Dirty Talker (Filthy Dirty Summer)

My nephew walks over and knocks loudly on it. I look at Griffin and Krissy for their reaction, and Krissy is smiling at me ear to ear. Shit, I'm in trouble, I think. I hold my breath as I wait for someone to open the door on the other side. As soon as the door opens, Benny starts to pump his hand in the air. "Yes."

Ty looks around at all of us standing here and is equally excited as he walks into the room, giving Benny a fist bump. As soon as I see him, I make the connection. Megan is in the room next to me. Krissy pats me on the back and whispers to me softly, "You owe me one there, Coach Kade."

She walks past me before I can answer her and stops in front of Megan, who's standing in the doorway now with her mouth hanging open. I'm sure she thinks I probably planned this, and I didn't. I knew nothing about it until only mere seconds ago. I mean, fuck, I’m a lucky man right now, and I’m already imagining how hard it’s going to be knowing she’s in the room right next to me.

I watch Megan as she and Krissy talk. Benny walks up to me with a hopeful look on his face. "Kade, can we set up our game system in your room since you have the couch?"

"Absolutely," I answer him, and the boys take off toward Benny's room to grab it.

Megan walks farther into the room. "You don't know these two. They will try to be on it all night long."

"It's fine. I enjoy their company. But if you’d rather they didn't, that's fine. I should have asked you first."

She seems surprised, as if she thought I was going to argue with her or something. With a slight nod, she agrees to the boys putting the gaming system up in my room.

Griffin is helping the boys hook it up, and Krissy is standing there with the remote, trying to find the right source channel it needs to be on. It's not very private, but I have to tell her. I walk up to Megan and whisper to her softly, "I didn't have anything to do with this. I didn't know."

She crosses her arms over her chest with a big smile. "Oh, I know you didn't. I think we have a matchmaker."

She nods her head toward Krissy, who is looking between Megan and me with a big smirk on her face. When she sees me looking at her, she winks obnoxiously at me, and I can't help but laugh. "You know, Megan, I think you're right."

The rest of the night is spent hanging out with the boys. Megan went back to her room shortly after they started playing their game, and as I sit here and listen to the boys compete against each other, I can't help but think about Megan in the next room.

We need to talk, and tomorrow I’m going to make sure by the end of the day she knows exactly where I stand.

Chapter 6

Megan

We won. It was the first game of pool play, and we won. We run ruled the other team. And quite honestly, games like that are never fun for anyone. Beating a team with the mercy rule because we had so many more runs than the other team does not make for a fun ballgame. But our boys are still excited to advance to the next round.

This morning, we ate breakfast in the hotel and then just hung around until the afternoon when it was time to head to the fields. The coaches and players had to be there an hour early, and I chickened out, yet again, by saying yes to Krissy when she offered for me to ride with her. Kade took the boys over with him when he went. I know that we need to talk, but it's not necessarily a conversation that I want to have surrounded by my son and his friends. And honestly, I'm not sure what the right decision is going to be. Do I follow my head on this one, which is telling me to tread carefully? Or do I follow my heart, which is telling me to jump in head first? I've thought about nothing else, but I still haven't made a decision.

After the game, we loaded up in Kade's truck and went back to the hotel. Luckily, Ben rode with us, and Ben and Ty and Kade all talked about the game. It seems they're all on a high from their big win. When we get to the hotel, Kade and I step onto the elevator, and then it seems all of the boys come at once and crowd in behind us. Other parents all stand in the hallway, and Krissy says they'll wait for the next one.