I headed toward the showers, still confused, but looking forward to my next text.
“You got him an Xbox?”
Lindsay and I were heading to Jaxon’s birthday party. Emma was in the backseat of my car, happily singing along with whatever was on Disney Radio. I always listened to satellite radio to keep up with all the sports talk, but it sure came in handy with a five-year-old in the car.
“Yeah, so?” I asked Lindsay. She sighed like she was dealing with one of her school kids. “You don’t know how much money I make, do you, Lin?”
She looked at me and furrowed her brow. “Do I want to know?”
“Probably not,” I shrugged. “Let’s just say I have more money than I know what to do with and a great financial planner. Besides,” I continued, “Deuce went shopping with me and we agree; every kid deserves an Xbox.”
“You went shopping with someone named ‘Deuce’?” she asked. “There’s part of your problem. What kinds of parents name their kid ‘Deuce’?”
I laughed. “They didn’t. He’s Michael Johnson the Second,” I said, turning into the neighborhood. “His dad was the football coach at his high school and there was another Michael Johnson on the team, same time as him. Apparently it got kind of confusing trying to keep everyone straight.”
“Let me guess,” Lindsay said. “Some obnoxious kid on the team thought it was funny to turn bathroom humor into his nickname the minute they figured out what the phrase ‘dropping a deuce’ meant.”
I laughed so hard it was a good thing I had found the house and was pulling over to park. “Ohmygod, Lindsay. Don’t ever let him hear you say that!” I put the car in park and wiped my eyes. “Darren Watkins made fun of his name once on the field and he almost got his aaaaa . . . butt kicked for it,” I said, remembering Emma in the back seat.
“Nice save there, hot shot.”
“Thanks,” I said smiling, opening the door and climbing out. “Come on, Emma. Let’s go to a party.”
“Yay!” She yelled. “I need to drop a deuce!”
I burst out laughing and Lindsay rolled her eyes. “I should know not to say anything even remotely inappropriate around her. Ever.”
“Oh, please do,” I said. “It’s kind of fun for me.”
She scoffed and grabbed Emma’s hand while I gathered the presents from the back.
“I still can’t believe you got him an Xbox,” she grumbled as we walked up the sidewalk. “You’re gonna make my present look dumb.” I followed behind her as she got to the front door and knocked. “At least tell me you didn’t get any games.”
I pretended to be offended. “How can you even ask that? Why would anyone give the gift of a video game player without giving all the video games to go with it?”
She whipped around. “How many did you get him?”
I smiled. “Just the latest football games I could find.”
“Oh.”
“And every Lego game in stock.”
“Jason!” she barked at me, her eyes wide. She pretended to be upset, but her smile gave away the fact that she actually found it funny.
The door opened and we were greeted by a bright-eyed, smiling Addison.
Yeah, I was right about that smile. Once again, it about knocked me on my ass. I couldn’t look away from her as she greeted Lindsay. She just had this presence about her. I just . . . gravitated toward her.
“Mrs. Miller, I’m so glad you could make it,” Addison said cheerily.
“Please,” Lindsay replied. “I totally understand going by last names at school, but call me Lindsay everywhere else or I’ll feel old.”
Addison smiled in agreement. “I understand, Lindsay. And this must be Emma,” she said, bending down to look her in the eye. “How are you?”
“I need to go to the bathroom,” Emma said seriously. “I need to drop a deuce.”
I roared with laughter and Lindsay smacked her palm to her face.
“Blame him,” she said with a sigh, pointing her thumb at me over her shoulder. “He’s a bad influence.”
“Hey! I didn’t even say it! That was all you,” I said, still chuckling as I put the presents on the table by the door where a bunch of other gifts were.
“Whatever,” she said, waving her hand to dismiss me. “Can you point me to your bathroom?”
As Addison walked them to the corner and gave directions, I found myself checking out her backside again. She was wearing white shorts this time. Long enough to be considered conservative, but short enough that I could get a good picture of her legs. Damn, did she have good legs.