Page 53 of Everywhere You Look

“Sometimes,” Dean answers. “Sometimes we’ll all go with the team and sometimes you’ll stay home with me while Uncle Lukey works. But we’ll still get to watch him on TV.”

The girls look at each other, seemingly mulling that thought over.

“When Uncle Lukey is with the team, can we play makeover with you, Dean?” Mellie asks, and Dean scoffs.

“Please, we can play makeover any old time. But when your uncle isn’t here, we can do extreme makeovers. I’ll take you shopping and to the salonand you can dress me up however you want. I might even let you put pink stripes in my hair,” he says with a wink, and with one last conspiratorial glance at each other, Lemmie and Mellie drop their paint rollers and come barreling over to us.

“Uncle Lukey, can you go back to the job placeright now?”

“I think you might have created two monsters,” I say out of the corner of my mouth. Dean just smiles and leans over to place a gentle kiss on my cheek.

“If you’re happy, corazón, then it’s all worth it.”

22

LEAP OF FAITH

Dean

“Alright, here’s the deal. Uncle Lukey is going to toss the ball to Lem, and they expect us both to run after her and try to grab her flag. But we’re not going to do that. We’re going to split up and give Lemmie a run right down the middle. Then, once I’ve covered Luke and Ollie, you swing back around and pull Lem’s flag from behind. They’ll never see it coming. Got it?”

“Got it!”

Mellie and I high five, and we break our two-man huddle and fall into place on the line of scrimmage. Luke whispers something in Lemmie’s ear, then winks at me before settling into position. I give him the universal “I’m watching you” move, causing thetwins to giggle at our antics. Luke calls the play, Lemmie hikes the ball, and Mellie and I split, taking over opposite sides of the field while Luke lobs the ball to Lemmie. I jump in front of Luke, blocking his view of the throw but not doing much else. I can’t tackle him for three reasons—one, I don’t want to risk aggravating his knee injury. Two, he’s got Ollie strapped to his chest in a carrier, and three, we’re playing two-on-two flag football with our kids in the park, not a playoff game at Twin Peaks Field.

A few days have passed since the night Luke and I finally yanked our heads out of our asses and gave into whatever magnetic force that seemed hellbent on pulling us together, and it’s been nothing but pure, orgasmic bliss.

Okay, that’s not completely true. We still have three kids to take care of, Luke’s transition into coaching to get through and the custody case and possibility that Joseph and Rebecca are in the city, watching and waiting to strike like panthers looming over our heads. We’ve been so busy that we haven’t even had a chance to really talk about what exactly is happening with us. I mean, we’re husbands who are friends who recently started having sex and are trying to hold on to custody of our kids—that’s just a little bit overwhelming. And while I know we should talk—about us, the future, what the hellwe’re doing with each other—at night, when we’re finally alone, I find it impossible to put my brain first when my body is so desperate to sink inside of Luke’s.

Really, who needs to have the “what are we” talk when your husband of all people is laying in your bed naked and willing every night—and morning?

Mellie follows my play call, zagging to the side before making a beeline down the field after her sister, her hand outstretched to try to grab the scarf tucked into Lemmie’s overalls that we’re using as a flag. She’s almost got it, but trips up on her own feet at the last second while Lemmie goes flying past the lamp post we designated as the end zone.

“I did it! Uncle Lukey, I got a touchdown!” Lemmie yells, jumping up and down and causing the pigtails I meticulously French-braided this morning to bounce with her, loosening the strands.

“Heck yeah you did, Lem!” Luke says, jogging up to give her a high-five. He shows her how to spike the football, and then the two of them do a silly touchdown dance that looks like it’s part Macarena, part rump-shaker. I plop down on the grass next to a pouting Mellie and mirror her criss cross applesauce position.

“We didn’t win,” she says gloomily, picking at a patch of grass between us.

“You’re right, we didn’t win. That’s a bummer, isn’t it?”

“It’s a total bummer.”

“But even if we didn’t win, we can still be happy for Lemmie and Uncle Lukey, can’t we?”

Mellie gives me a side-eye that has me chuckling.

“Did you know that me and your uncle didn’t always play football on the same team?”

“You didn’t?”

“Nope. And sometimes, our teams had to play against each other. Just like we’re playing against Uncle Lukey and Lemmie today.”

“Did you win or did Uncle Lukey win?”

“Both. My team won sometimes, and other times Luke’s team won. It’s hard playing against your friends, but even when I lost, I was always happy. Do you know why?”

She shakes her head, and I press on.

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