Shot at Love

CHAPTER SEVEN-1

CHAPTER SEVEN

Luc

Some of the Renegades planned a family-friendly fun night at the local Fun for All. A typical night out was to a bar or club, but some of the guys with families couldn’t always go. So tonight, Kris could bring Ian and Sam could bring Willow. Kaden had even brought Kaleb, although the baby was too small to run around with the other kids.

“Better watch out, Marcella! I’m getting close to beating your high score!” Sam called from the skee ball lanes. Willow stood beside him in her own lane, imitating her dad’s moves, but obviously throwing a much lower game.

“Good luck trying, Morris!” Luc waved him off. “There’s no way you’re beating my—”

“Uh… look at that last ball. It. Looks. Like… it is! In the one-hundred hole! BOOM! Looks like I’m the top dog now, Marcella.” Sam danced around like a goof, laughing and creating a scene.

Luc rolled his eyes and laughed. “You’re such a dork.”

“That’s Top-Dork, thank you,” Sam added with a foolish, cocky grin on his face.

“Now he’s the Top-Dork?” Trina interrupted and mocked.

“Oh yeah. I don’t think anyone will question that,” Luc said with a chuckle. He nodded to Trina before squatting down next to Willow. He put out his hand to her. “Gimme five, Willow. Nice game, girl.”

Willow slapped his hand as hard as she could, leaving his tough man-hand stinging. “Did I beat Daddy?”

“Yep, sunshine, you beat Daddy,” Sam said, as he picked up the littlest Morris for a hug. “Here, you and Mommy take these tickets over to the counter and pick out a cool prize.” Willow was off and running as soon as her feet touched the floor.

“I call a rematch,” Luc demanded jokingly.

Sam shook his hand dramatically. “Yeah, I would, but my hand is so tired from winning. Your rematch will have to wait, Rock-Star.”

It was fun doing this for a change, skee ball, mini golf, and video games. But being a bachelor in this place kind of sucked. The other young guys had opted out of tonight, but he was tight with Sam and Trina and little Willow, so there was no way he’d miss this. He was only reminded of his single status when the families broke off together.

“Woah, Marcella, did Morris beat your high score?” Kaden commented as he joined them.

“Did you miss his winning dance?” Luc hooked his thumb in the direction of Sam, who was doing a mini-version of his dance for Kaden. “Not sure I’d call that winning. More like a dork-dance if you ask me.”

“Top-Dork, thank you very much,” Sam added with much humor.

“Don’t get too comfortable at the top, Sam. My wife has mean skee ball skills.” Kaden grinned wide before he turned and waved Ali over. “Doll, why don’t you show Sam how it’s done?”

Ali and Kassie joined their little group. Ali asked, “Did someone say skee ball?”

“Yep. Doll, show surfer boy how it’s done.” Kaden winked at his wife.

Ali handed little Kaleb to Kassie and pretended to stretch out before she put her token in to start the game.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ali cracking her knuckles and going to work crushing Sam’s score, one ball at a time. But his attention was on Kassie O’Conner, who was standing on the outskirts of the group, holding baby Kaleb. Her long brown hair was up in a ponytail that swayed along with her hips, while she rocked side to side, soothing the baby.

Never before had he thought a girl looked so good holding a baby. And while most guys would’ve run at that image, his feet were planted firmly on the ground.

“Earth to Marcella. Hello?” Sam snapped his fingers in front of Luc’s face.

“Wha?”

“Dude, where did you go? You were in la-la land. Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t need to know the demented things that go on in that mind of yours,” Sam teased. “You joining us for pizza to celebrate Ali beating my high score?”

Ali raised her hands in the air. “Yeah, who’s the top dog now, surfer boy?”

“That’s my girl!” Kaden grabbed her around the waist, pulling her in for a kiss. “Pizza’s on Morris!”

Luc’s eyes met Kassie’s as she bounced Kaleb on her hip. She smiled but glanced away quickly. Ali took the baby from Kassie’s arms.

Kassie disappeared from his sight, just as Sam grabbed him around the neck. “So? You hanging around for pizza, Rock-star?”

“Puck-Star,” Luc mumbled. He was determined to make that a thing.

“I’m sure Marcella is itching to get out of here and go trolling for chicks,” Kaden commented, while Sam held Luc in a great position for a noogie.

Luc wiggled out of the hold Sam had on him. “Trolling for chicks? No one says that anymore. Have you really been out of circulation that long, K-man?”

“Whatever, dude. Out of circulation, or deliriously happy, whichever you prefer to call it,” Kaden countered.

Luc looked at his soft drink, and discovered it was empty. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll stay for a slice.” He nodded his head towards the snack bar. “Just going to get a refill on my pop.”

“Why don’t you grab us a pitcher of pop? Thanks, Luc.” Kaden grabbed a table, and then looked around. “I’m just going to hunt down a couple of booster seats for the kids.”

Luc approached the snack counter. Kassie’s ponytail was in his peripheral vision. “Hi, can I get a pitcher of pop, please?”

The kid behind the counter nodded before going to retrieve the soft drink.

“I’ll try not to spill my drink on you this time,” Kassie’s soft voice joked from beside him.

“That’s awful nice of you, but no worries if you do.” He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. His sweatshirt was in the car, but she didn’t have to know. Lifting his t-shirt up at the waist, exposing a peek of his six-pack, he winked. “I’m sure the ladies wouldn’t mind if I had to go shirtless until it dried.”

“Oh my god.” Kassie rolled her eyes, unimpressed. She grabbed her two drinks and focused her attention on him with a bit of sass. “Keep your shirt on, hockey boy. This is a family establishment.” She turned with a whip of her head, causing her ponytail to swing back and forth as she walked back to the table.

He couldn’t help the smirk that pulled at his mouth. And after getting the pitcher of pop, he followed her back to the table. They had a corner of the eating area rearranged with tables pushed together to accommodate everyone.

Kris and Kat were already trying to get Ian seated and ready to eat. The little boy was fussing because he wanted to sit next to Willow.

Luc nodded his chin towards Sam. “Hey Morris, sounds like young Ian here wants to sit beside his girlfriend.” He knew that would bother Sam, and the look on Sam’s face told him he was right.

“Shut up with that talk! My sunshine is too young to be anyone’s girlfriend. I already told her, no dating until she’s forty!”

“Dude, you have to relax,” Kris said with a chuckle. “They’re just kids. Be happy they like each other. It makes get-togethers much easier.”

Sam grumbled something under his breath and hugged little Willow tight.

Luc slapped Sam on the shoulder and shook his head. “Can’t wait to meet the lucky man that’ll marry your daughter and become your son-in-law.” His words dripped with sarcasm and torment. He may have been the only Renegades player allowed to pick on Sam about Willow and get away with it. Sure, Sam gave him hell about it, but it was all in jest.

Sam’s eyes went wide, and Luc thought he might have a panic attack. “Can we please stop talking about this? She’s still a baby!”

“Well, she’s not a baby…” Trina jumped in.

“She’s still little,” Sam added sharply.

Luc held in a laugh. “All right, I’ll stop messing with you. It’s just so fun!”

In the meantime, little Willow climbed onto the seat next to Ian, making Sam cringe and everyone else say a collective, “Awww.”

Kris pointed to the seat next to Willow. “Guess you’re sitting next to us, guys.”

“We’ll take the seats next to the kids.” Kat sat down next to Ian and pointed for Kris to sit across from her. “You men sit on the other side of the table.”

Sam and Kris took their seats. Kaden sat at the table next to them, and fit Kaleb’s carrier on the chair between him and Ali. Hailee and Dom took the tiny two-person table at the end. Which left the seats across from Kaden for Kassie and Luc.

Luc didn’t waste any time setting the pitcher down and taking a seat. Kassie, on the other hand, looked between the seat and him several times, and it took Kaden nodding to the seat, before she finally sat down.

When the pizza arrived, Kaden and Kassie both dove for the pie as though they hadn’t eaten in weeks.

“O’Conners and their pizza.” Ali rolled her eyes.

Luc’s eyes were glued to Kassie as she devoured her first few bites of pizza. Kaden was eating the same way, but she was just cuter to watch. Making a point to interrupt her mid bite, Luc said, “Kassie, could I bother you for the parmesan cheese, please?”

Kassie looked up at him while wrestling with a string of cheese. Finally pulling it free of the pizza, she grabbed the glass container of cheese and less than sweetly slid it to him.

“Thanks. You got a little sauce, over here.” Luc motioned to his upper lip.

Kassie grabbed a napkin and wiped it off, before her tongue poked out and ran over her lips. He assumed she was checking for rogue sauce. There was none. But she did accomplish making his d**k twitch.

There was just something about this girl.

His eyes were on her, and his stomach twisted as he watched her take another bite. Damn.

“Hey, Rock-Star. What are you staring at my sister for?” Kaden bit out, in a less-than-calm tone.

Quickly realizing his mistake, Luc shook his head and shoved almost half a slice of pizza into his mouth. Still shaking his head, and with his mouth full, he spoke, “Naw. I was trying to figure out what her little earrings were? Are they butterflies? Ants? Demons?”

“Demons?” Kassie shook her head in confusion.

Trying to cover his lie, he continued on. “Well, Halloween isn’t that far away. Maybe they’re demons for Halloween?” He shrugged and shoved the other half of the pizza slice into his mouth.

He was glad he was able to direct all their attention to her earrings, and no one figured out that he’d been staring at Kassie. The last thing he needed was Kaden thinking he was trying to get with his little sister. And that’s how they were all supposed to think of Kassie, as Kaden’s little sister.

And you didn’t mess with a teammate’s little sister. Everybody knew that. It was an unwritten rule.

This was craziness. All he had to do was walk into a bar and snap his fingers and he’d have three girls on his arm. But the fact remained; he was sitting in the middle of an arcade, eating pizza with a bunch of happily married folks.

And there he sat, getting a chubby for Kaden’s sister. I must have a death wish. Luc grabbed for the last slice of pizza at the same time as Kassie. Their hands collided awkwardly. He was probably the only one who noticed that her hand lingered for a half second before she pulled away.

“Go ahead, Kassie. I know how serious you O’Conners are about your pizza. I’d never try to come between you and a slice of pepperoni.” Luc grinned. It was the gentlemanly thing to do. “After we’re done eating, who’s up for some more skee ball?”

The only one to pay him any attention was Kassie. “I’ll play.”

She looked shy and confident all at the same time, if that was even possible. Everyone else went on to other games, but Kassie stuck by Luc.

She smirked. “I’m pretty good at skee ball, ya know.”

Luc spoke close to her ear as they walked to the wall of skee ball machines. “Are you now? I guess we’ll find out.” Not worried about Kaden at the moment, Luc was close enough to Kassie to inhale her tasty scent. She smelled like apple, and it got a happy reaction from his d**k.