Wrecked (Clayton Falls #3)(27)
Author: Alyssa Rose Ivy

“I can see that.”

Noah squirmed on my lap. People watching could only occupy him for so long. “What do you think of all this?” I asked him.

He smiled and pointed toward the field.

“It’s going to start soon.”

Mel pulled him onto her lap. “The dancers will be out soon. That’s always fun.”

Ben laughed. “Teaching him young, huh?”

Mel smiled and looked at me. “That was you in high school, right Em?”

“Yeah, I did dance team.”

“I doubt your dance team had the same reputation they have here.” Kelly bit her lip in an attempt to hide a smile.

“Oh, probably not that different.”

“Oh.” Molly looked shocked by my admission.

“That was a joke.”

Mel shook her head. “No one gets your sense of humor.”

“Jake does,” I said it without thinking.

Ben smiled. “He has an interesting sense of humor himself.”

Molly nudged Ben. “Interesting? Do you mean infuriating?”

“I take it you two aren’t best friends.” I was still dying to know what went down before Jake’s accident.

“No. They fight all the time. It’s usually quite entertaining.” Kelly held open a bag of popcorn. “Can he have some?” She gestured to Noah.

I nodded. I appreciated her checking with me first. Popcorn was one of those things you had to be careful with in kids his age. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

Kelly leaned over and gave him some.

“But Jake’s great.” Molly must have suddenly remembered what I was doing at the game.

“I know.” I still wanted more to the story, but hopefully he’d bring it up himself—that is if we spent more time together. I’d gone to the game, but I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.

As Mel predicted, the dance team took the field for a pre-game routine. It brought back a lot of memories. Austen used to make fun of me for it in high school. I used to hate when he teased me. Back then I really cared about what he thought. My brother had made fun of me too, but I expected it and I knew he never meant it. I think he was actually glad I was on the dance team. It meant I was always at his games.

I noticed Jake on the sidelines waiting for the game to start. He had his arms crossed and an incredibly serious expression on his face. He was looking down at his clipboard. The guy next to him, who I recognized as Cole, nudged him and pointed at me. I’d never met Cole, but he must have figured out who we were. Jake’s serious expression immediately melted into a smile. He waved.

I waved back and Mel noticed. She leaned over to whisper in my ear, “He’s still hot.”

“Thanks, Mel. I needed that.”

“It’s true.”

“It’s still crazy to me that Jake’s coaching. He looks so adult.” Molly took a sip from a bottle of water.

“He seemed pretty nervous about it when I talked to him, but he looks right at home.” I watched as Jake turned to talk to the team.

Mel leaned over to whisper again. “No checking out his ass with Noah here.”

I pushed her arm. “Shut up.”

“Although, he does look good…”

I knew she was only messing around to keep things light. She might have been talking about Jake, but her eyes were locked on Cole. They were both wearing red, collared shirts and khaki pants. It must have been the coaching uniform because two other men had them on too.

“Mama.” Noah moved off Mel’s lap and back to me. It was only a matter of time before he wanted to run around. I’d probably end up having to walk with him.

They did the pledge and the game began. The Mustangs started out on fire with two straight drives for touchdowns. The crowd loved it. Almost everyone was out of their seats cheering. The jeers when the other team scored a field goal were just as loud. Noah was having a ball. I don’t think he’d ever heard grownups yell so much.

I enjoyed the game, but the best part was watching Jake. He got so animated about everything—good or bad. Watching him throw his clipboard after a call against them worried me a little, but I told myself that didn’t mean he had an anger problem like Tim. It was normal. I wondered if I’d ever stop worrying about things like that. Probably not.

I was pulled from my negative thoughts when Noah successfully moved off my lap. “I better take him down to run off some energy.”

“There’s some grass just behind the bleachers. I’ll come with you,” Molly offered.

“Oh, thanks.”

“Want me to come?” Mel tore her eyes from the game.

“No, it’s okay. Enjoy the game.” I didn’t want to ruin her fun, and I figured it might be nice to talk to Molly anyway.

I picked Noah up, and we followed Molly down. She was right, there was some grass behind the bleachers. It was far enough away that we wouldn’t be in anyone’s way, but close enough that we could still hear the announcer and fans—not that it would have been hard. The cheering had only increased as the Mustangs scored another two touchdowns.

“I don’t know how you do it.” Molly took a seat on the grass when I’d finally tired Noah out enough that he’d sit.

“It’s a lot of work, but fun too.”

“I just can’t imagine. I mean I’m scared to do it with Ben, I can’t fathom how hard it is for you to take care of Noah alone.”

The way she said it made it sound like having a child was a real possibility for her. Still, I needed to be careful. If she was trying and couldn’t get pregnant, I didn’t want to upset her. “Are you thinking of having kids sometime soon?”

“I’m almost four months pregnant.” She smiled.

“Oh, wow. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

“When do you find out the gender? Next month?”

“We can, but I haven’t decided if I want to.”

“You’re braver than me. I needed to know.”

“Ben wants it to be a surprise. I might have to give in.”

“That’s so exciting. If you find out you’re having a boy, I still have a lot of Noah’s things.”

“Really? That’s so nice of you to offer.”

Noah started to run away but I tackled him down. He burst into a fit of giggles.

Molly grinned. “How old is he?”

“He’ll be two in November.”

“What day?”