Page 55 of Replay

“You ever thought about playing?” I ask curiously; there still may not be enough, but more and more opportunities for females in football are popping up throughout the states.

Josie shakes her head. “No, it’s the same season as volleyball. So I already know when I can try out for the middle school team, I would rather play volleyball.”

“That’s cool,” I say, watching Berkley pretend to tackle the toddler who’s running with the ball. Her loose bun falls, and I’m captivated watching her pull the scrunchie from her hair and slide it onto her wrist, letting her long strands cascade down her back.

“Do you look at every girl the way you look at Berkley?”

Damn, this kid is preceptive as hell.

Chuckling, I smirk. “Nope, just her,” I respond, right as the littlest girl runs my way, and I scoop her up. At first, I worryshe’ll freak out from the stranger-danger, but she immediately giggles.

Berkley watches us with a genuine smile on her face, and Josie joins in with tickling her little sister.

“Can we have our ice cream now?” the one who doesn’t let Berkley out of his sight asks, and I get the sense maybe he’s a bit overstimulated.

“Sure, bud. Why don’t all of you go in and wash up,” Berkley says, rubbing his back.

Josie grabs the youngest from me and leads her siblings inside.

“I’m going to walk Nate around the front to tell him bye and thank you.”

That’s my cue.Damn, I was hoping for an ice cream sundae too.

Jack runs back to me, giving me a fist-bump and thanking me again for the tickets.

“See you on Saturday, Nate,” Josie calls back over her shoulder.

“I’ll look for you guys.”

Instead of taking me back through the house, Berkley waves for me to follow her through a small gate that leads from the backyard to the front.

“That was sweet of you. I know they’ve been before, but never not in the nosebleeds, so this is going to be so special for them.”

“It feels good to be able to do it. I had the idea after Phil told me how much of a fan his son is.”

“I thought you said you were really here to see me?” she asks, and her voice is so steady, I can’t tell if she’s calling me out because she wants to catch me in a lie, or because she’s disappointed if that isn’t the reason.

We stop at the edge of their front sidewalk. “After the way we left things earlier, I wanted to see you in person, so the tickets were the perfect excuse to show up at your job. It just worked out even better when Phil offered to let me drop them off here for Jack.”

“I typically don’t question his parenting skills, but thank God, you aren’t an ax murder.” She rolls her eyes, and I see through her tough exterior. The smirk on her lips tells me she likes that I’m here. She likes that I took the time to seek her out.

I shrug. “Kinda hard to be an ax murder and the quarterback of the local college…plus, I told him we were friends.”

She side-eyes me. “Great, as if I don’t get tired of hearing about you already. Now I’ll get twenty-one questions from my boss.”

“What are you going to tell him?” I gently nudge her side.She pops the scrunchie against her wrist, and it takes me back to our teens when I would steal her hair ties to wear them on my wrist, staking my claim.

“That you’re the dumb jock who made me fall in love with you, the boy I very willingly gave my virginity to, who treated me like the queen I am, until one day you broke my heart, even though you believed you were doing the right thing. Does that sum it up?”

Well, fuck. That hurts.

“Or you could tell him, I’m the love of your life, groveling for one more chance.”

The front door swings open, interrupting the moment. “Are you guys going to kiss or what?” Jack yells and then slams the door. Movement in the front window catches our attention. Josie and her three younger brothers all have their faces pressed against the glass, watching our exchange.

A laugh bursts from me as Berkley lets out an exasperated huff and covers her face.

“They are hella cute. Is Jack about the age you want to teach?”

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