I Get A Kick Out of You

Chapter 51

Ethan went through school like it was any day. He paid attention, he did the work, participated where he needed to, then went to practice. Truthfully, he wanted to skip out on basketball this year. Not only does he not have an interest in it anymore, he gets easily distracted on the court.

He looks at the shorts that expose their legs, the sweat glistening on their foreheads and their barely visible chests. He's getting to an age and a mindset that is proving to be very dangerous and very upsetting to him. He has to stop staring.

"She's waving at you again," Cillian said in his ear, scaring him out of his intrusive thoughts. Betty Wilder was giving him a flirtatious wave on the other side of the court. He seemed to be surprised. "Didn't you see her?" Cillian laughed. "You've only been staring at them all practice."

Betty was called over by her cheerleading squad, who all stared intently at Ethan. He gave them his signature smirk and a wave. "So if you're not into Betty...was it Marilyn? Sarah? Liz?" Ethan laughed and whacked Cillian in the chest.

"I'm looking at Candice, you dope," he said. "She's clearly the hottest one." Cillian scanned his eyes over the cheerleaders until they landed on Candice Gutierrez. He could certainly agree with Ethan on that.

"Why don't you ask her out?" He asked. "They all have a thing for you, every girl here does. They have a cheer made especially for you which Candice wrote it and choreographed." Ethan glanced back over to the cheerleaders where he caught Candice's eye. She gave him a small wink, then went back to focusing on her task at hand.

He cleared his throat, then said, "As team captain, I'm ordering you to get your ass back on that court." Cillian laughed as he said, "Aye, aye Captain." Ethan gave that cheerleading group one more look before going out onto the court himself.

**

"Oh, no! You got me! I'm going down! The giant is going...down...ugh!" Ben dramatically fell to the floor as Brooklyn and Madison laughed hysterically at him. They piled on top of him and he couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, you monkeys are getting too big!"

Cassie walked in on this with a smile on her face. "Okay, you three, dinner is ready." Ben got both kids under each of his arms and carried them into the kitchen as they giggled. He set them down by the table and they sat in their usual spots. Ethan and Cillian came into the kitchen a moment later.

"How was practice, guys?" Cassie asked as she dished up their plates. "Good," Cillian answered, "especially for Ethan." He nudged his step-brother's arm causing him to blush. "Stop," he laughed. Ben and Cassie eyed each other, and then the boys. "Feel free to spill the tea, Cill," Cassie said.

That's a phrase her and Cillian adopted when it came to telling each other about Ethan or Ben. Cassie thought it was funny because he's British.

"Ethan's got a crush," he said, a devious smile on his face. Cassie raised her eyebrows. "Oh, really now," she said. "Who is this crush, Ethan?" Ethan blushed, but his playful smile faltered. "You don't know her. She's kinda new to the school. Besides, she's a Junior. There's no way I could date someone younger."

Cassie and Ben both scoffed. "What kind of excuse is that?" Ben asked with a laugh. "It's not like she's a Freshman, she's only...what? A year younger? Your mum is five years younger than me." Cassie shrugged as she said, "What can I say? I like them older."

All of the kids groaned in disgust at that one. As a rebuttal, Ben and Cassie kissed for a solid fifteen seconds with all of kids tossing bits of their food at them.

After dinner, Cassie shooed the teenagers up to finish their homework, then got the youngest ones ready for bed. Since they're only two years apart, she bathes Brooklyn and Madison at the same time. She's tried doing it separately, but it ends up becoming a natural disaster.

Once bath time ended, she got them dressed in their pajamas and into her and Ben's room for their nightly story. Ben came in once he was done with the dishes and grabbed a book from the shelf. He put the kids on each of his sides as Cassie sat at the end of the bed and watched.

She loved watching him read to the kids. He got so into it and making voices it was hard not to watch. Brooklyn and Madison were completely engrossed. Brooklyn just started school this year, but often told his teacher that she doesn't read like his dad and he didn't like that. They had a talk with him about it, but in the end he just really enjoys his dad's reading.

Both kids tuckered out a little more than half way into the story, so Ben carried Brooklyn into his room, while Cassie carried Madison into her's. They each said their soft goodnights, then went to get ready for bed themselves.

While Cassie was rubbing her arms down with lotion - her last routine of the night before going to sleep - she could hear Ethan and Cillian playing basketball outside. "Ethan works himself too hard," she sighed. "I think I put too much pressure on him about the scholarship."

Ben, who was reading and looking sexy as ever with his glasses halfway down his nose, told her, "I think you're being too hard on yourself. He wanted the scholarship, remember? You and Joel both sat him down and asked him about it. You have made it perfectly clear the past few years that if he didn't want it, he didn't have to take it. Now that he has it, you're just making sure he maintains it. Especially now! I mean he wasn't supposed to find out until May for God's sakes, but they want him so badly, they made a decision six months early. You have every right to make sure he keeps it for the rest of the school year."

Cassie got herself into bed and snuggled under the covers. "I guess you're right. I just don't want him to feel like he can't tell me anything, you know? Which I feel like is happening more and more everyday. I don't know. I miss him, you know? We aren't like we used to be."

Ben set his book to the side, then pulled her to him. "He's seventeen," he told her, "he loves you, but he's not interested in hanging out with his mum anymore. Believe me, I miss that with Cill so much. But we have a second third chance with that, don't we? Brooklyn and Madison don't know we're lame. Yet."

That got Cassie to laugh and it made him smile. "Come now, beautiful, get some rest. Want me to tell the boys to bring it inside?" As she cuddled into her husband and listened to the sounds of the basketball hitting the ground, and then then the backboard, she smiled. "No," she told him, "it's the only way I can sleep."