Page 48 of Ruff and Tumble

So he did. Then he did it again. Then he did it again.

And all the while, the people around him got married and aged and died. Theylived.

“I’m sure the guys have something fun planned,” Regina said with a smile for Cole and a friendly pat for Philip. “Go out. Celebrate. Lord knows you’re going to feel like you got hit by a bag of rocks tomorrow. You might as well enjoy the adrenaline while it lasts.”

“He’s my dad, too, Reg.”

Regina’s expression softened. “Not during Kickoff Cup season he’s not. You know that better than anyone. This time of year, he’s Julian Bennett, the quarterback who never was. And you’re the only chance he has at redemption.” She looked as though she might say more—remind him, perhaps, that neither of them had really asked for this life—but Garrett popped his head into the hallway before she had a chance.

“Coach wants to know if he can borrow his quarterback for a few minutes,” he said. “And by ‘borrow,’ he means if he doesn’t see your ass in here immediately, he’s going to do something drastic like ban puppies from the locker room from here on out.”

“The horror,” Regina said with a laugh. She put her hands on Cole’s shoulders and spun him around, losing no time in pushing him down the hall. “Go. Be brilliant. And don’t forget that we promised Hailey’s people you’d mention the Puppy Cup at least twice during the interviews.”

Cole went, mostly because he was contractually obligated to, but also because that mention of Hailey instantly perked him up. He might be banned from visiting his dad, but there was one place both he and Philip were always welcome.

Okay, soalwayswas a bit of an exaggeration, and there was a good chance Hailey would decide that the euphoria of a win was yet another emotional vulnerability that prevented him from whisking her into his arms and his bed, but that was all the more reason to stop by.

No one had ever accused him of having emotional vulnerability before, but he was starting to like the way it sounded.

Emotional. Vulnerable. Human.

Real.

* * *

Hailey had never thrown such a successful party before.

Okay, so unless you counted the wrap party she helped organize every year for the Puppy Cup cast and crew, she’d never really thrown any kind of party before, but she didn’t care. Multiple people had come over to her house. They’d eaten food. They’d consumed alcohol. They’d watched football. She wasn’t saying she was the root cause of the Lumberjacks’ win over Texas, but shewassupposed to be the token lucky charm. There could totally be a correlation.

“You don’t have to stay and help me clean up,” Hailey said as Penny started stacking plates and carrying them to the kitchen. “I can get all this later.”

“Are you kidding?” Penny stepped neatly over the gate and around Bess’s puppies, who were growing larger and more mobile with each passing day. Only Rufus remained stunted, but Hailey had set up a box with a heated blanket for him to sleep in at night, so at least he was keeping warm. “I’ve been waiting for everyone else to leave so I can snoop through your house in peace. You never told me that you have your own little garden out back. And two closets in your bedroom.Anda real bathtub. I haven’t taken a bath in ages. My apartment is only big enough for one of those all-in-one wet rooms.”

Hailey had a hard time picturing glamorous, elegant Penny washing her hair while seated on a toilet, but she could see the hint that was being dropped easily enough. “Do you want to take a bath?” she offered.

Penny laughed as she stacked the plates in the sink. “I do, actually, but even I’m not that pushy. I’ll wait until you invite me over a second time.”

Hailey felt a warm flush of pleasure at these words. She hadn’t been entirely sure that anyone from the office would come if she threw a party, but she’d given it a try anyway. After watching the last game with Cole’s family, sitting in front of the television screen alone had seemed pathetic, even for her.

“I’m sorry I haven’t asked you over before this,” Hailey said. “To be honest, I didn’t know you wanted to come.”

Penny stared at her for a moment before shaking her head, her long, dark hair breaking around the Lumberjacks jersey she wore. She’d arrived in a tasteful boatneck sweater, but that hadn’t lasted long. By halftime, she’d pulled one of the signed jerseys down from the wall and put it on in the sweater’s place. The jersey had probably depreciated about five hundred dollars the moment it came down, but Hailey didn’t mind. It was about time someone got some actual use out of the thing.

“Your problem, Hailstorm, is that you underestimate yourself.” Penny clucked her tongue. “You’vealwaysunderestimated yourself.”

Hailey’s whole body jerked at the sound of that nickname, which she hadn’t heard in over nine years. “What did you just call me?”

Penny arched her brow. “Hailstorm? It’s what we decided to call you after you landed both Cole Bennett and Garrett Smith in the same week. No one sees you coming, and then—BAM! You’re pouring down hard everywhere.” She paused when Hailey could do little more than blink at her. “You don’t mind, do you?”

No, she didn’t. She didn’t mind at all. To hear her dad tell the tale, that was exactly why he’d chosen the same nickname for her—because she hit as if from out of nowhere. It had never been his intention to be a foster parent, even less to be an adoptive parent, but a coworker at the manufacturing plant where he’d worked convinced him to give temporary guardianship a try. Then Hailey had shown up on his doorstep, clutching a backpack of all her worldly possessions, looking lost and terrified out of her mind.

“And I fell in love,” he’d said, as though that was all there was to it. “You changed everything.”

Hailey felt her eyes flooding as she remembered the day he’d said those words for the first time, standing in front of a judge and making the appeal to become her legal parent and guardian.

So you never have to be alone again. So you always have somewhere to come home to.

It had been such a beautiful promise, and Dad had kept it as faithfully as he could. In addition to teaching her everything he knew about football, he’d also taught her everything he knew about life. It wasn’t much, as he was always the first to point out, but it was more than Hailey had ever hoped for.