Page 114 of Sweeper
“Licking what?” I gasp, but my words go unheard.
“Bacon sandwich rule this and bacon sandwich rule that,” Gareth continues. “They were roommates, and they married best friends and had bloody kids in unison. Honestly, Vi and I have had to share a sick bucket for years, watching the insane things these two do with each other. They cannot begrudge Booker the chance to have a little brother for the first time in his life.”
“It was just a joke, mate.” Tanner’s nose wrinkles. “No need to get personal. And the bacon sandwich rule is a sacred Harris tradition. You lick it, it’s yours. Zander, come here so I can lick you and claim you as my brother.”
Gareth rolls his eyes and turns back to me. “I hope you’re ready for this lot, Zander. We’re…a lot.”
I laugh and shake my head. “I think I can manage.”
The score is tied thirteen all. It’s the highest-scoring soccer game I’ve ever played in, but apparently, when you’re kicking a ball around in the backyard of Vaughn Harris’s house, and kids are involved, all bets are off.
The teams are divided up as follows:
Me, Booker, and Camden are on one team with Rocky, Teddy, Milo, and Bex.
Gareth, Tanner, and Hayden are on the other team, and their little ones consist of Sophia, Oliver, and Josephine.
Camden and Tanner are both holding their youngest ones in their arms as they play too, so technically, my team also has little Porter, and Gareth’s team has Alexandra. Watching Camden and Tanner go at each other with kids in their arms doesn’t look like the safest thing I’ve ever seen, but the moms are all sitting on the patio drinking tequila sunrises and laughing, so clearly, they are confident in their husband’s abilities not to drop a child.
Thankfully, I have the best teammate and shadow ever…Teddy. Little dude won’t leave me alone. But he’s actually got some sweet feet for a five-year-old, so I’m using him to my full advantage.
When Cam and Tan get caught in a battle to steal the ball from each other and start knocking over kids like dominos in the grass, Gareth, Booker, and Hayden run in to save the day. I hang back with Teddy.
“Don’t chase the pack,” I state, touching my pointer to my temple. “Hang back. It’ll break loose, and that’s when we attack.”
Teddy nods, his eyes wide and excited. As if on cue, the soccer ball flies toward me. “Cut to the net!” I yell to Teddy.
He does exactly as I say, and I send a left-footed pass right in front of him. He doesn’t slow his pace a bit as he swings his right foot onto the ball, shoots, and scores!
His little fists thrust into the air as I knee slide over to him. “Yes, my dude! Great goal!” I hop back up on my feet and pick him up, holding him in a superman pose as I run in front of all the moms who hold their hands out to give him a high five.
We end our celebration tour with Booker, who’s laughing and shaking his head as I set his kid back down on the grass. He ruffles Teddy’s hair and says, “Nice one, Teddy Bear.”
“Let’s play again!” Teddy squeals and grabs my leg.
“Give Zander a break. Go terrorize your brother.” Teddy’s eyes alight with that prospect, and he takes off in pursuit of Oliver without looking back. Booker braces himself on his knees, working to catch his breath. “This game was more intense than yesterday’s!”
“You can say that again,” I reply, still heavily breathing myself.
I watch as everyone drifts away to their own prospective areas of the backyard. Gareth and Vaughn are discussing the potential of a yellow card on Tanner and Camden. The girls are pouring drinks for the guys while the kids still run around with endless amounts of energy. It’s chaos but happy chaos.
“Do you guys play a game every Sunday?” I ask curiously.
“More and more as the kids are getting older.” Booker stands and walks over to the table where Vi has just placed several bottles of water. He calls over his shoulder, “Do you want any?”
“Water? Yeah,” I respond, jogging over to join him.
He half smiles at me. “I meant do you want any kids?” My eyes nearly bulge out of my head, causing Booker to laugh. He shoves me lightly. “Don’t look so scared. You’re good with them.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure I need a partner to have kids, and that doesn’t seem to be in the cards for me currently.” I take a bottle of water off the table and unscrew the lid.
Booker eyes me thoughtfully. “Do I dare ask about Daphney? I know you wanted me to butt out yesterday, but you’ll quickly learn the Harris family are slow learners.”
I smile and sigh. “I wish I knew what to tell you.”
“You’re going to have to do better than that,” Hayden’s voice interjects from somewhere behind me. He bumps my shoulder as he reaches over to grab a water bottle.
The guy hasn’t spoken a word to me since he joined us for dinner over an hour ago. He barely made eye contact with me this whole evening, and I kept expecting him to take me out during our friendly game of backyard soccer.
