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“That’s perfect,” I encourage.
“You want to come have a bite to eat?” Skylar asks after making her way over to us.
“I do, thanks.”I want to eat you.
“I can finish building that plane with you,” Patty says to Liam.
Sky takes a seat at the kitchen table.
“Let me set your leg on a chair,” I offer. “Elevating it will feel better.”
I pull out a chair and set her leg on it. Touching her causes a bolt of heat to run through my body as memories of kissing her and touching her invade my mind. Still, I can’t help myself, and I caress the inside of her thigh with the back of my hand. Touching her creamy skin gives me a semi, and I have to say grandma three times in my head to get my bearings.
“Thanks.” She smiles. “It does feel better this way. The hospital gave me pain meds, but it feels like it’s wearing off.”
I take the seat across from her. “Between my teammates and I, someone is always getting injured. It becomes the norm.”
She has set up two heaping plates of pasta for each of us, which is good because I’m starving. I went straight from the bus to the hospital.
“This looks great,” I say as I twirl my fork in the spaghetti and prepare a nice-sized bite. “I don’t really have any home-cooked meals these days.”
“You don’t cook?” she asks.
“I cooked while I was in college, but I never made anything worthwhile. It all tasted like crap, even if it was healthy. Now I rarely cook. My schedule is busy. When we’re on the road, we have food catered for us. When I’m home, I get too lazy to cook real meals. I have my shakes or a smoothie.”
“The first thing I did when I left the Pattersons was try out different Pinterest recipes. Now I make kid-friendly meals because Crew is super picky,” she explains.
“Kid-friendly meals work for me as long as it isn’t sloppy joes,” I snicker.
“Crew would never eat that, and it isn’t my taste either. We aren’t into wet hamburgers,” she says.
“Right. That’s exactly what it is.” I laugh. “My mom used to make them, and I hated it.”
“How are your parents?” she asks, sounding solemn.
“As good as they can be, I guess. Dad is living in Chicago. Mom is out in Minnesota,” I share. My family is broken and scattered, and although it bothers me, I always tend to push those feelings aside, and I think my parents have done the same. Dad has a new family, and Mom a new life.
“Do you see them often?” she asks.
“I talk to Mom often on the phone. For a long time, she did her own thing out there. I never went to see her. This year, she invited me for Christmas, but it felt weird. I didn’t want to go.”
“That’s why you went to the Sanderses,” Sky says, understanding.
“Yeah, I’m close with Coach. He helped me a lot after my accident.” I fork more pasta into my mouth.
“So you’ve been on your own all this time,” she observes. She looks in my eyes, and she makes me feel bare. I’ve been all alone. Since David died, it’s been me, myself, and I.
I clear my throat. “It’s been fine. Dad sometimes sees me when I have a game in Chicago.”
Sky smiles, but it’s pinched. “That’s nice. I would like to see you play, but. . .” She plays with her food.
“It has to do with Carter, doesn’t it?” I ask quietly. I can feel something is off with him and her.
She nods. “But I don’t want to risk talking about it now.”
“Okay, so come to my place tomorrow. I can pick you up, and we can order in,” I urge, knowing I’m being persistent.
“I can’t just leave Crew,” she states, obviously because she is a good mother.
