"Yes that's great news, thank you Coach Andrews. My boys will be excited. Our field at three? Yeah, thanks again Coach. See you at three."
I looked at Dad curiously. It was a practice day, but it didn't start until one. The boys went to grab breakfast with the group. I didn't feel like going and I thought they need some time away from me. I know they're all nice, but sometimes I feel like I'm the brother's little sister that has to come.
This left Dad and I alone for breakfast. Not that I minded, I loved our father daughter time.
"What was that about?" I questioned.
"We have a game today at three. I haven't told the boys yet. I was going to tell them at practice. I've been trying to find a game for them to play before school starts. Thankfully someone in the next town over agreed to play with us." He explained.
"That's cool"
"Yes you can be on the sidelines with your old man" He answered my question before I even got the chance to ask.
"How are people gonna know about the game if the boys don't find out until one?" I asked.
"I have my ways, Coco, I have my ways." He said creepily before he got out of the counter stool to put his cereal bowl in the sink.
I rolled my eyes playfully at him.
"I'm glad they get a game though. They're going to be so happy"
"Yeah I know" He basically squealed and cleared his throat. "I've got to go work on some plays and stuff." He said before practically skipping to his room.
I laughed at the retreating figure of my father and finished my cereal. I jogged up to my room and grabbed my phone. I made sure to let Remi know that there was a game at three.
I sat and watch Friends until i t was almost time to leave for the boy's 'practice'. Then I decided to get ready. I put on a coral halter crop top and a light wash of ripped denim jeans and my favorite pair of tan sandals. I put my hair in a half up half down messy bun and a pair of sunglasses. I put on my blush and mascara and I was ready after adding some perfume.
I hopped out to the cars with a mile on my face.
"Why are you smiling so much?" Carter asked in his grumpy mood as per usual.
"Um I'm just happy I get to see Will" I said almost too quickly.
I can't let them know they have a game.
"Oh someone had a crush" Coop mocked from the back seat. I turned around a punched him in the arm.
"I don't. He just my friend."
"That you see literally almost every day" Carter said. "Plus he's my best friend, you couldn't have him even if you wanted him"
I don't know why, but when Carter said that I felt a small twang of hurt in my heart. Why couldn't I date Will if I wanted to?
The other boys agreed.
Them too?
We pulled up to the football field and got out. Dad directed the boys to wait for him on the field. It was my job to direct others to do the same.
"Hey snowflake" Will said as he came up to me.
"Snowflake?" I questioned.
He shrugged like he didn't even know where it came from. "Rolled off the tip of the tongue. Wanna hang out after practice?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, but I have a feeling you'll want to hang out with your team. I might hang around just in case though."
"Okay." He didn't think much of it. "Ready for practice?" He asked me.
I nodded. He picked me up and threw me over his shoulder causing an involuntary squeal to escape my lips.
"Will, put me down" I squealed. "The whole team is going to be staring at my ass" I groaned.
"Eh, not with me and your family here to stop them" he said nonchalantly.
He set me down on the field with everyone else. A confused furrow settled in his brows. "Why isn't anyone stretching?" He asked Carter.
"Dad said to wait here" he shrugged.
I like that I know and they don't know.
"Is everyone here?" Dad asked as he came out with the laundry bag.
"Coach, those are game jerseys" Darren pointed out as he tried to be polite.
"Oh I must've grabbed the wrong bag." He acted as if a light bulb went off in his head. "Oh wait no I didn't because I scheduled a game today."
The team went crazy with excitement.
"With who?" Sam asked.
"The East Conbridge Eagles. The game starts at three. Text friends and family and whoever else you can get to come watch. I want those stands full" he pointed to the home stands, which were absolutely huge.
"Meet back here in thirty minutes so we can go over stuff before the game actually starts."
"Break it out, Will"
"Bloodhounds on three," Will started. "one, two, three, bloodhounds" they all finished together.
"You knew about this, didn't you?" Will, Carter, Cooper, and Connor cornered me.
"That's why you were so smiley this morning" Cooper accused.
I nodded. "Dad made the arrangements when y'all went to breakfast." I explained.
Will went of to text his parents and my brothers and I stayed out her and tossed the ball around.
***
The bus for the other team drove by and stopped in front of the locker rooms. They all hopped out and looked over at us.
I recognized Jonah from the park. I waved politely. He waved back with a smile.
"Are you waving at Franklin?" Will asked disgusted.
"Jonah? Yeah I met him the other day when we played football in the park. Is something wrong with him? He seemed pretty nice."
"Please Cora take my advice and don't talk to him. He's bad news and a total asshole."
Not like I was planning on talking to him ever again. I don't know the guy.
"Okay" I said softly. The boys got called to start warm up.
"Cora!" Kenzie screamed and jumped into my arms. She wore a black old band tank top, ripped denim shorts, and a red and black flannel he ties around her waist. Paired with her white converse.
"Kenz!" I hugged her and spun her around.
"You need to come over more. I missed you. I have to tell you about my date with Grayson" she squealed.
"Oh" I perked up. "How was it?"
She proceeded to tell all about her date. It was so cute.
"Oh and he asked me to be his girlfriend" she squealed excitedly. "I said yes of course. He's actually coming to the game." Her smile was a mile wide.
"That's great" I smiled. "Beware I'm going to be down here for the whole game, but Remi will be up there. Be very careful, she might tease you" I only half joked.
We talked for a little while longer before we went up in the stands to see Karla and Micheal.
"Hey Cora" Karla called.
"Hi Karla" I said as I walked up the stairs. I sat next to her and gave her a hug. "Hey Micheal" I said.
He waved at me kindly.
"How's the baby?" I asked and set my hand on her bump.
"Good. We have a doctor's appointment to find out the gender tomorrow actually."
I smiled at her. I know Will was pretty excited to find out. "So late? Aren't you supposed to find out around four months?" I asked.
She nodded. "At first we didn't want to know and keep it a surprise for everyone, but as we thought about it we wanted to know the gender of our child. The only one who knows right now is our doctor, my sister, and Michael's mom."
"Are you having a party?" I asked.
"Yeah, has Will not said anything? You and your family are invited. It's Tuesday at our house at four."
"I will be sure to tell the boys" I smiled.
The game was going to start soon and I headed back down to the field. I hopped next to my dad and Connor.
"Coach K" one of the guys from the other team called and walked right by me. I didn't miss the flirty wink he sent my way before he walked away.
The game started and the boys were pretty much bouncing off the walls with excitement.
"It's gonna be a good game" Dad smiled at his team as they took to the field.
By the end of the first half, we were leading by a touchdown. I decided to up to see Remi and Kenzie.
"Cora!" Remi practically tackled me when she saw me. I hadn't seen her in a week because she was on vacation with her family. I kinda missed her and her crazy attitude.
"Remi!" I laughed and hugged her back. "Gosh I missed you" I squeezed her tight.
"I know, me too" She laughed.
"Is your boy toy here?" I asked as we walked up to sit with Kenzie and her boyfriend.
She shook her head. "Football is not his thing. He doesn't understand nor is he going to try or pretend to." She shrugged.
He didn't even come to hang out with her. If my boyfriend was gone for a week, I would take every opportunity to hang out with him when he got back. I pushed the thought out of my head as we reached Kenzie.
"Hey Kenz" I smirked at her. "Who's this?" I asked.
Obviously, I knew who it was. I wanted to tease Kenzie a little bit.
Her face was already on its way to becoming a tomato.
"This is my boyfriend Grayson," She introduced him with an eye roll. "Gray, this is mine and Will's friend Cora and her best friend, Remi." She smiled at her boyfriend.
"Nice to meet you Cora" He smiled at me.
"You too, Grayson." I smiled back. "You were right Kenz, he is cute and nice" I said in a loud whisper so he could hear me.
He smiled at her when her face turned bright red.
My job was accomplished.
"Cora!" A new voice squealed and Aubrey ran up to me.
"Hey girl" I smiled as she jumped on my lap.
"Did you hear?" She asked.
I shook my head at her. "Hear what?" I asked.
"My mommy's going to have a baby!" She squealed happily.
"Yay! I'm so happy for you. You're going to be a big sister"
"Yeah and and guess what?" Her face lit up with happiness and excitement.
"What?" I laughed.
"Mommy signed me up for soccer! I'm going to be just like you" She squealed.
I looked at her with wide eyes. I didn't actually expect her to want to play soccer like I did. "Wow that's really cool"
"Wait you play soccer?" Kenzie asked me. "I do too"
"Well I used to play. I got injured my freshman year and I just stopped playing." I answered. "I could give you pointers though if you want"
"That would be great. I have tryouts just before school starts" She smiled at me.
Halftime was almost over but I decided to stay in the stands for the second half.
"Hey, Aubrey, where's your momma sitting?" Karla asked the little girl in my lap with a smile.
Aubrey pointed down a couple rows and Karla went to talk to her.
The game started and Aubrey left with Aaron to play with some of their friends.
Remi was sort of confused and Kenzie and I had to explain what happened. Grayson and Kenzie were so cute together. I swear I've never seen this child smile as big as she did when he was around. He made her laugh several times throughout the game. I couldn't help but smile at them.
I looked away from them once the timeout was over and watched the game. It was tied at the beginning of the fourth quarter and we had the ball.
Will called for the snap and the ball connected with his hands. Neither receivers were open and he had no choice but to run the ball. He got tackled just a couple yards past the line of scrimmage. The refs didn't agree and called it a sack.
"What the hell? He was in front of the line of scrimmage!" I yelled.
I got a couple of death glares from the parents of young children. I also had some people agreeing with me, mostly the dad and students.
After a few minutes, the refs agreed that it was in fact in front of the line of scrimmage, which gave us a first down. Our entire stands clapped.
The game was over and we won. I walked to the field to hug my brothers and Dad.
Carter was the first I saw and I ran and jumped into his arms. He spun me around making me laugh. Will just smiled over at us.
"You did great bubba" I smiled. Cooper came up to us and I hugged him. Dad and Connor followed not long after. I hugged both of them and Will after them.
"What no hug for me?" Nick joked as him and the rest of the boys walked up to us.
I rolled my yes but hugged him and the boys anyway.
"You go shower, pizza on me" Dad laughed. The boy all ran to the locker room. "I have to go do some coach things really quick."
"Okay" I said as he kissed my head and walked off. I was left alone.
Remi had to leave for work and the Erickson's left already. I decided to head to the boys' cars and wait on them.
I scrolled through my phone as I leaned against the car.
"So you and Erickson, huh?" A voice asked from beside me. It was Jonah.
I jumped and put a hand to my heart. "Jeez Jonah you scared the hell out of me" I took a deep breath.
He chuckled. "Sorry I didn't mean to. So are you and Erickson a thing?" He asked.
"No, he's my brothers's best friend. Why do you care?"
"Just wondering." He shrugged. "Now I know you have better standards than Erickson"
I looked at him in shock and disgust. "Do not talk about him like that. If anything, that boy is too good for me. I guess I failed to mention that not only is he my brothers's best friend but also one of mine. He is and forever will be a better guy than you" I snapped.
He can't talk about my friends like that and get away with it.
He put his hands out in defense. "Sorry. I guess you're not the kind of girl I thought you were."
"And you're not the guy"
He walked to his bus without another word.
"Asshole" I muttered. Will was right.
"Who's an asshole?" Cooper asked. The guys walked up with him.
"Jonah" I muttered.
I went to open the back door of Connor's car.
"Hey Coco, I told some of the guys they could ride with me. There's room in Coop's car or you could go with Will" Connor said apologetically. "I'm sorry. I know post game jams"
Post game jams are jam sessions with Connor and I. After every game as Connor and I drive home or to eat we jam out and sing to our post game jam playlist. it was one of my favorite traditions.
"It's fine Con, ride with your friends, I'll just go with Will" I assured him.
He gave me an incredulous look.
"I promise" I smiled. "You just better not bail out next time"
"You know I won't, cross my heart" He crossed his heart dramatically and turned to his car with his friends.
I walked with Will to his truck and he opened the door for me. We went to the pizzeria and had a fun dinner. It was an experience that I'll never forget.