Chapter Thirty-One
Thirty-One
One Month Later
“Hurry up,” Cash says as we pull into The Wolves Den, blue balloons hanging from every possible place on the front porch.
“Damn, dude, I literally just pulled in.” With five minutes to spare before the baby shower starts. Luckily, Coach didn’t keep us after practice for anything.
“I know, but Bellamy worked hard on this; she may need some help. Just come on,” he practically barks as he jumps out of my Tahoe.
“I guarantee you, Bellamy needs no help,” I say confidently, because she and Willow have been planning this co-ed baby shower for baby Outlaw every day for the last two months.
A sign greets us at the door… A Little Ray of SONSHINE is Arriving Soon.
We walk through the front door, finding our house full of the people we love. Nate sits proudly beside a glowing Berkley.
And the prettiest girl in the world sits right beside them.
My girl. My world.
I love the excited look on her face when she notices it’s me who’s walking through the door, and she immediately stands, ready to greet me. That’s all I want every day for the rest of my life.
“Hey, Little Moore.” I smile, pulling her into me and pressing a kiss to her lips.
“Hey, baby.” She smiles into my lips.
She’s been calling me that more and more over the last month, and I’m a sucker for it.
“You better watch out, or you’ll have one of these cooking in the oven,” Nate chimes in, rubbing Berkley’s belly.
We both laugh, but the thought of her carrying my baby makes my stomach dip with excitement.
“One day… My girl’s got to live out her basketball dreams first,” I respond, and I mean that wholeheartedly. One day, I want it all, but not until she’s gotten to do all the things I know she wants to do.
“And for now, we’ll all just spoil baby Outlaw.” Shay smiles brightly at Berkley.
“Yes, y’all better be ready for babysitting duties. The Wolves Den is going to be his daycare.” Berkley laughs.
Willow’s voice sounds from behind us. “Nate and Berk, you guys get plates first. Then everyone else can dig in.”
We all do as she says, and when I walk into the kitchen, I notice Peyton’s there, talking to Tiffany and Phil, the owners of The Wolfpack.
I’ve seen her in passing since everything went down, but I haven’t had the guts to talk to her, not wanting to upset her in any way.
I get a plate and sit down at the table with Shay, Nola, and Darby.
“Damn, this dip is legit,” I say, already hoping there will be some left over for seconds.
“Willow had me and Darby try it earlier. She did so good,” Shay praises, taking another bite.
I immediately level Nola with a stare. “There’s no way Willow made this by herself.”
He pretends to cough. “She didn’t.”
“I fucking knew it,” Darby says, searching the room for her.
“The girl seriously needs cooking lessons, so I’m helping her out for now,” Nola says before stuffing his mouth with another bite of the food he likely made.
“That’s sweet of you.” Shay smiles.
“Yeah, so sweet.” I roll my eyes, knowing his ass just likes spending time with her.
Nola quickly switches the subject, asking Darby and Shay about their upcoming game against Duke.
Just as we finish eating, Peyton walks past us, likely heading out back to where Bellamy has a big poster full of Berkley and Nate’s baby pictures hanging.
Shay nods toward Peyton and mouths, Go talk to her.
I stand up, kissing her on top of the head.
When I open the back door, Peyton glances away from the pictures, and surprise flashes across her face.
“How have you been?” I ask as I approach her.
“Good, how about you?” She burrows into her jacket from the cool November breeze.
“Busy, but good. We’ve been on the road the last couple of weeks with hockey matches, so I’m glad to be home this week.”
“Congrats on the winning streak. Y’all are having a hell of a season so far.”
I smile. “Yeah, hoping we can keep it up.”
“Y’all will. Also heard you got a sports agent,” she says, smirking at me. I’ve had several approach me in the past, but he felt like the right fit.
I nod. “Yep, he sat down with me and my parents a couple weeks ago. We all really liked him.”
“That’s awesome. Mav. NHL, here you come.” The sincerity in her tone means a lot to me, especially after everything.
“Thanks, how about you? The Howler Report still seems to be a hit thanks to you.”
She blushes. “The editor is actually giving me some broadcasting opportunities this winter, too.”
“Hell yeah!” I say, knowing that’s truly her dream for the future.
Peyton tries to fight the smile spreading across her face. “I’m pretty excited about it.”
“Well, don’t forget your OG partner in crime in the broadcasting world when you’re a big shot one day.”
She lets out a small laugh. “Hopefully, we’ll all be on prime time in the near future.”
“It’ll happen, I believe it,” I say, and we stand there silently for a few moments, looking out into the crowded backyard. It's not awkward; it’s peaceful, and I'm thankful for that.
“Oh, I just heard I got approval for that Anti-Bullying Fundraiser for this spring… It passed the MRU Athletics board, too. You’ll all be getting an email soon about it, I'm sure,” Peyton says, and I can see the gleam of pride shining in her brown eyes.
“For real? That’s amazing! Look at you go. Your event could bring in some serious bucks, and for such a good cause. I, for one, am excited to show up some of my roommates,” I tease, then bump my shoulder into hers.
“Honestly, I’m really excited to see this through. I believe it has the potential to become an annual event.”
“It definitely does, and please let me know if you need anything. I was serious when I said I’d love to help.”
Bellamy opens the back door and calls out. “Everyone, come inside, we’re about to play a game.”
“That’s our cue.” I smile. “It was great catching up.”
“Good luck with Syracuse this week.”
“Thank you,” I say as I push the back door open farther for us.
“I’m not covering that since it's the same night as the women’s basketball game against Duke. Sorry, but I couldn’t stand the thought of missing that match-up,” Peyton says as we walk inside, not noticing Shay standing right inside the doorway.
“Oh, sorry,” Peyton says, almost running into Shay.
“No worries… Any girl who chooses to come to a women’s game over watching the guys play hockey can run into me any day.” Shay smiles.
Peyton seems surprised at first, but recovers quickly. “I’m not missing that match-up. I know they’re the higher seed, but I fully believe y’all are the better team.”
“I like how you think.” Shay winks at her, and a relief I didn’t know I needed washes over me.
Peyton is such a kind person, and since we run in the same circles, I’d hate for anyone to feel uncomfortable. This conversation gives me hope that we can all move forward.
“Come on, people, we have some baby diapers to sniff!” Bellamy shouts, trying to get everyone into the living room.
“What in the hell kind of game is this, Amy?” I ask as we all crowd into the living room.
“You have to guess what’s inside the diaper,” she answers with a mischievous gleam on her face as she opens a diaper and half the crowd gags on sight.
“What is that?” Darby asks Bellamy incredulously.
Willow laughs and steps in. “It’s a candy bar, so you have to pass it around and sniff the candy to try to figure out what type it is. Like Snickers, Butterfingers, Baby Ruth… You get the point.”
“And then you’ll write down your answer on these pieces of paper,” Willow instructs us as she passes the papers around with a bucket of pens. “Whoever gets the most correct gets a prize.”
“What kind of prize are we talking about, baby Outlaw?” Nola asks.
“A bag of assorted chocolate candy bars.” Willow smirks.
Nola pretends to dry heave. “I don’t know if I’ll be up for that after the beautiful picture you guys are painting.”
“How about bragging rights, then? You boys love to have those,” Willow says, raising an eyebrow at him.
I swear something is up with the two of them but not my business.
He shrugs. “Alright, good enough.”
I slide in behind Shay, putting my arm around her and bringing her back into my front, whispering through her hair, “You taking side bets on this game, Little Moore?”
She smirks up at me. “What’d you have in mind?”
“If you win, I’ll give you a foot massage, and”—I lean in a little closer—“feed you a piece of that chocolate while I eat you.”
Shay bites her lip. “And if you win?”
“I get to eat you…and the chocolate.”