Lucky Forever - Cee Bowerman Page 0,1
brothers had. They were four and six years old and little terrors as far as I could tell.
“They’re doing better.” Reagan sighed. “It was a hard adjustment for all of us.”
“Offer still stands, friend. If there’s ever anything I can do to help, you let me know.”
“You and your princess can join us for dinner tomorrow night. How about that?”
“You know that she and I never pass up a home-cooked meal.”
“It’s settled then. Let’s say seven?”
“Done.” I chuckled. “Leia is going to be so glad you interrupted spaghetti night.”
“We have got to find you a good woman who can cook.”
“Good luck with that, man,” I scoffed. “Not many women want a ready-made family at my age.”
“What if they already have one of their own?” Reagan asked as he scanned the women in the bleachers. “That beauty down there is Lexi’s mom and I happen to know for a fact that she is single.”
“Yeah, she’s a little too hot for a regular guy like me.”
“Rowdy. At the risk of making this conversation slightly uncomfortable for the both of us, I have to say, you’re quite a fine specimen of man. The two of you would fit together spectacularly.”
“Yeah,” I scoffed again. “She’s probably got some higher standards than a half illiterate, broke mechanic, who is a single dad to the smartest mouth in the west.”
“Smartest mouth in the west!” Reagan laughed. “Your kid is going to have to share the title because my daughter fits that description, too!”
◆◆◆
“You should get water. That sports drink has way too much sugar for you considering you didn’t work out at all; you just sat in the stands and read your book.” Leia looked up at me and frowned, once again acting like she was the one in charge here.
“For your information, I did work out today and then I took a long ride in the heat,” I told the bossy little thing. “And it wasn’t just any book - it was the study guide for my test.”
“Are you ready for me to quiz you on the first section yet?”
“Not quite. Give me a few more days and I’ll get back to you.”
“Did you see the final run-through on practice?”
“I did. Looked good, but your tuck needs to be tighter on the double and work on pointing your toes during the lift.”
“Good to know.” Leia nodded and I knew that she was analyzing her performance in her head. Suddenly, a smile lit up her face as we walked around the end of the aisle toward the register in the little corner convenience store we stopped at after every practice. “Lexi!”
My daughter and the other little girl squealed and bounced around as they embraced. The two preteens acted as if they were long lost friends who hadn’t seen each other in years rather than 20 minutes ago at practice.
I glanced from the girls to the woman standing in front of them - Sierra Guthrie, the beauty that Reagan had pointed out in the bleachers earlier. I had seen her at practices, but she avoided me like I was going to repossess her car or something.
“Hi,” Sierra said shyly when she looked up and saw me walking toward the girls.
“It’s been ages since they’ve seen each other, you know.”
Sierra and I both laughed at my sarcasm, but the girls were oblivious. I jerked my head back in shock when I realized they were talking about a boy.
“They’re talking about that boy on the show they watch, Freaks and Geeks,” Sierra laughed.
I felt instantly relieved and just a bit embarrassed at my reaction and Sierra laughed at me again.
“Aren’t they a little young to notice boys? They’re only 11!” I whispered as I leaned closer to Sierra.
“They’ve got a crush on some teenager in Hollywood. I don’t think we need to worry about them dating just yet.” Sierra patted me softly on the shoulder and the spot tingled even after she took her hand away.
“Is it weird that I actually miss the days when she watched Sesame Street?”
“That’s not weird at all, Dad,” Sierra laughed again and then turned around to speak to the clerk when it was her turn.
I kept an eye on the girls who were a few feet off to the side and listened with one ear as Sierra made small talk with the cashier. She mentioned a lottery ticket and she and the cashier laughed about how much Sierra would give the woman if she won millions.
I had just turned to grab a candy