Shoelace issue fixed, their second-youngest brother rose to pick up his beer. “You talking about Danny?”
Gabriel nodded. “If they win this game, they’re on their way to the top of the table.”
“Cakewalk as long as they watch their passes, don’t allow intercepts.” Jake took a drink of his beer.
Eating a piece of cheese in a single bite, Sailor returned his attention to Gabriel. “Getting back to your girl, I want to say I’m happy for you, man. I thought for sure you’d end up a sad and lonely old man I’d have to bring meals on wheels.”
“I’m touched,” Gabriel said as Jake grinned and high-fived Sailor. “I would’ve expected you to leave me to starve.”
“Naw, the girls like you too much.”
They talked, tried to piss each other off, let Esme and Emmaline raid the food when the girls ran over. Kickoff though, everyone had their eyes on the pitch. Grabbing a seat in the last row after stealing Charlotte away from his dad, Gabriel put his arm along the back of her seat and gave her a plate of cheese and crackers and grapes. “I grabbed that for you before the horde could demolish it.”
Esme, who’d chosen to sit next to Charlotte, giggled. “Can I have some, Uncle Gabe?”
“Only if you come give me a kiss.”
Small arms wrapped around his neck seconds later as she reached up on her toes to plant an enthusiastic kiss on his cheek. Seating her on his lap afterward, he returned his other arm to behind Charlotte. That was how they watched the start of the game. Ten minutes in, Esme wiggled off and went to play with Emmaline, their parents having brought toys for them.
Gabriel turned to tease Charlotte about the effectiveness of tiny chaperones and found her eyes riveted to the pitch. He followed her gaze, saw what had her transfixed.
20
BEING PETTED BY A T-REX CAN BE A DELICIOUS EXPERIENCE
DANNY HAD THE BALL in one hand, was barreling down the field, avoiding opponents with some seriously fancy footwork that made him seem much smaller than the six foot three, two hundred and twenty pounds of muscle that he was.
“Come on, come on.”
Gabriel caught the fierce words, realized they came from Charlotte. Heart in his throat as he saw a defender heading to tackle Danny, he willed his youngest brother to pass. Danny’s weakness on the field was his tunnel vision—he sometimes didn’t see the teammates he had in support.
“Pass, Danny, pass!” Sailor was on his feet, yelling at their brother.
Esme and Emmaline immediately lost interest in their toys and went to their position at the front of the balcony again. “Go, Uncle Danny! Go! Go!”
“Goddammit!” Gabriel growled, up on his feet. “Pass!”
It was a sweetheart move. Danny swiveled just slightly on one foot, the oval of the ball gliding out of his hands to land safely in the hands of the teammate to his left and behind him, just as the defender tackled Danny, having committed to the attack. It left no one in front of Danny’s teammate.
Two seconds later, that teammate ran across the try line with enough breathing room to slam the ball down right behind the goal posts. He did so to the roar of every single person on the balcony—including Charlotte. Pumped, Gabriel grabbed her face in his hands and smacked a kiss on her lips.
Eyes wide, she kissed him back. “That pass was incredible!”
“The little shit’s learned something,” Gabriel said with a grin, having spent more evenings and weekends than he could count helping Danny fix the weakness in his game. He and his other brothers had played out situations just like this, and now their baby brother had aced it.
Three minutes later, the team’s fly-half converted the try, the kick sailing easily through the posts because of where the ball had been grounded during the try.
CHARLOTTE HADN’T HAD SO much fun in a long, long time. Everyone in Gabriel’s family was a furious supporter of Daniel Esera and his team and had an incredible love for the game. There was passionate yelling, groaning when passes were fumbled or penalty kicks sent wide of the goalposts, and rapid-fire exchanges of opinions on the rucks and lineouts.
“Fucking offside, ref! Are you blind?” Sailor yelled at one point, only for Esme to pipe up and say, “Swear jar, Uncle Sailor.”
Charlotte laughed as Sailor dug out a gold dollar coin and put it in the piggybank Emmaline had pulled out of the backpack that held the girls’ toys.
“You two are going to bankrupt me.” He jerked his thumb at Gabriel. “You missed him. He owes you two dollars.”
By Charlotte’s count, the girls made a total of twenty-seven dollars in the first half—including multiple contributions from Gabriel, Jake, and Sailor when the referee didn’t award a penalty for what had been a dangerously high tackle. Then there was the scrum that collapsed twice.