She only sips more of her coke, her smile just barely visible. “Come on, tell me you wouldn’t get down and dirty with that man.”
I tilt my head to the side, studying Chase even though I already know the answer. The man is just my fucking type. Tall and handsome with a cocky smile that does inappropriate things to my body. “I wish… if only they weren’t my neighbors.” And if only I had the time.
“What? That only means the walk of shame will be shorter,” Jamille says, looking at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Girl, you need to jump on it,” she lowers her voice, leaning in closer to me, “and by it, I mean his dick.”
I shake my head. “You are totally a bad influence,” I admonish. “Sleeping with him would create problems and honestly, I wouldn’t be able to pick between him or Nathan if I changed my mind and decided it was worth the risk.”
“Simple answer, do them both.”
The crack of a ball hitting a bat breaks through the air and I blink. “We are not seriously discussing threesomes at a kid’s baseball practice,” I say, turning to look at Jamille.
She shrugs, feigning innocence. “Name a better place.”
“I’m not doing this with you.” Despite the words, I want to ask her if she knows anything deeper about the guys. She talks about them with a sense of familiarity that suggests she knows more about them than baseball.
After a moment, I decide I’ll ask her about them another day and just keep the conversation on safer topics for now. It isn’t hard since I find it easy to fall into conversation with Jamille. I’ve started to look forward to our time during practice.
“We were supposed to organize a playdate,” I remind her.
“Oh yeah, how’s Sunday? It’s my only day off, but if you need another day, I can try to move some stuff around.”
I shake my head. “No, Sunday is fine. We can go to the park and get ice cream.” The mention of ice cream makes me think of Emmet and I almost expect the man to pop up, as I look at his friends laughing on the field as they show the kids something.
“Sounds good to me.” Jamille takes another sip of her coke. “Have you finished school shopping, yet?”
“Huh?”
“School shopping. We only have another week and a half before it starts back,” she reminds me. Seeing my clueless look, she chuckles. “Damn, girl, I thought I was a mess.”
“How do I even find out what he needs for school?” I ask. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that I need to go out and start getting things for school.
“The school supply list is on the school’s website. When you get home, look it up. Didn’t they do that at his old school?” she asks, a crease forming between her brows.
My heart skips a beat. Fuck me, I forgot that no one knows I’m not actually the kid’s mother, just the aunt they got stuck with.
“Umm,” I rub the back of my neck. It’s simple, saying no, my sister died and I took her kids in and this is my first time experiencing anything, but for some reason I still haven’t figured out a way to tell people.
Just tell them the simple truth.
“Yeah, I just let it slip my mind,” I lie, a lump forming in my throat.
Here you are again, freaking out over stupid shit.
What’s the point in even lying? Jamille has been nothing but nice and you don’t want to tell her that until a couple of months ago, you were just another fuck up that the world had let down.
No, because the truth is I’m still a fuck up, playing mother.
Jamille watches me, a curious look in her eye and I have a feeling she doesn’t believe me, but she chooses not to call me on my shit and I appreciate it.
For the rest of practice we chat about television shows and other meaningless things. Lilly sits contently between us, watching the practice with wide eyes.
I barely even notice practice is over until Tanner comes jogging over to me, covered in sweat. “Oh, someone needs a bath,'’ I say, dramatically covering my nose.
“How about a hug?” he says as he opens his arms wide before hugging me tightly, sweat and all.
I laugh, but let him squeeze me tight. I can’t help but notice that he holds on for a few seconds before he lets out a sigh and takes a step back, grinning at me.
“I’m going to let you deal with your stink monster while I deal with my own,” Jamille says, placing a hand on Aiden’s shoulder. “I’ll text you later so we can get everything settled for Sunday.”