Chapter eleven
The face Lexi’s giving me when she walks out of her room can’t be good. The shirt hangs in her hand and her bottom lip sticks out. “What’s up, Lulu? Did it not fit?”
We received a special delivery package. Ryker found out we were coming to the game tomorrow and sent all of us a jersey. I laughed when I pulled out the jersey for me and looked at Syd and said, “He’s kidding, right?”
Lexi took off with hers to try it on and obviously she’s not happy about something. I almost say, “I’d be mad too if I had to wear that,” but I purse my lips together and just wait to see what she says.
She juts out her hand with the shirt in it. “It’s wrong,” she pouts.
“What’s wrong with it?” I say, taking it from her and holding it up in the air to inspect.
She huffs adorably. “It has Dallas on it. I live in New York.” She throws her arms out. I smile at her animated expression.
“Lulu, that’s Ryker’s last name,” I explain.
Her expression changes to confusion. “Why do I want Ryker’s last name on my shirt? It should be my name.” She pokes herself in the chest with her thumb. “And…” she starts again. “The number is wrong. It says six. I’M STILL FIVE!”
“I can’t believe Ryker forgot you were still five,” Sydney giggles from my side. I shake my head. There’s an unspoken contest going on between the guys and Sydney about who Lexi thinks is the best. She truly loves all of them, but it’s funny to see how they try and one up each other. I don’t think it matters, though; Max will always be her number one.
“I know,” she huffs again, crossing her arms.
I turn and look at Sydney, glaring so she’ll stop, then look back to Lexi. Her defeated little face was so excited about the jersey when it got here.
I pick her up, putting her on the barstool, and spin her to face me. “Ryker’s football number is six.” She starts to say something but I shush her. She looks at me with wide eyes and waits for me to continue. “A team jersey has a player’s name and number on it. Usually you wear the one with your favorite player on it.” She tilts her head and thinks about it.
“Ryker is my favorite player.” I nod. Ryker is the only one on the team she knows.
“He’s so excited we’re coming to his game, he wanted you to have this.” I place the jersey in her lap. “There will be so many people wearing his jersey all around us because they love him.”
“I love Ryker,” she says, hugging the jersey. Then she stares at me.
“What?” I can see the wheels turning in that little head of hers.
“Don’t you love Ryker?”
“Of course, I do. He’s one of Aiden’s best friends.”
“I heard you say you’d never wear his jersey to the game.” Shit. I need to learn she’s always listening.
I open my mouth to explain and then snap it shut, changing my mind. “When I was little…” I point to Syd, “…we grew up in Texas. We loved the Dallas Cowboys and would go to the football games all the time and cheer them on. We are still big fans.” I open my arms as wide as they’ll go. She giggles. “And that is who the Giants are playing tomorrow. I can’t go against my favorite team. Aiden will be wearing a jersey just like you, though,” I add, hoping she’ll be satisfied with that.
“And Damon,” Syd says, walking over to the bar. She reaches for her bottled water and takes a quick drink.
“So, it’ll be us against you guys?” She puts her hands on her little hips and smirks. She learns quickly.
“Yep, and we’re going to take you down.” I tickle her belly, and she squeals.
“Noo. We’re going to take you down,” she says between her giggles. I laugh. Aiden is going to love this.
***
“Tater Tot! Where’s my girl?” Aiden yells. She must not have heard him come in because usually she’s out here the second she hears his voice. They have become quite the pair. I adore the special time they have together. Hearing him talk with her about her dad and the special things they did makes my heart swell and always brings tears to my eyes. He doesn’t want to replace her dad, he wants to share the space with him in her heart.
“Aiden!” she screams, running from her bedroom. She runs into his arms, and he swoops her up. “We match.” She pinches her jersey and holds it up to his.
“Yes, we do.” He holds up his hand and she high-fives it. “There’s a traitor among us,” he says, eyes narrowing. She tilts her head with a look of confusion.
“What does that mean?”
He laughs. “Someone doesn’t love Ryker.” She nods her head in understanding, narrows her eyes like he did, and they both glare at me.
I shake my head at Aiden. “Would you stop saying that? I do love Ryker. I don’t love the team he’s playing on.”
“Our team is going to win,” Lexi says with a cute, competitive voice.
“You think so, huh?” I laugh at the dynamic duo. “We’ll see.”
Aiden has Lexi on his shoulders as we walk into the stadium. This is my happy place. The fans’ excitement is infectious. My nerves tingle as my heart beats a little faster, adrenaline running through my veins. I thought about doing sports medicine just so I could experience this over and over. It was a fleeting thought because I had already decided my path.
“I can’t believe we both ended up with Cowboys’ fans,” Damon jokes as we walk through the tunnel to our seats. Syd hits him on the arm.
“I could say the same for you,” she giggles. “I’m sleeping with the enemy.”
He playfully growls and grabs her waist, leaning down and attacking her neck. She laughs as she pushes him off. “And you love it,” he chuckles.
“Look at what she’s wearing,” Aiden says, eyeing me up and down. “You think I give a…” he stops himself and glances up to Lexi. She’s not even paying attention. She’s looking at everything. He looks back at Damon. “Yeah, I don’t care. That’s one of my favorite outfits ever.” He wags his eyebrows and smirks. He’s especially fond of the boots. Heat spreads low in my belly, thinking about the times he’s demanded I keep the boots on while I ride him. A salacious grin spreads across his face as if he can read my mind. Who am I kidding? He knows.
Syd and I are wearing the uniform we wear whenever Dallas plays. Jean cut-off shorts, cowboy boots, and our Cowboys jerseys. We’re a little out of place here, but it doesn’t matter to us.
When we walk through the tunnel to the open stadium, Lexi’s eyes double in size. “Wow!” she beams. “It’s so big in here. Look, a balloon!” She points up to the sky.
We all look up. “That’s a blimp,” Aiden says. “It’s like a balloon.” She nods and moves on to the next thing. Aiden flips her over his shoulders so she can walk down the stairs. She slips her hand in his, and we walk down to the first row of seats. I’ll admit, I’m feeling special right now. We’ve never sat this close. The team is right in front of us. The reporters line the field, taking pictures of the players practicing.
“These seats are incredible,” squeals Syd. She bounces on her toes and gives me a hug. “Thanks for inviting us.”
We look up the stadium seating at all the people. Other Cowboys fans wave down to us, and we wave back. “It figures Mack would give his seats to Cowboys fans,” a male voice from the seats behind us says. We look at him and politely smile.
“You gotta have some winners on this side,” Syd says in her sweet, southern drawl. He smirks and shakes his head. Aiden and Damon introduce themselves to the guy. I guess he’s some big wig in the tech industry. I stop listening and turn to face the field. We got here a little early because I wanted to make sure Lexi experienced the entire thing, so we watch some of the Giants players practice.
When Ryker comes out on the field, the place erupts with cheers and whistles. Lexi looks at me wondering what’s happening. I point to Ryker. She jumps up out of her seat and yells for him, waving her arms around.
“Well, at least one of you girls has it right,” Jack, the tech guy, jokes. Lexi spins around and gives him a huge smile.
“We’re going to take them down,” she says, pointing to me, repeating my words from yesterday. I burst out laughing.
“I like the way you think,” Jack says, holding his hand out for a high five. She gives him one and turns back around. “Good thing she’s taking after her dad.”
Lexi turns back around to Jack. “Aiden’s not my dad. My mom and dad were killed. Addison is my foster mom,” she says matter-of-factly. “But Aiden will be my foster dad soon.” She jumps in his lap and gives him a big hug. He returns it, but all of us sit still, wide eyed over what she just said. I turn and softly smile to Jack. He’s not sure what to say either. He smiles back and nods. There’s nothing to say. When Lexi jumps out of Aiden’s lap and resumes screaming for Ryker, I link our fingers together and squeeze. It’s intriguing and mortifying the way a child can be honest without any emotion.
Her truth isn’t the way she feels, it’s just truth. She loves Aiden like a father, but he isn’t her father. At least not yet. Aiden picks up my hand and kisses my knuckles.
“She loves you,” I whisper. I don’t want him to be insecure about what he means to Lexi because of what she said. It’s the first time he’s heard that. I’ve had time to deal with hearing it for a few months. It’s gut wrenching at first until you realize that kid’s actions speak so much louder than words.
“I know,” he replies. He takes a deep inhale and blows it out his nose, nodding that he’s okay, and sits forward in his seat. He positions Lexi between his legs and points out random things to her, explaining the game. I sit back and watch them. A couple guys on the team notice Aiden and wave to him. Hmm…I wonder how many guys he knows on the team. Lexi gets super excited, thinking they’re waving to her.
I watch one of the guys walk over to Ryker and point at us. Ryker looks and his smile grows. He jogs over to us and jumps up on the bars in front of us. “Lulu!” He picks her up into his arms and gives her a big kiss on the cheek, ignoring the fans cheering behind us.
“Ryker, look, I’m wearing your jersey,” she says excitedly.
“It looks better on you than it does on me.” Her face beams. He puts her down and looks at me, shaking his head. “You’re killing me, Addison.” He grips his heart. I roll my eyes. My feet are up on the bar and his eyes move down my legs. “If it weren’t for those legs, I might be mad.” He winks at me.
Aiden growls. “You better go before I break your throwing arm,” Aiden jokes. I think he’s finally figured out that Ryker likes to mess with him by flirting with me.
“No,” Lexi says. “You can’t break his arm. He’s the dollarback.”
We bust out laughing. Lexi looks at us perplexed, wondering what we think is so funny.
“Tater Tot, he’s not that important,” Aiden chuckles. “He’s just a quarterback.”
“Hey, Lulu, look at Addison.” Ryker points to me. When Lexi turns and looks at me, Ryker flips off Aiden. He laughs again and blows him a kiss. When Lexi figures out there’s nothing to see, she shrugs and spins back around. “Alright, Lulu, I expect to hear really loud cheers from you. It’ll help me win.”
“I’ll be the loudest,” she promises. He fists bumps her and hops down to go back to practicing.
From the “National Anthem” to halftime, Lexi never sits down. She cheers, yells, sings, and dances the entire night. At halftime, we take a quick bathroom break and grab some food just in time to start all over. Lexi’s like the band director. She stands on her seat and directs everyone to get out of their seats and cheer. Our section follows her like the Pied Piper, and she’s eating it up. By the end of the third quarter, the Cowboys lead by two touchdowns, so the crowd has quieted a bit. Except for us Cowboys fans.
Lexi is sitting in Aiden’s lap and she seems to have stopped ticking. I look over and she’s dead asleep, her head resting on Aiden’s chest. Her hair is in French braids, except for the few errant hairs stuck to her face from either sweat or cotton candy.
“I think she cheered herself to sleep,” I say, smiling at her. Aiden nods in agreement.
When the fourth quarter starts, Ryker glances our way and sees his biggest fan conked out. He shakes his head and chuckles before putting on his helmet and running onto the field. Not two plays later, he throws it for a touchdown and the crowd goes crazy.
Lexi sits straight up and looks at Aiden. “What did I miss?”
“They just scored a touchdown,” he says. She jumps up and hollers, waving her arms around. Her little body must have needed to refuel because she’s up and raring to go again. And she stays that way until the very end.
When the Giants win.
***
“Knock, knock.” I look up from my files at Bryn standing in my doorway.
“Hey, girl. Come on in.” Harper and I just got back from being out in the field all day, and I’m going over my notes. She sits down in one of the chairs in front of my desk, crosses her legs, and reclines. “What’s going on?” Bryn doesn’t normally visit with me during work hours, so I have no idea why she’s here, but her smile tells me whatever it is, it’s good.
“Have you looked at Page Six today?”
I stare at her with confusion. “Why would I have looked at Page Six today?”
“You’ll want to see today’s paper.” I cock my eyebrow. I doubt that. “No, really. You do.” Her persistence has me wondering what it could be. I know that Brooks is in Page Six a lot with the title of “Sexiest Bachelor Single Dad.” I roll over to my computer and type in the website. Page Six is the celebrity, music, and entertainment section of the New York Times. When it pops up, I gasp and cover my mouth with my hand.
“Oh. My. God. You’ve got to be kidding me.” I look at Bryn in shock, and she shakes her head. I look back to the website and the first thing that shows up reads “Who’s Ryker Dallas’s New Girl?” and it has a picture of him kissing Lexi on the cheek at the game. I immediately start reading the article.
Giants’ golden boy, Ryker Dallas, seems to have a new girl, but this one is cute as a button and seems to grab the attention of everyone around her. (We watched her more than the game.)
I click the read more link and it opens the article. I skim through it. They mainly talk about Ryker’s stats and his record-breaking season. It’s not until the end that they talk about Lexi again.
We don’t know who she is, but we can say when she passed out in her dad’s arms (did we mention he’s gorgeous) it was the sweetest thing ever. When we asked about her, Ryker ignored the question.
I finish reading the article and I’m speechless. I’m not sure how I feel about Lexi’s picture being on a gossip website. I look at Bryn stunned.
“Wow,” I say, shaking my head.
“I know! And if that isn’t the sweetest picture ever,” she says, pointing to the screen. I look at it again. It is sweet. She sits back and groans. I look at her. My head tilts to the side, confused about why she seems upset. She rolls her eyes and huffs. “Why does he have to be charismatic, hot, a perfect gentleman, and now this…” she says, throwing out her arms. I furrow my brows. What the hell is she talking about? “I mean, my ovaries see that and they go spread eagle and say ‘come feed me’.”
I slap my hand to my forehead and chuckle. “I did not need that image in my head.” She laughs. “Where is this coming from?” I finally ask.
“We kind of hooked up the night of your party, before all hell broke loose.” I nod. I heard that through the grapevine so I’m not surprised. “He’s called me a few times since and we’ve…” Her voice trails off, but the blush creeps up her face.
I cock my eyebrow. This, I haven’t heard. I lean forward on my desk. “Have y’all seen each other again?”
“No. We’ve just talked on the phone.” She bites her lip and starts fanning herself. “It got hot in here suddenly.”
“Mmm-hmm,” I say. Seems they did a little more than talk on the phone.
“Anyway, he’s just not boyfriend material. But he keeps making me question things.” Her head jerks to the screen. “He really adores Lexi.” She sighs.
“He does.” I want to tell her that he’s a good guy, but he is a total playboy. I understand her hesitancy. Guys like that don’t like to settle down, so I stay quiet.
“I kind of wish he was an asshole. Then I wouldn’t have to be thinking what if. It’s not like I’m going to see him anytime soon.”
I bite my cheek. Oh, it might be sooner than you think. I plan on asking Bryn to be a bridesmaid, and of course, Ryker will be a groomsman. And we planned on pairing them already. I’m not sure telling her will help the situation, so again, I keep my mouth shut. She’ll find out soon enough when I ask all the girls.
When she leaves, I pull out my phone and text Aiden.
Me: Did you see Page Six today?
Aiden: I did.
I look at his response. That’s it? I wait a minute to see if he writes anything else. When he doesn’t, I respond.
Me: And …
Aiden: I’m gorgeous and I’m the dad :) It’s a win-win for me!
I roll my eyes. Seriously?