Page 76 of A Game Plan for Love

We all nod, and after four rounds of Mario Kart, where Jack and Henry dominated, my phone rings. The two most beautiful smiles I’ve ever witnessed appear on my screen, and my heartbeat picks up speed.

“I gotta take this.”

“Tell Addie I say hi!” Deon yells.

“See you tomorrow,” Jack calls out.

I slip out of the room and answer FaceTime. Nora’s face is pressed against the camera, her smile filling the screen. “Hi, Decy!” she yells, “I miss you. What are you doing? Are you playing football? Are you my mom's boyfriend?”

“Hey!” Addie steals the phone, and her eye twitches as she appears. “That was not on the pre-approved questions list,” she mutters.

“When are you coming home?” Nora asks, “I made you a drawing.” She holds up a piece of paper with three stick people standing in the center, holding hands. There’s blue squiggles and fish in the background.

“Is that us at the aquarium?” I ask. She nods rapidly with a shy smile. “It’s wonderful.”

“You can hang it up if you want,” she offers.

“I think it would look perfect in my locker at work.” Her cheekbones rise, and her eyes crinkle from her wide smile. “And to answer your other questions, I’m walking back to my hotel room. I’ll play football tomorrow against the Florida Panthers. I miss you, too. And no, I’m not her boyfriend, though I’d like to be,” I admit, unlocking my door and falling into the fluffy hotel sheets. “If the position is open.”

“You would?” Addie lights up on the screen, her hazel eyes full of hope and surprise.

I roll my lips between my teeth to prevent a smile.

“Nora?” Her head pops into view. “I need to amend my statement. I am her boyfriend. Do with that information what you will.”

“I’m a princess!” she screams and disappears. The camera flips to feature the living room—once again a nightmare of toys and crafts—and Nora at the center of the chaos, spinning in circles in pink pajamas covered in little hearts.

Addie’s laughter is music to my ears. “Alright, Princess Nora, it’s time for bed.” The camera turns again. “I’ll call you back in ten?”

“I’ll be waiting.”

While she’s gone, I set out my pre-game outfit for tomorrow—a matching cotton-candy colored denim set and a pair of Air Forces—and get ready for bed. I’m slipping my glasses on when her name pops up on my screen, and my stomach does a flip.

“Hi.” Her cheeks are flushed a deep red, and she curls a strand of hair behind her ear. I smile, and she offers one in response. “So…”

“Yes?”

“About this boyfriend thing…” My stomach roils at the tone. “I have a list ofmusts.”

“Musts?”

“That every good boyfriendmustdo.” Her smile turns mischievous. “One. Youmustrub my feet when I ask. Two. No ordering me a meal for rabbits.” She laughs. “Three. You have to sleep on the right side of the bed, so if we have an attacker, you can fight them off. Four. You can’t give in to Nora’s insane demands, no matter how great of an argument she makes for Pizza Rolls.”

My smile is enormous in the corner of the phone as she rattles off the silly list.

“Any more?”

“Yes. I like the emergency Kit Kat's. You can keep doing that. But, most of all,” she pauses for dramatic effect, “you have to continue to do that thing with your tongue.”

She sticks her tongue out and swirls it around.

“Offer accepted,” I say, “and I’ll do the tongue thingwheneveryou’d like.”

Her pupils dilate, and she draws her lips between her teeth. “Nora has a playdate on Tuesday,” she says, eyes flickering around the room.

“Hm. I think I’m busy,” I respond airily. Her face falls, but she quickly recovers and plasters on a forced smile.

“Oh, well, that’s alright.”

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