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“No.” She wrinkles her nose. “I don’t want peanut butter.”
“You love peanut butter, silly.” I grab her candy bucket off her small desk and flip off the light. “You stole my PB&J sandwich the other day.”
“No, I didn’t,” she giggles, and I tickle her sides.
“Are you fibbing, JB? Tell me the truth, or everyone will turn to ice!”
“I stole it, I stole it!” She covers her face, but she peeks at me through her tiny fingers. “It was yummy.”
“I’m glad at least one of us got to enjoy it. Are you ready to see Daddy’s costume?”
“He’s a reindeer! Like Rudolph.”
“Exactly like Rudolph, June Bug, and he’s the happiest reindeer in all the land. In fact, he told me he’d like to be a reindeer forever. What do you think? Should we say a couple spells and let him keep his tail?”
“No! Not forever.”
“Okay, okay. We’ll let him stay Daddy.”
I bounce her on my hip as we walk down the hall, and I can’t believe how big she’s getting. She’s almost a half inch taller from when I met her, and I can tell she inherited her dad’s height and long legs.
“Mae Mae.” June tugs on my sleeve, and she points into the living room. “Look.”
I stop in the entryway and almost keel over with laughter. All three guys are on the floor, in positions as if they really were the characters they’re dressed as. Dallas is on his hands and knees. Reid is sitting on his ass, and Maverick lies on his back looking so realistic, I have to do a double take.
“Boys. Your princess is here,” I say, and they all wave.
I bite my bottom lip when Dallas looks at me, and I know even with all his complaining, he’d dress up again in another ridiculous costume for JB’s benefit in a heartbeat.
“I want to ride the reindeer,” June says, and I set her on the ground.
She skips over to Dallas and he puts her on his back.
“Bet she’s not the only one who wants to ride the reindeer,” Maverick says under his breath, and Dallas shoots him a look.
“Watch yourself, Miller,” he grumbles, and crawls toward the kitchen. “JB, Daddy can’t do this for very long. His knees hurt.”
“Wonder why that is,” Reid jokes, and his phone buzzes. He jumps up, patting his onesie, trying to find it. “Dammit. Why don’t these things have pockets?”
“Because they’re made for children who don’t have cell phones. You don’t have to work tonight, do you? I saw all the content you posted on the social media pages earlier today. What else is there to do?” I ask.
“He’s not working—he wants to stay up to date on the Thunderhawks account,” Maverick explains and throws himselfon the couch. “It’s like a war between those him and their poor social media manager.”
“It’s not a war, it’s my job,” Reid explains, and he sounds exasperated to be having this conversation again. “My boss chewed me out the other day for not having nearly as much engagement as some of the other teams, so I’m trying to emulate what they do.”
“You have to admit whoever runs that account is impressive,” I say, and Reid glares at me. “I’m obviously on Team Reid here, but growing an expansion team’s following to almost three million people when they haven’t had a winning record yet is pretty significant.”
“I’m not saying she doesn’t do her job well.” He stands up and shoves his glasses up his nose. “I just would like forouraccount to not get roasted by her.”
“Maybe you need to step your game up, Dunc,” Maverick says, and puts his hands behind his head. I’ve never seen someone make a carrot costume attractive before, but Maverick Miller is a different breed. “Our record sucks and the people still like our content.”
“Maybeyouneed to step your game up,” Reid throws back, and I laugh at the argument between the two. “Those hat tricks don’t mean shit if you can’t make the playoffs.”
“Uncle Reid!” June screeches, and Dallas comes crawling back into the living room. He winces, but he keeps moving across the carpet until he reaches the couches. “Can we go get candy now?”
“We’re going to get so much candy, June Bug,” Reid says, and he relieves Dallas from his duties. “C’mon. Let’s go get your shoes. I think Uncle Mav wants to help.”
“Uncle Mav does want to help,” he says, and jumps to his feet. He looks between me and Dallas. “Behave, you two. We can only distract her for a few minutes before she gets bored.”
