Overtime(99)

“Thanks,” she said cheerfully. “We are so blessed. But I have to say, Tate told me where ya been, and I’m really proud of ya. I think everyone is. You seem so much happier.”

He shrugged, bashful as he met her caring gaze. “I am.”

“Good, now it’s time for you to settle down,” she said with a wink and he chuckled.

“Working on it. Which reminds me, I gotta bring my woman some water. Excuse me, okay?”

Leaning over, she kissed his cheek, and he smiled as she said, “Of course, see you Friday. Bring her with you.”

“Promise,” he said, going around her to find Kacey. He didn’t have to go far; she was standing with Baylor and Jayden, watching him like a hawk.

“That’s Tate’s wife, right?” she asked once he handed her her drink.

“It is,” he said, taking a long pull of his water. His mouth was dry.

“Good, because she has one hell of an ass, and I was about to get superjealous,” she admitted and Jordie laughed, rolling his eyes.

“While you could be right, my eyes are glued to this beauty,” he said, taking ahold of one of her cheeks.

“Please don’t sue the team for sexual harassment.”

He looked over and saw Elli grinning at him as Kacey smacked his hand away.

“Can’t sue if it’s my boyfriend,” Kacey laughed, but then she cut him a look. “Or can I?”

Jordie scoffed as Elli laughed, her eyes bright as Shea towered over her, looking ever the doting husband. But even with how large Shea was compared to Elli, Jordie couldn’t help but appreciate how gorgeous she looked in a floor-length purple dress that sparkled at the top. In the dress, he could tell that Elli had lost even more weight.

“I’m convinced you aren’t feeding this woman,” Jordie accused Shea, and he scoffed.

“Please, I’m trying to get her to eat more. She’s on some diet, wanting to be thinner for our trip to Disney,” he said, rolling his eyes. That was, until Elli smacked him.

“Do you know how embarrassing it is when you go to hug Mickey and he can’t get his arms around you? Shea ruined my body with all our blessings, and I’m getting my body back.”

“If you need help, let me know,” Kacey suggested but Elli shook her head.

“No, you’d kill me.”

Kacey laughed as Shea and Jordie said, “Yeah, she would.”

“No, I’d take it easy. We can do one of my workouts,” she suggested, but as Elli’s eyes traveled down Kacey’s beautiful, fit body, he could see the apprehension in her eyes.

“I can’t fire you if you hurt me, can I?”

“No, I’d make you sign a waiver,” Kacey said with a wink and Elli laughed.

“Fine, I’ll come down after the boys train on Monday.”

Kacey bounced on her heels. “Can’t wait!”

Shea snorted with laughter. “Do I need to hire a sitter? Or call Grace?”

“Shut up, Shea,” she snapped, smacking his stomach. “I’ll be able to walk…I hope.”

But Kacey shook her head. “Nope.”

“Jesus, what did I just sign up for?” she whined and Jordie laughed.

“Hell,” was his opinion and that didn’t seem to please Elli.

Rolling her eyes, she said, “Okay, I’m gonna go eat my feelings and prepare myself for Monday. Y’all have fun.”

“Thanks for making sure I wasn’t drinking,” he called to her, and she shot him a grin over her shoulder as her fingers tangled with Shea’s.

“I almost licked your cup to make sure, but instead I sniffed it when you were watching Kacey talk,” Elli teased and he laughed as she leaned into her husband.

“Good people,” he declared and Kacey grinned up at him.

“They love you,” she said, resting her head against his shoulder. “I do too.”

“Good,” he said, kissing her nose.

Smiling up at him, she cocked her head to Baylor. “We were talking about her dad, you know, River Moore.”

“Everyone knows River Moore. Great player, scored two minutes into overtime, game seven.”

Kacey nodded as Baylor grinned. “Yes, him. He’s looking for an assistant coach for the Bullies.”

“Oh, really?” he asked with a grin.

“Yeah, Baylor said she can get me an in.”

“We like ins,” he noted.

“I told her she should go for the head coach position for the girls’ team,” Baylor suggested and Jayden nodded, his arm snaked around Baylor’s waist. Jordie sometimes forgot they were together until they were near each other. They reminded him of two magnets, attracted through any barrier.

“I think you should too. Those girls could learn a lot from you,” Jayden added and Jordie nodded.

“Either is good, I feel,” he decided and Kacey shrugged.

“We’ll see,” she said just as Lacey turned to them, her eyes wild with anger.

Jordie made a face, his brows touching. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Blistering with anger, she burst out, “I’m gonna kill her. She closed my store! Closed it! For a f*cking week! No pay for my employees or anything.”