Page 105 of Never Stop

I tilted my head to the side. “Do you think the girls on the team are being mean to her again?” Last season a few girls were jealous of her, and they nicknamed her Cryanne. I thought that blew over when Avery prank called the girls, and also when Cheyenne proved she was a better ball player. Maybe not.

“I don’t think so,” Easton said, digging into the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of beer. “She was pissed before practice started.”

I turned and leaned against the kitchen island. “Doesn’t mean they aren’t mean to her at school.”

Easton popped the top on his beer and took a pull. “Well, she won’t tell me. Maybe she’ll tell you. She did before.”

I nodded and started to move toward her room. “Let me go see. Finish dinner, okay?”

“Wait.” Easton reached out and grabbed my wrist with his free hand, halting me. “Let’s make out before you do. Since she’s in her room pouting, I can feel you up. I didn’t even get a hello kiss yet.”

I laughed, throwing my head back in the process. “If we make out, then dinner will burn.” I nudged my head toward the skillet.

He pulled me to him and wrapped his arms around my waist, our bodies going flush against each other. “Fine, but I’m gonna grab your ass while I stick my tongue in your mouth.”

“That you can do except make it quic—”

Without another word, he brought his lips to mine at the same time his free hand skimmed my backside and then grabbed an ass full of my butt cheek. There were no longer jokes being spoken. Only our mouths working together as I tasted the beer he was drinking on his tongue.

After a few seconds we pulled apart, and he winked at me. “Go on. I want to watch you leave so I can stare at your perfect ass.”

I rolled my eyes playfully and left to check on Cheyenne.

When I got to her bedroom door, I knocked and waited for her to tell me to come in. It didn’t happen.

“Go away,” she yelled.

“Chey, it’s me. Can I come in?”

“No!”

“Please?” I begged.

“I don’t want to talk to you or Daddy!”

“Are your teammates being mean to you again?”

“No! I said I don’t want to talk about it. God!” she screeched.

I looked down the hall to see if Easton was watching. He wasn’t. I could totally handle pre-teen drama. Bailee was a nightmare, and it seemed Cheyenne wasn’t going to be any different. I was certain I would have been the same way if I didn’t have to take care of Bailee. There were many nights I wanted to be left alone. Instead, I had to make dinner for us, and get Bai washed and in bed before I did my homework.

“Remember how last year I helped you because I knew how mean girls could be?”

“This isn’t about girls,” she snapped.

“It’s about a boy?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Easton peek around the corner. He might not have been watching, but he was for sure listening. I shooed him away. He rolled his eyes and didn’t move.

The door flung open causing me to startle. “It’s about Tucker,” she whined.

I heard Easton groan, and I when I looked down the hall, he was gone. He was probably chugging a beer to calm himself.

“Tucker is the one that texted you last night?” I asked, coming into her room and closing the door behind me. I shut the door because I wanted her to open up to me. She probably knew as much as I did that talking about boys in front of Easton wasn’t a good thing.

“I don’t understand. He texts me links to funny videos and sends me silly Snap Chats like every night. But at school, he’s so mean to me.” She leaned back on her bed and groaned. “I hate boys!”

That made me smile. Every girl felt that way at one point in time. NowIloved one because he was my world.