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“Yup. You’re right, Tommy. We don’t want to miss anything. Wanna come with me?” Cooper holds out his hand.
Tommy nods his head but doesn’t take his hand. He squeezes his dinosaur tightly to his chest and walks in front of Cooper into the family room, plunks himself down on the center of the couch, and places his dinosaur in his lap.
Annabelle follows me over to the island, where I still have a ton of food spread out. “Thank you so much for doing this. Tommy hasn’t stopped talking about you since yesterday. I don’t know what he is more excited about, watching the game with people who like football or with the pretty girl that invited him.”
She looks different than what I am used to. Today she is in a short, pale pink corduroy skirt, showing off her long legs, a black Kings t-shirt with the logo swapped out for glittery pink instead of iridescent gold, and black Doc Marten boots. Her dirty blonde hair is down and curlier than I’ve seen it before, hiding part of large tote bag that hangs on her shoulder.
“Annabelle, that is too sweet. Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t met the rest of our crazy crew. You might want to let Tommy know that he shouldn’t repeat anything he hears today when he’s in school.”
She starts pulling snacks out of her bag, followed by Tommy’s iPad and headphones. When she gets to the bottom of the bag, she grabs her cell phone and places it in her pocket before she starts to put everything but the food back in there.
When she looks up, she sees the look of astonishment on my face. “You have no idea how much I have to travel with just in case Tommy needs it or has a meltdown. Most women carry cute handbags, I bring my Mary Poppins bag. I’ve got it all in this sucker.”
Laughing, the two of us finish up in the kitchen as the side door opens, and Murphy walks in. I see him kick his sneakers off in the mudroom like he’s done it a thousand times. He’s wearing his always present green ball cap backward on his ginger head, and a black Kings hoodie with a pair of cargo shorts.
“Well, hello there. And who do we have here?” Oh no. Murphy is looking at Annabelle like she’s a juicy steak that he just grilled to perfection, and now he wants to savor her.
“Murphy, this is Annabelle, my dance teacher. Her little brother, Tommy, is in the other room with Cooper. They’re watching the pregame. Annabelle, this is our friend Aiden Murphy.”
“Nice to meet you, Annabelle. Need me to carry anything in for you, Nat?”
“Nope. I’m good, Murph. Thanks.”
Murphy winks at us and heads to the other room.
Annabelle fidgets nervously. “Natalie, do your friends know about Tommy?”
“I hope it’s okay, but I did let them know that I have a very special friend coming over today and that he has autism.”
“It’s better than okay.” She surprises me by reaching out and hugging me. When Annabelle pulls away, she has unshed tears in her eyes. “That’s perfect. I think it helps people accept Tommy’s quirks a little bit if they know what to expect. He knows when people are uncomfortable around him. I can tell by the way he acts. I’m sorry to get so emotional. It’s just hard sometimes.”
“We’ve all got our quirks. Trust me. Murphy is the king of quirks. I give him ten minutes before he’s hitting on you. But, trust me when I tell you that my friends are going to love Tommy. They’re a great group of guys. I hope he has a good time today.”
The side door opens again, and I can hear Chloe’s laughter echoing down the hall.
Brady walks, and my body warms. God, this guy looks good in a pair of old jeans. His white t-shirt is stretched tightly across his chest and arms. He’s my living breathing, Captain America fantasy come to life. He wraps his arm around my back, kisses my head, and whispers, “Hi.” Then he turns to Annabelle, saying, “Hi Annabelle. It’s good to see you again.”
“You too, Brady. And this must be the infamous Chloe. I’ve heard so much about you.”
Chloe shoots me an evil glare. “All good, I hope.”
“Only good. I don’t think that I’ve heard Natalie say anything bad about anyone yet.”
“That will probably change today. One of these guys will get on my nerves.”
Chloe laughs. “My bet’s on Murphy.”
“I heard that, Chloe,” Murphy bellows from the couch.
Shaking my head, I motion toward the couches. “Why don’t you guys head in. I’m just going to clean up in here first. Annabelle, when does Tommy want the pizzas? Half time? I bought pizza dough balls and all the fixings at the grocery store this morning.”
Murphy turns to face us from his spot next to Tommy on the couch. “Me and Tommy are going to take care of the pizzas at half time. Can’t have you burning them, Little Sinclair.” The fucker laughs.
I shoot him what I want to be a nasty look, but he just laughs harder.
And I rest my case.
The entire afternoon goes by in a blur of laughter, sarcasm, touchdowns, and food. I’m cleaning up the counters after the pizzas when I feel Brady walking into the kitchen. I’ve got my back to him when I feel his hands go to my hips. My neck automatically bends to the side, granting his mouth access to that sweet spot.
