Page 82 of Crazy Love

See you tonight!

Tru

Poppy

Can’t wait.

It’s cutting it close, but since I worked hard to prepare everything before, Toby goes to the stadium ahead of me and I’m able to pick up Sam from school so he won’t miss anything. It’s the most hyper I’ve seen him; he chats nonstop the whole drive to the stadium. Right before we arrive, I tell him what we’ll need to do to have everything ready for the team.

“I’m excited to help,” he says, as we’re walking inside.

“You need to do homework first, so it’s done.”

“I already finished it at school.”

I glance at him suspiciously and he laughs.

“I promise!” he says. “You think I’d miss out on any of this? I’ve been waiting for this day formonths. And I didn’t even know I’d get to be here! This is the best. I’ve gotten to go to a lot of Penn’s games, but this is my first preseason game.”

His excitement is contagious. Toby’s still lining food up in the cafeteria, and Sam and I each lug huge coolers into the locker room so we can replenish those refrigerators. I take a little note out of my pocket when I pass Penn’s locker and slip it on his top shelf.

Play hard, Preacher Man.

I’ll be cheering you on.

XX,

Siren

Sam notices and grins at me, happy to be in on the secret.

“Whoa, I’ve never seen so many Uncrustables ever!” Sam says when we get back to the cafeteria. “And bananas! So much of everything!”

“These players have huge appetites,” I tell him. His eyes are round as he stares at all we still have to set up. “There’s plenty. If you’re hungry, help yourself.”

“Thank you, Addy,” he says. He picks up a package of Uncrustables and carefully unwraps it, nodding happily as he eats it. “That’s really good.”

“You’ve never had one?”

He shakes his head.

“Well, you’re not the only one who likes them. I can’t keep enough of them around here! Here’s the smoothie stuff too, if you want any of that.” I point out the smoothie station that Toby’s working on, and Sam jogs over there to help him.

From there, he meticulously arranges the protein bars on the table, while I make the Mustangs Magic.

“I love this job,” he calls, glancing over at me. “What are you doing?”

“Making my secret concoction.”

“Ooo, does it make the players really strong?” He jogs over to see what I’m doing. I wink at him when I pour certain things in and his eyes crinkle as he grins up at me.

Then I show him my notebook of all the guys’ requests. What they want before the game, what they want brought out to them during the game, what they want afterward, and Toby, Sam, and I prepare all that as best we can. And then we start on the hot dishes. Once things are close, I pull Sam aside and take him to the room where I’ve set our things.

I hold up our jerseys, both with Hudson #1 on the back.

“Oh man, Penn’s gonna love seeing you in that,” Sam says, laughing. “Sometimes I’ve worn Rhodes’ or Weston’s jersey just to irritate him.”

We’re both laughing now. “I’m sure that goes over really well,” I snort.

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