putting her arms around his sister and taking her into the kitchen, chattering about how badly she needed to speak to any other Beaumont sibling.
He was glad to see a genuine smile on his sister’s face at that, gladder still to see how well Lucia and Maya got along.
He stood behind the couch as his teammates watched college games, keeping an eye on his sister and Lucia the entire time. When the food was ready, he helped carry the trays to the tables he’d set up.
“Time to eat. TV off,” Jenna called. When a few of his teammates groaned, she glared at them. “Fine, leave it on, but turn it down so the people who actually like each other can talk amongst themselves.”
They did as they were told, knowing better than to disobey Jenna Barrett twice in her own home. Cooper came inside, Oliver on his shoulders and James dragging from his leg. Hayley was talking to one of Sam’s daughters, though Colton couldn’t remember her name.
“Coop, could you make sure they wash their hands before they eat, please?” Jenna was already directing people as they grabbed plates and started piling food onto them.
When Maya heard Jenna, her widening eyes landed on Cooper, mouth slightly open like she wanted to say something. Cooper’s expression mirrored hers when he saw Maya beside Lucia.
“Mai, what are you—when did you get here?” Colton was surprised at his friend’s concerned tone, eyes flicking between his best friend and his sister.
“I—I missed Colton.”
Hayley tugged Cooper toward the hallway with the guest bathroom, and he followed her reluctantly. Colton’s phone rang, his father’s name popping up on his screen. He groaned but answered it, walking out the door Cooper had just brought the kids in through.
“Dad.”
“I’ve called you twice today. We need to go over the game.”
“Dad, I’m busy right now. Can we talk about this later?”
“Busy? Do you even care about playoffs? Your focus is being pulled, that much is clear.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means your incredibly rude girlfriend is distracting you from your game and may very well ruin your chances at getting through to playoffs this season.”
He ignored his father’s words, tired of the variations of the same conversation over and over again. His father had been warning him a minimum of twice a week since meeting her that Lucia was going to be the reason he lost out on another chance at the championship.
As if the woman who’d single-handedly saved his game could ever be the cause.
If anything, like he’d told her on the plane, she was now the voice in his head that reminded him about the best way to scramble, not to release the ball too early, not to slap the ball the same way before he threw the same pass.
Knowing she was in that analyst box watching him each game lit a fire under him like nothing else ever had.
His eyes watched her through the screen door, a glass of wine in her hand as she spoke with Maya. While the tired conversation with his father wouldn’t end productively, it did remind him that this was temporary.
After January, she may very well never speak to these people outside of the game-day environment again, and that thought had him swallowing over a rock.
No matter how much she seemed to genuinely enjoy everyone, this was a duty for her, a way to ensure she got to keep her job and stay ahead of the media.
“Dad, is Maya staying with you while she’s here?”
“The last time I heard from Maya, she was in Asia. What does that have to do with playoffs?”
Colton held back a scoff. Maya had come back from the Open in Hong Kong three weeks ago, and he was sure she’d tried calling their father since then. He probably hadn’t answered his only daughter’s calls.
He was glad Maya was in town, even if it wasn’t necessarily under pleasant circumstances.
He rarely got to spend time with her, and having her stay with him would make his often-lonely house feel more like a home.
The way that Lucia had started to over the past few weeks.
He grimaced when he realized where his thoughts were heading once again.
“Dad, I’m gonna have to call you back. I’m at a team event.” And for the first time in as long as he could remember, he hung up on his father before he’d even had a chance to tell Colton that his call was more important than any team event, a line Colton had heard plenty of times over the years.
When he was back inside the house, he piled some food onto his plate and sat beside Lucia.
“Everything okay?” she asked him softly, her eyes trained on Leigh and the conversation she’d been a part of with Jenna and Maya before. Her hand moved closer to him on the table, though she stopped before she reached his.
“Yeah, just my dad.”
Her eyes snapped to him. “Is he upset with you for missing Thanksgiving with him?”
Colton scoffed, “Right, that would be the normal parental response during the holidays, but no. He just wanted to tell me, once again, that I’m too preoccupied to get through to playoffs.”
Lucia rolled her eyes. “He needs a life.” She smacked a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. “Oh my god, I’m sorry Colton. That wasn’t an appropriate thing for me to say. I should probably slow it down with the wine.”
He knocked her shoulder with his as he started eating. “I’m in complete agreement, don’t worry.”
After a couple hours of mingling with the team and their families, and with most of the food gone, groups of them began leaving, either to enjoy the rest of the night together or in some cases, to hit King Street for the evening.
Once Maya seemed more like herself again, he agreed to leave her side. He went to the kitchen to help Jenna put up some of the casserole dishes and place pieces of pie on paper plates for those who were staying for football and trivia, when Jenna said, “Tell me you’re staying for trivia this year.”
He hadn’t thought much of it, but Lucia had been enjoying herself so much, he wondered if she’d want to stay. “If Lucia and Maya want to stay, I’ll be glad to.”
Jenna’s smile was wide as she set the last casserole dish in the sink. “You like her a lot.”
“Maya? Well, I’d hope so.”
“Colton.”