Page 11 of Hot Four Teacher (The Lawson’s #4)

Chapter eleven

You're Welcome

Michelle

“ W hat is the point of this?” Ronnie asks, pointing to the kids running back and forth on the field.

“Ronnie,” I begin with a loud sigh. “The point is for them to kick the ball into one goal and block the other goal from getting scored on. It’s called soccer. We go over this literally every time you come to one of Eve’s games.”

“It just seems so pointless.”

Our mom, who is also sitting on the bleachers with us, jumps in. “Ronnie, you know you don’ t have to come.”

“I know, but think how absolutely boring it would be without me here. You guys might quite literally go crazy.”

“Yeah, that’s it,” I mumble. “You know, you better get used to this. I’m sure Colton is going to start doing sports soon, and you’ll be on the hook for all of those games.”

Mom adds, “And practices.”

I nod. “Yep. I’ve probably done drop off to thousands of practices over the years.”

I love giving Ronnie shit about being a stepmom. Even though she and Drew aren’t legally married, she loves that kid so much. It only seems right that I bust her balls, though, since she’s never been a kid person.

She says, “Eh, Colton doesn’t have the best hand-eye coordination, so I might be off the hook.”

Mom asks, "How's his foot-eye coordination? Because that’s what you need for soccer.”

That bursts my sister’s bubble a little bit, but she just moves right along.

“So, Mich, did you tell Mom that you met a boy?”

A flash of excitement crosses over our mother’s face, but she immediately shuts it down. “Oh.”

That’s all she says.

Oh.

Ronnie and I exchange a confused look.

I say, “Uh, yeah. We really hit it off the other night. I got drunk, he saw me naked, and I threw up–not in that order.”

Mom just nods.

“Okay, Suzanne, what’s wrong with you?” Ronnie asks.

Mom whips her head around at the use of her first name but still doesn’t say anything.

“Yeah, Mom,” I agree. “I know you and Ronnie were talking about me and my love life. We will discuss that later, but I thought that this recent development would make you happy.”

Avoiding eye contact, she replies, “I want you to be happy in whatever it is you decide to do in your life.”

Ronnie and I both start cackling because our mother has never been shy about giving us her opinion. Although she knows we won’t always listen, she made sure to give us her two cents.

Growing up, we had two incredible parents who were wildly in love–but extremely different.

Our dad was always the more affectionate one. He was the most patient, and he always hyped each one of us up.

While our mom wasn’t always the most feel-good, she told us what we needed to hear–even when it wasn’t what we wanted to hear.

She may only be five-foot in stature, but the woman would go to war for us, and she’d be the one leading the whole damn army.

She’s the most take no shit woman I’ve ever met.

Raising five strong-willed kids and running a bar has made her a total badass.

“Mom,” I say. “Spill it. What’s going on?”

She’s quiet long enough that I think she’s just ignoring me. When I’m about to change the subject, she blurts, “Your dad thinks that I meddle too much.”

“Ohhhh,” Ronnie and I say in unison.

Ronnie goes on, “Now, it all makes sense.”

“Jo got mad at me for trying to give her advice, but I was just trying to stop your little sister from making a dumb decision. Your dad took her side and told me I interfere too much in your lives.”

Ronnie and I look at each other, trying to figure out who should field this one.

After my sister’s death glare, I decide to start. “Mom, while yes, you do sometimes meddle, we know that you have the best of intentions. We don’t hold it against you.”

Now, Ronnie decides to chime in. “You’re our mom. That’s what you’re supposed to do. It would be weird if you didn’t.”

When Mom stays silent and gnaws on her nails, I add, “And don’t worry about Jo. She’s going to be fine. She’s young. It’s normal for her to ignore your advice. We all did it and made stupid mistakes.”

Ronnie points at me. “Right. Michelle had a baby when she was a teenager.”

My face falls. “Thank you for that.”

“My point is that you did something dumb, but something great came out of it. And we all turned out just fine. Even Eve is pretty cool–despite the whole soccer thing.”

I roll my eyes.

She goes on, “Now, can we please talk about how Michelle met a guy?”

Mom thinks for a moment before saying, “Okay, tell me everything.”

I begin with, “His name is Dane.”

Ronnie quickly cuts me off. “He’s all dark and broody and muscly. And he seems genuinely nice. Michelle got drunk and took off her clothes, and he didn’t even attempt to take advantage of her.”

Mom’s eyes go wide before she looks over at me. “Michelle Dianne, do I need to have the same talk with you that I just had with Jo?”

“Well, I have no idea what you talked to Jo about, but I’m fairly certain the answer is no,” I tell her.

“I also had to tell her to keep her clothes on.”

Ronnie scoffs, “Terrible advice.”

Mom asks, “So, you really like this guy?”

I reply, “I think so. We don’t know each other all that well yet. But we’ve texted a little–just some small talk. And he wants to take me out on Friday night.”

“Are you going to go?”

“It depends on if Eve is going to be gone or not. I don’t want her knowing about any of this…for now anyway.”

Ronnie excitedly says, “Mom, you have to take Eve for the night!”

I turn to her. “If you are so invested, why don’t you hang out with her?”

“I would. But I have a photo shoot that I’m going to be out of town for. Come on, Mom. Think of something fun that the two of you can do together. I’m sure you could have a good time.”

Mom glares at her. “You know, Eve and I have actually met before. She is my granddaughter.”

Ronnie completely ignores the sarcasm and says, “Great. So, you take her, and Michelle is going to get laid…God willing.” She looks back at me. “Now, you have zero reason to back out.”

Just to fuck with her, I say, “I’m sure I could still find another reason to back out.”

“Michelle, I will kick your ass,” she threatens.

In the midst of our talking, we are still keeping an eye on what’s happening on the field. It hasn’t been much more than a constant back and forth with nothing really happening. But all of a sudden, Eve moves around the sweeper and kicks the ball into the goal.

All three of us jump up and start cheering.

“Go Eve!” I shout.

She turns our direction, wearing a huge smile. A massive wave of pride washes over me. I’ve seen my daughter score countless goals, but it never gets old watching her shine.

After she scores, though, the rest of the game goes terribly. They get demolished.

This year, the team has a new coach since their old one got pregnant and ended up leaving the school entirely. Ever since then, things haven’t been going well.

When the game’s over, the three of us wait by the parking lot for Eve to finish up.

Soon enough, she comes stomping towards us, obviously not happy with the results of the game.

“Hey, sweets,” I greet as she gets to us.

All I get is a glare.

“You okay?” I ask.

“No.”

“Well, if it helps, you were awesome out there.”

“Yeah, and everyone else sucked,” she grumbles.

I sigh. “We will work on our sportsmanship later.”

“Let me rephrase. All of us suck because the coach won’t get her head out of her ass.”

Leaning in, I mutter, “Let’s watch the language…at least in front of Grandma.”

Ronnie nudges our mom, “Oh, she doesn’t care. She’s the coolest grandma in town.”

“And probably the youngest,” I say. Looking at my mom, I add, “Just saying what you were thinking.”

Ronnie turns her attention to Eve, “Actually, Eve-a-licious, Grandma has something she wants to ask you.”

“Is it if I like the name Eve-a-licious? Because the answer is no.”

Ronnie pushes her hair out of her face. “Man, teenagers are mean.”

Mom steps in. “Eve, I was wondering if you wanted to come stay the night on Friday. Grandpa will be working, but I was thinking we could have a girls’ night. Maybe we go out to dinner and go shopping.”

Confusion is written all over Eve’s face, and I worry she’s going to ask a bunch of questions. I have zero answers prepared.

But she doesn’t ask any. She just says, “Okay. That sounds fun.”

Eve asks me, “Can we please go grab some dinner? I’m starving.”

I say, “Yeah, let’s go.”

She quickly gives her grandma and aunt hugs before heading for the car.

Ronnie wraps her arms around me, catching me off-guard since she rarely hugs me. She whispers in my ear, “You’re welcome for my awesome plan.”

“I didn’t say thank you,” I sarcastically reply.

“I know. I was speaking directly to your vagina. I’m sure she will be thanking me very soon.”