The Trouble With Quarterbacks - R.S. Grey Page 0,70

in this one he’s holding the football a little higher, more toward his face. His stance is more dominant, and his smile looks sincere. I sit near the window, stare out at the New York skyline, and think about Candace.

The next day is Thursday, and I’m scheduled to pick up Briggs from school. I’m fucking giddy as the afternoon flies by. I’m at The Day School earlier than planned—too early—so instead of going in, I pace out on the sidewalk, trying to come up with a way to tell Candace I’ve missed her so damn much over the last few days that won’t scare her off.

I tug my hand through my hair and look up to see a woman approaching the school. She’s either a mom or a nanny; it’s impossible to tell. Her brown hair is tugged up tight in a bun, and she’s wearing slim-fitting athletic clothes.

“Are you here for pick-up?” she asks me with a huge smile.

“Yeah.”

“Great! We can go in together.”

Awesome. I didn’t want to be the first person to arrive, but if she goes in front of me, I’ll technically be the second.

“You’re Logan Matthews, right?” she asks as we head inside. “I know it’s probably so annoying to be recognized everywhere, but well”—she shrugs—“the moms here love to talk.”

“Oh.” I force out a laugh. “Yeah.”

I never have a good response for when people ask me who I am. It feels too blunt and rude to just say yes, so I reach my hand out. “And you are?”

She blushes and accepts my hand. “Erin Carson. Margaux’s mom!”

Margaux, right. Briggs has told me the names of the kids in his class, but there are a lot of them and I can’t seem to keep up.

“Margaux and Briggs absolutely adore each other. We need to get them together for a playdate soon!”

I shrug and offer a lopsided smile. “That’s not really my jurisdiction. I’m just the uncle. I bet you could coordinate something with Stella or Bobby though.”

She scrunches her brows. “Who?”

“Right.” I forget my sister rarely makes it up to this school. I doubt any of the parents know her. “Never mind, just coordinate it with Briggs’ nanny. She’s usually the one to pick him up.”

We reach Candace’s classroom, and the top half of the Dutch door is open so we can see in over the bottom half. Candace is sitting on a colorful rug, reading to the kids. They sit in a semicircle, fanned around her, listening intently while she finishes a page. It’s a cute scene and I wouldn’t think anything of it, except for the fact that she’s completely wrapped herself up in toilet paper.

“When an Egyptian king died, his body was made into a mummy in a complicated process that took 70 days!”

“70 days?!” one of the kids shouts, as if it’s the longest amount of time he’s ever heard.

“Doesn’t that seem like forever? It is quite a long process. But listen,” she returns to reading, “mummies have lasted thousands of years and continue to fascinate us today.”

“I want to be a mummy!” Briggs declares, jumping to his feet.

“Me too!” A girl jumps up to stand beside him.

“I don’t blame you. I do look quite cool, don’t I?” Candace says, standing to spin in a circle.

Some of her toilet paper ensemble falls to the floor, but there’s still a ton left behind. The kids must have spent half the day spinning her into it. She even has it tucked up around her face and covering her hair.

I smile when she looks over and spots Erin and me standing at the door.

“Oh! Drat. It’s pick-up time! All right everyone, let’s pick up our reading pillows and toss them in a pile over here near the wall. And then Margaux and Briggs, come on, let’s get your lunch sacks.”

She has a hard time walking across the room with the toilet paper wrapped around her legs.

Briggs comes running over to the door, peering up at me. “Uncle Logan, I’m going to be a mummy like Ms. Candace!”

“Cool, bud.”

“Can you wrap me up in toilet paper when we get to your house?”

“Sure thing,” I say, reaching down to ruffle his hair.

“Here you go,” Candace says, coming over with lunchboxes for Margaux and Briggs. “Everything should be in there. I’ve washed out the containers already. Erin, Margaux ate all of her couscous and veggies for lunch, but she didn’t go down for a nap today. She insisted she didn’t need one so I let her read quietly