Her hand is on my chest, and her body presses lightly against mine. I hold her waist, doing my best to cool the heat in my blood. “I won’t make you wait long.”
“Then it’s a date.”
“Yes, it is.”
“Are you going to dress up?”
My brow furrows, and I study her expression. She’s serious. “I didn’t get that memo. Are you?”
“Mm-hmm.” Taking out her phone, she taps a few times and shows me the screen. “I found this cute little Regency gown that isn’t too much work to get into. Or out of.”
Heat centers low in my belly as I study the soft gray dress. It has some sort of white ruffle around the neckline, and the straight skirt has a slit up the side to reveal white, thigh-high stockings.
“I like it.” Tightening my jaw, I think about what might go with it. It’s not a lot of notice. “I’ll find something.”
“It doesn’t have to be complicated.” She blinks up at me, almost apologetic. “Dylan and Logan are going as peppers. Liv is wearing one of her old dance costumes, and Garrett is wearing his football jersey.”
“If it still fits him.”
She leans closer. “I have your jersey, but you’re not getting it back.”
Taking her hand, I hold it in mine a moment, knowing I have an audience everywhere I go. “I gave it to you to keep.”
Giving her hand a squeeze, I release her, walking over towhere Kimmie is twirling around and kicking her leg. Apricot has somehow managed to escape, and Rachel is monitoring the girls and Miss Gina.
“What is Gigi doing now?” The old lady asks.
“Garrett’s trying to dance with her, and she’s trying to get down.”
“She’s very independent.” Miss G chuckles. “I love having a little namesake running around doing all the things I would do.”
“You do a lot,” Rachel quips.
Stopping at my little girl, I tap her shoulder. “Bedtime.”
“Daddy,” she whines, her little shoulders dropping. “The party’s still going!”
“Not for long, and you have school tomorrow. Then we have the fair tomorrow night.”
A frown twists her little features as she thinks. Then she immediately nods and takes my hand. “I can’t wait for the fair! I’m going to do the maze and the pumpkin patch and dress up and eat candy…”
Her hand is in mine as she continues listing, and I glance back at Allie dancing with Raven now. Her costume is hot, and I have an idea for how I might match it. It’s going to be a night to remember.
Our homecoming game is a shut-out.
Austin came out strong, throwing three back-to-back touchdown passes. It was hard to take him out, but I promised to let Levi share the spotlight.
I don’t usually pay much attention to the Homecoming court, but when Austin was announced as king during halftime, we all stepped out to cheer for him.
Allie was crying, and if things were different, I’d go to herand pull her into my arms. Instead, Dylan and Liv crowded around her, hugging and clapping.
Sadie was named homecoming queen, and when she kissed Austin’s cheek, he looked down at the ground as if he were embarrassed. I looked over to see Allie’s eyes on me from the clutch of my sisters.
I gave her a little smile, and she pressed her fingers to her lips, blowing me a kiss. I looked down, rubbing my cheek as if I felt it, and when I cut my eyes up at her, her nose wrinkled with her laugh.
For the second half of the game, Levi didn’t disappoint. He didn’t complete any touchdown passes, but he ran thirty-five yards for a thrilling first-down.
Another near-sack resulted in a toss that Tyreek ran in for the score. We even let Edward kick the extra point, making the final score 29-0.
