Picking up a carrot stick from our snack bowl, I threw it at her face—missing completely. “You do enough of that for the both of us.”
“And it is glorious!” She threw her arms in the air, terrifying both dogs awake.
Jamie looked up from his board, “Why would sucking at something be glorious? I hate being bad at stuff.”
I burst out laughing, absorbing the moment of joy so I could bask in it later. “Never grow up, bud. You’re perfect just like this.”
“O-kay.”
“Perfect!” I slammed my game board shut, or as shut as it could be with pieces still in place. “Now let’s play Twister or something.”
He folded his arms across his chest, frowning. “You squished me to death last time.”
“But did you die?” Stretching my limbs and groaning, I rolled onto my back to sit up, but ended up lying there like a chalk silhouette of a dead body.
“Mom. Come on. One more game.”
“I’m exhausted. Plus, I went through the effort to sign you up for soccer today, so I’ve done my parental duties for the day. I’m calling in sick now.” I flopped to my side, slowly pushing up into a sitting position like a half-dead mermaid.
He rolled his eyes, turning to the love of his life, “Layla, do you want to play a game of Battleship?”
“Depends, do you want to cry?” She gave him a grin I could only describe as predatory as she got up and moved to take my place.
It was Thursday, my last free evening before a weekend of hell, and I didn’t feel the least bit ashamed about grabbing a blanket and sneaking outside. Not only did I have my usual doubles this weekend, but I had my first guard shift Saturday, and I was officially overwhelmed.
I was considering calling out of the restaurant since I knew a few girls who’d been wanting extra shifts. With Layla paying a portion of the rent and utilities, I was getting ahead with bills and could afford to cut back for at least one weekend.
Climbing onto one of the porch chairs, I ignored the fact that it needed to be wiped off and laid my head back, staring out into the night. I loved how quiet it was here. Not as quiet as my childhood home where we lived miles down a dirt road, but it was so much quieter than any of the places Jamie and I had lived before. Especially the military base.
There was barely any breeze, the warmest night it’d been in a while. Fall could never be considered warm here, but at least it wasn’t freezing.
Deciding to take that as a positive sign, I yanked up my blanket and dragged it out onto the small section of yard next to the driveway.
Spreading it out like a giant rectangular cloud floating on the grass, I kicked off my damp socks and dropped down. It was a little chillier off the porch without the blanket wrapped around me, but I’d come this far so I was determined to follow through.
I stretched my limbs starfish style, and gazed up at the clear, night sky to search for constellations. When I was younger, I used to sneak out at night sometimes, just to look at the stars and see if I could find the Big Dipper.
The sky was one of the things I missed the most about living in the Midwest. The landscape where I’d lived was flatter than a pancake, so the stars reached as far as you could see. Anyone who called the Midwest ugly had never seen a Kansas sunrise.
A familiar smell pulled me out of the fog I’d been lazing in, drifting in my nose, and shooting tingles all the way to my toes. I turned toward it, curling up and wishing I could climb inside and rub it all over me. I loved that man’s damn smell.
Wait.
My eyes snapped open, blinking a few times to clear the spots, only to discover a limb next to me. A limb I’d just been snuggling my face into. I jolted up, upsetting a fleece throw blanket that’d been tucked over me.