Page 15 of Big Rucking Disaster

“I’m not. According to my dad, she wasn’t all that nice of a woman. She gave birth to me, stuck around for a little while, then met someone else and took off. Left my dad with me and my older sister.”

“You’re a younger child? I had you pegged as the eldest.”

He glared.

I snickered, snagged the dirty towel from his hand, and went back to the kitchen. I tossed it, washed my hands, then headed back into the living room with my sub and iced tea.

He was nearly finished while I hadn’t even started. I put my glass down on the end table and plopped next to him with a sigh.

“You’re…” He eyed me. “Bossy.”

I laughed. “You’re the coach and you’re calling me bossy? I might be the captain of the team, but everyone listens to Roger since he’s older and has been around longer.”

“Roger who’s got kids?”

Funny how that fact had stuck with him. “Five. Kristine Angelique’s just a couple of months old. Cassandra’s twelve, Tristan’s almost nine, Linus is six, and Evelyn’s three, and you should be damn impressed I remembered all that.” In fact, I hadn’t always been so diligent about keeping track of my teammates’ kids. Then Isaiah joined the squad, and by the third day, he knew everyone and all their offspring. Not to be outdone, I tried to keep up as well.

I settled in to eat my sub, all the while wondering what the fuck I was doing here.

Chapter Five

Yardley

He’s the first man you’ve had in here other than your friends, and he’s…straight.Not that my friends didn’t count. They were just…all paired up.Maybe you can call Johnnie a friend. Then your streak remains unbroken.

Right. Like that was somehow the most important thing going on at this moment. I sipped my lemonade—which happened to be my favorite drink. I should’ve offered him first pick, since he was the guest, but I wasnotan iced tea fan. At all. Lemonade, though, was a treat I never turned down.

As Louella and Hugo both knew. If they brought me one, they were usually trying to bribe me.

Johnnie moaned as he finished his meatball sub. Obviously a favorite and probably why he’d suggested it.

I enjoyed them, but would’ve likely found it too heavy. Bacon grease never upset my stomach, so the BLT had been a good choice. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He grinned that oh-so-perfect grin. “How’s your head?”

I took stock. “Still hurts, but not as much as before. No dizziness and, now I’ve eaten, no nausea. So, I guess you can go home now. Do you want me to drive you to your car?”

He scowled. “The entire point of driving you home was so that you wouldn’t be behind the wheel.Still hurtsisn’tall gone and I’m perfect, thanks. Even then, I wouldn’t allow you back behind—”

“Allow? No one allows me to do anything. I’m a grown adult. No matter what Jamilla tells you—”

“Who’s Jamilla?”

“My older sister. What I’m trying to say—”

“Is she single?”

“That no one bosses…” I squinted. “What?”

“I’m just wondering if your sister’s single.”

“Okay. I’m almost afraid to ask why you want to know. That’s an incredibly personal question—”

“You said she was older. So, I’m wondering if she has other people in her life, or if she’s dedicated to bossing you around. You don’t seem like the type to just sit back and be ordered around.”

I blinked. Because he sort of had my relationship with Jamilla nailed. “She’s married with three kids. Her husband’s name is Reuben and, smart man, he sits back and lets her run the show.”

“Three kids?”

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