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Athena is a big hit among the guests. She soaks up all the love from everyone. Cade Farmer and his girl, Charley. Davis andLevi. Then there’s Tipper and his wife, Jo. True to his word, Reid kept the group small. I pat him on the back while Raeann and I find chairs to sit at the dining table with.
Reid opens the grill and a plume of smoke lifts and dissipates into the air. We chat casually, Davis talking about how his restaurant is doing.
My phone buzzes, and I take it out of my pocket to read a text from Cade under the heading Gridiron Gods.
Gridiron Gods? This fucking tool.
Cade: Yo. She’s out of your league, 34.
Me: Watch to see if I block for you next time, and I’m fully aware.
I peer up to find him smirking down at his phone.
Cade: Someone had to tell you.
Cade: Should I tell her?
Tipper: Jesus, Farmer. You want to give him a stroke? I’d like to keep up our winning season.
Tipper, as always, coming in with some sense.
Me: Who the fuck are the Gridiron Gods?
Cade: Us. It took me a long time to come up with that name.
Cade and Reid are made of different stuff. They could make friends with a rock. Before Reid, I hadn’t seen a guy come into our dynamic and make friends so easily…and then Cadecame in and did the same exact thing. Fitting that they’ve been friends since grade school, but they don’t treat the rest of us any differently.
“So, Charley,” I speak up, “how are you adjusting to Tennessee? Must be hard.” I look pointedly at Cade who laughs.
“I like it here,” she says. “I wish we could find a house already, then I might be able to settle in more.”
I don’t know everything about Charley, only that she has to go home frequently. Or at least she did. When they first moved down here, I didn’t meet Cade’s girlfriend for a few months. In fact, there was a rolling joke with the team that he completely made her up. I think Reid actually started it.
Things seem to be settling in more for them, and knowing what I know now that Raeann’s by my side, I’m happy for them.
“Are you, um, from around here?” Charley asks Raeann.
It’s the first time a question is directed at her in front of the whole group, and I hold my breath for a few seconds. When I look over at her, though, she’s at ease. “Tennessee but not Nashville.”
“Ah, I hear it now,” Charley says. “The accent.”
“It just sticks. You’ll have to pry my accent from my cold, dead hands.”
The group laughs, and it’s then that Raeann realizes that everyone was listening to their conversation. Her cheeks flush red, but then Athena barks and everyone laughs even louder.
My girls, I think.
17
Raeann
The pool water splashes up over my calves as I dangle my feet. Athena bounds around the massive, fenced-in yard, chasing after squirrels and sometimes birds. Somehow, the party has broken into two groups. The men are standing at the grill while Reid cleans it.
The girls? We’re dipping our feet into the huge pool. A waterfall cascades along some rocks on the other end. There’s even a hide-a-way place to sit, a cavern shielded by the rushing water. The pool doesn’t look like any I’ve seen before. It looks as if it naturally sprung up from the ground with all the rocks surrounding it.
“So, spill the tea,” Briar says.
I track an errant hair that whipped around my face and put it back behind my ear before turning toward the group. To my surprise, they’re all looking at me. “The tea?”