Page 31

CALLIOPE

W hat the hell was I supposed to wear to this cookout? I had to plan an outfit and a bathing suit since I’d end up in the pool with Crew at some point. I mean, there were kids involved, so it’s not like it would be appropriate to wear a string bikini.

Me to Mariana: What are you wearing today?

I sent her the text, hoping she understood I needed guidance here.

This was apparently my first full introduction as one of the WAGs, with not just the women who lived in the same neighborhood but most of the team and their significant others.

By the time I received her response, I had nervously torn apart my entire closet and tried on every sundress I owned.

Mariana: I’m wearing this sundress.

She sent a photo of a short, flowing sundress with a tank bodice.

Mariana: with this suit.

Her bathing suit was two pieces, yet the tank top would be perfect while wrangling toddlers and wouldn’t compromise the coverage. I rifled back through my drawers until I found the most appropriate option.

Me: Thank you!!!!!

Mariana: You’ll do fine today. Everyone who met you already loves you.

Me:

I heard Crew giggling with Tom in the kitchen and realized they were probably almost done with breakfast. While he had offered for me to sleep in, it felt strange hanging out in my bedroom while he took care of everything.

“Hey, good morning,” I said to Tom and Crew.

My eyes widened, finding Tom shirtless, in gray sweatpants, slung low on his hips, the band of his boxer briefs exposed.

He winked at me and stuffed a forkful of pancakes into his mouth.

My God, did I want to trace every line of those six-pack abs down to that perfect v…

“Kiwi!” Crew pushed away from his breakfast and came running over to me, hugging my legs. Yep, there was now something sticky on my bare legs.

“Hey, buddy, let’s go wash those hands,” I said, walking him to the kitchen sink and helping him up on the stool Tom had provided so he could reach the counters and use the sink.

“Maple syrup?” I asked, directing my question to Tom.

“Yeah, sorry. I should have warned you,” Tom said, his gaze drifting to where I had a bit of syrup dripping down my leg. He watched as I wet a cloth and wiped the syrup, his eyes wandering up my thighs, appraising my legs without a hint of embarrassment.

“Whatcha thinking?” I asked with a smirk.

“Ah, just about how much I love maple syrup. Shame we had to waste some.”

Oh. My. God. Yep. You can flirt in front of a child, and this man could make anything sexual.

Crew finished washing his hands, and I handed him a cloth to dry before setting him on the floor. He took off into the family room and settled in to play with his train set.

“Does he always run everywhere?” I asked without expecting an answer.

“Hate to break it to you, but his parents are both athletes. Kelsey ran track in college, and he’s surrounded by even more with Sam and his family. Don’t expect him to chill out too often. He’s probably going to climb shit and get hurt almost daily.”

“Can I put pads on him?” I joked. And a shirt on you, please put a shirt on, please, please, please.

“Only when he’s on the ice,” Tom said, sensing my tension yet doing nothing to reduce it.

Fucker must enjoy it. “Speaking of the ice, we have a family event next weekend. It’s a family skate event.

Can you bring him? I’ll have the second car by midweek.

I’d like you both to come, but I know that doesn’t give you much time off before you fly back to Boston. ”

“Sure. Has he ever skated before?” I asked, doing my best to pretend I was unaffected by him.

“Nope, we’ll have milk crates for him to push around, and his helmet should be here midweek. But he hasn’t tried to skate yet…it could be interesting.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Crew has two speeds, asleep or full speed ahead. I expect him to resist the milk crates and then get pissed when he’s not skating as fast as everyone else.”

“Well, then he’ll feel better when I fall on my ass next to him.”

“You can’t skate?” he asked, tipping his head to the side with a slight shake. “But you ski?”

“It’s not that I can’t skate, I can. I’m just not very good at it. But at least I’m not afraid of falling.”

“Kiwi! Come see!” Crew yelled for me to join him. When I met him in the family room, it was clear that he needed a bit of help getting the train tracks lined up to run his train.

“Hey…coffee?” Tom yelled from the kitchen while he cleaned up the rest of breakfast.

“Please. Black?”

He nodded, and a few minutes later, he brought me a steaming cup of coffee, setting it down on the end table and putting it out of Crew’s reach. Yeah, I might be imagining a shirtless Tom bringing me coffee in bed some morning.

“Are you hungry? There are pancakes left,” his question startled me as it interrupted my thoughts.

“No thanks, I’ll probably just have peanut butter toast in a bit.”

Tom left us and headed back into the kitchen. A few minutes later, he returned with two slices of bread slathered with peanut butter.

“Oh, I wasn’t asking you to make it for me. Thanks,” I said.

“You’re welcome. Music?” he asked, holding the phone in his hand. “I can set you up on the Sonos system if you want to run it.”

“You pick,” I said, almost spitting out my coffee when Taylor Swift’s Our Song blasted through the house.

He quickly turned down the volume but left on the music. “Sorry, guilty pleasure. Might also be a guilty pleasure for most of the team.”

“You guys know she likes football players?” I asked.

“Don’t worry, we all know she’s out of our league.”

Which was when I noticed that Crew was doing a damn good job singing along to the music.

And yeah, he was a toddler, but he stayed on key naturally and made up for any lack of skill with more than a bit of enthusiasm.

If you’d told me a month ago that I would have so much fun hanging out playing trains and singing Taylor Swift with a toddler.

When I finished my toast, I stood to bring the plate to the kitchen, Tom following me and standing inches from me. If I just leaned back, I’d be able to feel the entire length of his body up against mine. I took a sharp breath in.

“Everything okay?” He asked, his breath hot on my neck.

“Um, do you always go shirtless around here?” I asked, the heat of his body apparent as he came as close as possible without making contact.

“Is that your line, Callie? Is the no-shirt thing a red flag for you?” he asked.

My body took over. I leaned back into his body, absorbing the heat, and was shocked by the firmness of his chest. He hissed, and I felt his erection against my back.

“No, Tom. It’s green. Everything in me is screaming go.”

His lips dusted the nape of my neck, and Tom pulled away abruptly as Crew shouted, “Dada! Watch me!”

“Hold up, buddy, wait for me.” He rushed to the living room, carefully adjusting his erection and racing to catch Crew, who had pulled all the couch cushions off and was standing on the back of the couch, ready to hurtle himself on top of the pile he’d made to protect his fall.

I guess that’s what happens when you let a toddler spend too much time in silence.

Note to self: don’t trust a quiet Crew.