Drake met them at the door holding Izzie’s hand and said, “We’re ready to go, Mom.” Drake turned to Bishop and said, “Hi, I’m Drake, and this is Isabelle, but we just call her Izzie.”
“Nice to meet you both. I’m Cole Bishop, but most folks just call me Bishop. Myles is in the backseat of the truck. Y’all go grab a spot, and we’ll get going.”
After the kids got seated in the back, Bishop put his hands on Tessa’s waist and helped her up into the truck. He gave her thigh a light squeeze before walking around to his side. The kids were already talking ninety-to-nothing before he even started the truck. He gave Tessa a wink, and headed to the ballgame.
Bishop was surprised at how many people greeted them as they made their way to the bleachers. It seemed like every kid in town knew Tessa, and they were eager to speak to her. She smiled and spoke to each of them as they made their way to their seats. He reached for her hand, and instinctively her fingers laced with his.
The boys decided not to sit with them during the game. They wanted to hang out with their friends and toss their football behind the bleachers. Izzie sat beside Tessa and stayed pretty quiet for the first few minutes of the game.
Eventually, she warmed up to Bishop and began her line of questioning. “Why do you ride a motorcycle if you have a truck?”
“I usually drive my motorcycle when it’s just me, but sometimes I need my truck. Like I did tonight.”
“Momma says motorcycles dangerous. Didn’t your momma tell you that?”
“Yes, she did, but since I’m a big boy now, she lets me drive one anyway,” Bishop replied. Smiling, Tessa gave his hand a light squeeze. She seemed to find this conversation amusing.
“Do you ever go really fast? What do you do when it rains?”
“I don’t drive that fast very often, and I usually drive my truck when it’s raining. It’s not much fun to be on a motorcycle when it’s raining.”
“How did you get to be so tall? My dad’s tall, but not as tall and big as you are,” Izzie asked looking up at him.
“Well, my dad’s pretty tall, so I guess I get it from him. I also try to eat all my vegetables. My folks always told me eating vegetables makes you big and strong.”
“Momma tells Drake that all the time, but all he wants to eat is take-out and junk food. I like what Momma cooks better. You should try her spaghetti. It’s really good, and she always makes a big salad to go with it. That way you can get your vegetables, too.”
“I’d like that,” he replied smiling over at Tessa. “Maybe you could get her to make that for me one day soon.”
“I can do that. She likes to cook. Drake’s favorite food is Chinese. What’s your favorite?”
Isabelle’s questions went on for the first half of the game. During half time, Bishop went to the concession stand to get them all some hot chocolate. The night air was getting a little chilly, and he thought it might help warm them up.
The conversation between Tessa and Bishop flowed easily during the second half of the game. Tessa seemed to enjoy being there with him, and he really liked being there with her. It had been a long time since he’d actually wanted to spend time like this with a woman. She made him realize that he wanted more than just a quick lay from one of the Fallen girls from the club. He wanted to be with her.
The pizza joint they went to after the game was packed. It was a town favorite, and lots of the kids met there on the weekends. They squeezed into a corner booth and placed their order.
“I can’t believe we lost. That just sucks,” Myles said to Drake.
“I don’t see why either of you cares who won or lost. You never watched any of the game. You spent the entire time throwing your football behind the bleachers and flirting with all the girls. Seems like you had a good time either way,” Bishop said to Myles.
“It was fun, but I wasn’t flirting with any of those girls. The only girl I wanna talk to wasn’t there tonight.”
Bishop didn’t push Myles for more information about his new love interest. He decided to save that for when it was just the two of them. He turned to Isabelle and asked, “Did you have a good time at the game tonight?”
“Yes, sir. It was really fun. You know, this place isn’t very fancy. You need to take Momma to someplace nice. Your date needs to be special,” Izzie said with her eyebrows furrowed and a grimace on her face.
Bishop turned to Tessa and noticed that her cheeks had turned an embarrassed shade of red. “I’ll work on that for the next date. You think she will give me another chance?” he replied with a smirk.