Page 86 of Rebound

“Thank God for my in-laws,” is all Chastain says.

“Mine too,” Coach says.

“You’re lucky you weren’t there five Christmases ago.” June Bug cringes at the memory. “Let’s just say, someone grabbed a knife. Layla got upset and ran to her room crying, and I had to step in and handle it like always.”

“That shit’s not going to be allowed at our house. I can’t have people upsetting my wife,” I announce.

Coach and Chastain look at each other and smirk. Instead of popping a bottle of champagne, he grabs a bottle with brown liquid. He pours three shots and gives Chastain bottled water.

“To Seth and Layla,” Coach says. “I’m proud of you. By the way, I don’t like when people upset my wife either. What about you, Chastain?”

“The only person allowed to upset my wife is me,” he says.

By the time we leave the office, the townhouse is packed with people. Most are from the team, including Ryder who is standing in the corner with his grandfather. I look at Aiden so I can ask why they’re here, but he’s across the room.

This is supposed to be a small bridal shower and dinner, but there are close to seventy-five people here, including the team owner and his wife. I manage to walk through the throng of people, grab Aiden’s elbow, and drag him to the side of the room.

“Why are all these people here?” I whisper. “And why is everyone so dressed up?”

“Vickie and Jeannie planned it. I have no idea who they invited.” He shrugs, but something tells me there’s more to the story than he’s saying.

“Whatever,” I say. “I have a problem that I need to talk to you about.” He arches an eyebrow and waits for me to say more. “So, remember my plan?”

“The one where you do all the dumb shit for your wife that I do for mine?” He puts dumb shit in air quotes.

“Yeah.”

“Don’t tell me it’s not working. That plan was foolproof.” This time, it’s me who arches an eyebrow at him. He almost sounds sarcastic.

“Well, it’s working. That’s the problem. She likes all that shit. Eats it up. I get her flowers, pull out her chair, and hold her hand. The other night I massaged her feet while we watched a movie. That was no small feat because her feet are huge and kinda ugly. I thought girls were supposed to have pretty feet,but Layla didn’t get the memo. Her toes are almost as long as Jasmine’s fingers.” I shiver at the memory.

Coach cracks a smile and says, “Please tell me you didn’t tell her that?”

“I did. We tell each other everything,” I say. “That’s another one of the dumb rules you and Jeannie have, and Chastain is always on the phone blabbing to Vickie about everything like the simp he is. He’s the king of simps.”

“Right,” he says. “Fucking loser.”

“All the sappy shit we talked about. What I didn’t expect was that she would do things for me too.”

“Plot twist,” he says. “Like what?”

“Like, she’ll just bring me a bowl of fruit at night because I think she knows I like it. When I come home from a workout, she’ll turn the shower on for me, and when I get out of the shower, I’ll find a change of clothes on the bed waiting for me. Get this.” I lower my voice and say, “She’s doing all the admin stuff I used to do for my dad. She makes sure the bills are paid and reorders his prescriptions. She even talks to him most nights so I don’t have to. Shit like that. She says she’s going to throw me a birthday party,” I whisper. I grin at that part. I’ve never had a birthday party in my life. Not even when my father was halfway functional. There are a few pictures of me and him and a grocery store sheet cake, but that’s it.

“Uh-huh. I can see how that can be a problem.”

“Anyway,” I say, ignoring his sarcasm, “my big plan hasn’t come to fruition yet.”

“The one where she falls in love with you?”

“Yeah. That’s the entire point. That’s why I started doing all that dumb stuff to begin with. What other dumb shit do you do for Jeannie? Maybe I’m missing something.” Then I have a thought. “Should I put two babies in her at once?”

I never thought of having more kids. Hell, I was horrified at the idea of the one I have, but Layla’s changed the game. We’re a family. The kind that I’ve always wanted. The kind I would watch on television, and those families always had more than one kid, and I do like being a father.

“Well, I would hold off on putting two babies in her at once until you talk to her about it first, but I’d rather talk about how you feel about the things she does for you?”

“Oh, man. I eat that shit up. I was uncomfortable about it at first because no one has ever done anything for me before, but Coach, it’s nice,” I whisper. “She’ll do something just because she knows I like it. Without me asking, not that I’d ever ask. I’m not a needy type of guy.” He widens his eyes as if that’s incredible. “And Jasmine called her Mama out of the blue and she started crying. It was nice to comfort her. Now, she’s Mama. She’s good to my dad. Do you think I ever thought anyone would put up with his level of crazy?”

“Will you stop calling him that?” Coach says. I feel contrite because now I finally understand why he’s that way, but I don’t tell Coach that. That’s my dad’s story, and he should be the one to tell it, not me. I won’t betray his trust that way.

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