Scoring Wilder(88)

"How long are you in town for, Mom?" he asked, slinging his arm over her shoulder playfully. She hip checked him and then shooed him away so she could flip the bacon.

"Well I was supposed to be here yesterday afternoon so I could see your match, but my flight was delayed," she huffed and threw her hand in the air as if to say 'those damn airlines'. "So now I've only got three days left before I head home."

"You didn't miss anything special, promise," Liam assured her.

"I cheered extra loud when he scored, Mrs. Wilder," I winked, and they both laughed.

"Well as long as he had you there, he probably didn't miss me at all," she quipped, piling the eggs and bacon onto a big plate.

I set the table and Liam set out a carafe of orange juice.

"You two need to eat up, you're both top athletes and you need your fuel. Especially you, Kinsley. You look like you're skin and bones," she said, pushing eggs onto my plate.

"I promise I eat a lot. I just run every day," I shrugged and started biting into my bacon.

Liam gave me a reassuring smile and then reached to hold my knee under the table. I think all parents have instincts to fatten up their kids. My grandmother would always shove cookies down my throat whenever we went over for holidays. If only I got cookies shoved down my throat everywhere I went…

"Well you two are quite the athletic couple," his mom smiled and munched on her breakfast, eyeing us with admiration. I had no clue how she normally acted, but so far I felt like this meeting was going much better than expected.

"Good morning, you filthy neighbors! Tuck away your naughty bits, Becca’s on the scene!" Becca’s voice rang out as the back door opened. Liam laughed as I hid my face behind my cup of coffee. I’d be karate chopping her naughty bits as soon as we were alone. A moment later, she and Penn walked into the kitchen like they owned the place.

"Oh, oops!" Becca exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand as she realized her mistake. "Is this a family breakfast?" she asked, pausing so that Penn nearly walked into her. “Ignore what I said about the…”

Mrs. Wilder scooted her chair back to cut her off. She probably didn’t want to hear anymore about her son’s naughty bits. "No, no! Join us! You must be Penn's friend," his mom said, standing up to greet Becca. They shook hands as Becca attempted to cover her flushing cheeks. Hah.

"Hey neighbors," I smiled, hopping up to get them plates.

Thankfully Mrs. Wilder had prepared more than enough food, and soon the five of us were all sitting around the table eating and chatting. I only attempted to kick Becca in the kneecaps twice beneath the table.

"So you girls play on the same team?" Mrs. Wilder asked Becca and me.

"Yes, ma'am." I smiled at Becca who was in the middle of taking a big bite.

"They must only recruit the pretty ones," she proclaimed, making us both blush. The boys agreed emphatically. I rolled my eyes at Liam and he just shrugged like he had no choice.

"Well Kinsley was recruited because they felt sorry for her," Becca joked, “you know for being…” she paused and signed the universal gesture for cuckoo. I jabbed her with my fork.

"Becca's actually the team manager. She just gets me water when I need it and cleans my sweaty jerseys," I quipped with a cheeky grin.

Becca gave me a pointed stare and held her fork up in a way that made it look like she was flipping me the bird.

"We actually have a game this week that my mom will be in town for," I said, turning back to Mrs. Wilder who was laughing at our little exchange.

"Oh, how fun! Let's hope her flight isn't delayed like mine was."

I laughed. "Well it's a short flight from Denver, so it shouldn't be too bad."

"What day's your game?"

"Tuesday," I said, realizing that was only two days away. How could time be flying so quickly? I couldn't believe I only had two days left until my first game, well technically it was a scrimmage, but still the media would be there ready to build me up or tear me down.

She clapped her hands together in glee. "I don't leave for London until Wednesday morning! I'll be at the game sitting in the Kinsley and Becca fan section."

Liam shook his head, but he was wearing an easy smile. "Mom, maybe Kinsley doesn't want your English butt there. You are very rowdy at sporting events."

She eyed her son with an exaggerated expression of disbelief. "Nonsense! I was only kicked out of one for your matches, but that referee clearly hadn’t updated his prescription contacts in years. You can't blame me."

Becca and I cracked up. "You can definitely come, if you'd like to. It's at 4:00 P.M. over at the ULA stadium," I explained.

"Well, it's settled," she said, pushing back from her seat. "Now you guys finish up so we can go do something fun. If we stay around here, I'll just fall asleep. Jet lag is already catching up with me."

We did as we were told, shoveling the rest of our breakfast into our mouths and then loading up into Liam's car.

…



"So, you and Penn are back to normal?" I asked as soon as we'd left Liam's house after dinner. We’d spent the day shopping around Malibu with Mrs. Wilder. I tried to keep a close watch on Penn and Becca the entire time, but I couldn’t tell how much they’d worked out the night before. They looked better, but she still seemed to have the upper hand. He'd sidle up behind her while she was looking at clothing and she'd twist out of his hands and flash him a devious wink. It seemed like they were playing a little cat and mouse game.