“Julep, you tramp!”
I barked out a laugh at the exclamation, even more so when Nathan swatted Kevin for saying it.
“Don’t be a sore loser,” Nathan said, sliding a domino from his hand across the table. He played it where I had just played the one that had elicited the insult from his husband.
“I’ll be whatever kind of loser I want to be, thank you,” Kevin said, glaring at me as he took a domino from the draw pile. He pouted a little more when he had to draw another, but on the third one, he was able to play. “And I’m more salty than sore. It’s not fair that this girl is beating us this badly her first time in our home.”
He winked at me then, and I smiled, looking down at my hand as Holden debated where to play. Soft jazz music crooned from the speaker in the kitchen. We were in the final round of a heated game of chicken foot.
It was safer for me to look at my hand than it was to look across the table at Holden. Every time I did, my ovaries nearly exploded. We’d been at his uncles’ house for almost two hours now, and his baby cousin had been in his arms nearly the entire time. She was the size of maybe two footballs, and he cradled her just the same — casually, effortlessly, as if she belonged there.
Seeing a hot, buff quarterback cuddling a tiny baby girl was the recipe for more than just a few disasters.
“You know, Unc,” Holden said as he played a domino, and then I immediately played the one in my hand. “You should really stay away from any jobs in war strategy.”
Kevin frowned, glaring at his husband as he played a domino and went down to only two left in his hand. I had three, and Kevin had at least six.
“Why, because I let my emotions get the best of me and call out ruthless players?” he asked, playing his domino.
“No,” Holden said, and then he moved where his arm had been holding Joanne, revealing that where we all thought he was hiding his dominoes was actually vacant. He played his final one on his line. “Because you’re too easily distracted by the decoy.”
“Noooo!” Uncle Kevin cried, and then he covered his chest like there had been an arrow shot through it, making a cinematic scene as he fell to the ground. Joanne had been dozing in Holden’s arms, but the commotion startled her, and she started crying.
“Oh, it’s okay, Jojo. That’s just your dad being dramatic. Can you say dramatic?” Holden teased, bouncing Joanne in his lap a little to try to soothe her.
“Can you say hungry, nephew?” Kevin joked as he used the back of the chair to help himself stand. “Because that’s what you’re going to be when I kick you out before dinner is served.”
“Like hell you will,” Nathan interjected. “This smoked pork butt has taken me all damn day, and every single one of you is going to stuff yourselves until you explode.”
“Speaking of exploding,” Holden said, grimacing as he held his cousin toward his uncle. “Doodie calls.”
Kevin lit up, the brightest smile on his face as he took his daughter from Holden’s arms. “Did my princess make a poopy?”
Joanne cried as the rest of us laughed, and then Kevin winked at me and carried her back toward one of the bedrooms.
Nathan stood next. “I’m going to start prepping the sides. Why don’t you two clear this up and set the table?” He paused, looking at me. “We’re so happy to have you here, Julep.”
My cheeks were warm when I replied, “I’m happy to be here, too.”
Nathan turned his smile on Holden then, lingering for a moment before he left us.
When he did, Holden shook his head, grabbing the bag for the dominoes as I worked on collecting them off the table. “Well, I know I warned you it was a riot around here, but hopefully it hasn’t been so much that you block my number when we get back to campus.”
I smiled. “It’s amazing.”
“You have an interesting definition for that word.”
“It’s chaotic, yes,” I agreed. “But… in the best way. It’s warm. It’s family.” Something in my heart ached. “I haven’t felt anything like this. At least, not for a long time.”
Holden paused where he was cleaning up, watching me for a moment before he dropped the bag of dominoes and rounded the table. He swept me into his arms.
“They love you.”
“Who?”
“My uncles.”
I chuckled. “I think Kevin wants to murder me.”
“Nah, it’s me he’s after now. Because in case you didn’t calculate the score after that last round,” he added, peeking over my shoulder at the score sheet. “You took second, sweetheart. No one is threatened by second place.”
I smiled sweetly up at him, pressing onto my tiptoes like I was going to kiss that smug smile off his face. “You’re hot when you’re cocky.”
“That so?” he asked on a smirk, his hands finding my hips.
Right before our lips met, I punched him in the gut.
Holden let out an oof of a laugh as he doubled over, and I turned just in time to catch his uncle Kevin walking in with a freshly changed and smiling Joanne on his hip.
He pointed at me as he sat down with a wide grin. “I love this girl.”
Conversation was easy as Nathan served dinner and we all ate. There was melt-in-your mouth shredded pork butt that had bathed all day in a tangy mojo sauce, an out-of-this-world potato salad, handmade-from-scratch dinner rolls, and watermelon. It felt like summer in the middle of holiday season, and it was delicious — the best meal I’d had in months. I ate every last scrap of my first serving before going back for more.
“So, what made you pick athletic training, Julep?” Nathan asked me halfway through the meal.
I swallowed the food in my mouth and smiled. “Well, originally? I just did it to make my dad happy.”
He frowned. “I hate to hear that.”
“Trust me, I hated doing it,” I admitted. “But, at the time, I was kind of a mess. Still am some days. Dad thought if I had a major in something where he could work closely with me, he could help me. So… I decided to try, if even just to get him off my back a little.”
Nathan smiled like he understood.
“But,” I continued. “Shortly after I declared it my major, I found pole.”
“Pole?” Kevin inquired curiously.
“Pole fitness. Tricks, dancing, all of it,” I explained.
“Stop it!” Nathan’s eyes grew wide. “I watch videos of pole dancers all the time. I swear, it’s mesmerizing. I could watch for hours.”
Kevin cleared his throat with a perched brow. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, don’t worry, honey. They’re mostly females,” Nathan assured his husband. “Mostly,” he added, taking a sip of his wine and quickly steering the focus back to me. “Anyway, so you found pole.”
“I did,” I said on a smile. “And suddenly, I was really interested in my major. I loved learning about the way the body works, how it connects to different sports. There are certain injuries that flare up for every athlete, depending on what position or sport they play, and pole is no different. If we don’t work both sides, we can really mess up our spine, our neck, or develop muscles in a really unbalanced way. And so many of the tricks require an understanding of anatomy, of flexibility and mobility. So, what started as something I did for my dad turned into something I do for me.”
Holden grabbed my hand and squeezed. “I didn’t know that.”
“Well, now you do.”
He smiled. “I love learning new things about you.”
My cheeks flushed, and his uncles shared a knowing glance before turning the conversation to one in-between just the two of them so Holden and I could have a moment.
The sun set as Nathan and Kevin opened their second bottle of wine — though Holden and I opted for water — and when Joanne was tucked in for the night, we moved to the sitting room and gathered around the fireplace, talking and laughing until my voice was hoarse.
It was different, seeing Holden around his family. He didn’t take on the stern leadership role that I was so used to seeing him in with the team. Here, he was relaxed, comfortable. He laughed — a lot. He played with his niece and threw jabs at his uncle. Every ounce of stress had melted away the moment we walked through the door. Even his posture showed he was at ease.
It was a nice change, seeing as how the last couple of weeks had been hard on him. He’d led the team to a win the weekend before Thanksgiving, which had secured them a bowl game. And now that they’d won another, all their focus was on waiting to hear the bowl announcements on Sunday, to see if they’d made the playoffs.
If the sports analysts were right, they were a shoo-in.
I knew that was all Holden wanted — the playoff bowl game, the championship win, and then, ultimately, to be drafted. But just because he was close to getting what he wanted didn’t mean the pressure was off. If anything, it had doubled, and I’d felt his tension mounting.
Of course, helping him relieve said tension had become my favorite pastime.
In a lot of ways, not much had changed since that night at the Pit. We still snuck away every second we could get to be together, and we still kept it a secret. Well, almost a secret, anyway. Riley, Giana, and Mary knew — though they still thought we were just hooking up. And apparently, Zeke had his suspicions confirmed that night of the party. Holden’s uncles were now also in that circle of trust, but that was exactly what it was — a tight, small ring of people we knew wouldn’t put either of us in jeopardy.
It was my father we still needed to be wary of.
“You two should call it,” Nathan said when I covered a yawn. “You’ve still got a bit of a drive back to campus, and traffic is always a nightmare heading into the city no matter what time it is.”
Holden nodded, standing and helping Nathan clear glasses. “Yeah, Coach has us practicing early tomorrow. He wants us all to get some rest tomorrow night before the big announcement Sunday.”
“We already booked our flights and hotel,” Kevin said.
Holden paused. “We don’t even know if we made it yet.”
“Oh, we know just fine,” Nathan answered for him, then he and Holden disappeared into the kitchen as Kevin turned toward me.
“How’s your dad hanging on with all the bowl madness up in the air?”
I sighed, rubbing my palms down the length of my jeans. “He’s always a little crazy during the season, but I can tell he’s even more wound up than usual. He gets more controlling in these situations, kind of like a helicopter parent, but with the players instead of me.”
Kevin smiled.
“To be honest, I haven’t seen much of him outside of when our paths cross at the stadium.”
“What about Thanksgiving?”
I cleared my throat. Not even Holden knew that I’d spent that holiday alone. I told him I was with Mary and her family, but it had just been me, a bowl packed with marijuana, and a Christmas movie marathon.
“Uh, he flew down to see my mom.”
“Oh,” Kevin said. “I didn’t realize she wasn’t here with you.”
“She loves our home in Alabama too much to ever leave. She’s got all her church friends there, and her yoga groupies.” I smiled, but it fell a bit too quickly.
“You miss her?”
I shrugged. “I missed her long before I didn’t live under the same roof as her anymore.”
Kevin frowned, and when I saw his expression, I realized I’d said too much without giving context.
“We don’t exactly see eye to eye.”
“Ah,” he said, and then he leaned forward, balancing his elbows on his knees. “I know that feeling well.”
I nodded, staring at where my hands were folded in my lap.
“We don’t get to choose our parents, and sometimes, I think we forget they’re humans,” Kevin said. He looked a lot like Holden in that moment — same dimples, same sharp jaw line and bright green eyes. It made me wonder if he and Holden’s dad had been close to twins when they were younger. “But they have complex emotions just like we do, and sometimes, when they’re working through them, we’re collateral damage.”
“I think she’s worked through her emotions just fine,” I said. “And decided in that process that she’d rather forget she has a screw-up daughter.”
“You’re not a screw up,” he said quickly. “I know that just from one night with you, and my bet is that she knows it, too. Give her time. Even if you’ve given her a lot of it already. She just might surprise you.”
I breathed a laugh through my nose. “And if she doesn’t?”
“Ah, well, then you do what I did,” he said, sitting back and spreading both arms over the back of the love seat. His hands gestured to his surroundings as he did. “You make a family of your own.”
