“It’s not that. I hate her job. She’s an OT like Juliette, but she does home care visits in shady areas, and she’s had issues with some of the families. I don’t fucking trust the assholes, but she gets fucking pissed at me if I say anything about it. And who am I to her? She doesn’t care what I have to say.”
“Sucks when there’s nothing you can do but wait and hope she’ll come to you. Take it from me, though, man, if she’s in real danger, don’t take no for an answer,” Squirrel said.
Ryan nodded and we looked towards the women again, although attempting to be more subtle this time. Coco’s headwas still on Adeline’s lap while she pet him. Smokey and Second were also close to Penelope and Beth. If the animals were concerned, so were we.
“This might be the longest I’ve been out at a park like this,” Beth said. “It’s not like I wasn’t aware of being out in the open, but the fear didn’t consume me like it has before. I don’t think I would have been okay if I was in the outfield, but as long as I was close to Cade and everyone, I really had fun out there.”
“That’s amazing. I, uh, I was worried about today, but I had a lot more fun than I thought I would,” Juliette said.
“Why didn’t you think you’d have fun?” Penelope asked.
“I’m not really good at meeting or talking to new people. And I’m definitely not good at sports.”
“Why do you s-say that? You’ve been s-so nice and friendly. This kickball game barely counts as a s-sport anyway, but you were the best at blocking the guys.”
“Thanks. It means a lot that you think that. I, um, have dyspraxia. That’s why I talk the way I do.”
Warmth spread through my chest. I hid my smile and avoided eye contact with Juliette, lest I interrupt this moment, even though I itched to touch her, to tell her how brave and strong she was.
“You thought we would judge you for your speech? It’s not that bad, and we wouldn’t care even if it was,” Quinn said, obviously affronted. “You’re nice. That’s all we care about.”
“Not everyone is so understanding.”
“You don’t need to tell us that. I know how it feels to be judged for something you can’t control. We would never do that.” Quinn gestured to her face as she spoke.
“People give you a hard time because of your birthmark? It’s like a big freckle. Who the hell cares about a freckle? People suck.”
Quinn laughed softly. “It’s a little more than a freckle. It’s better now. It used to be much bigger and redder and darker.”
“So you had a giant red freckle? Still, who the fuck cares?”
“Um, a lot of people?”
“That’s why I don’t like most people. But I like all of you a lot!”
“We like you a lot, too!” Blythe said.
“Let’s all hang out again soon. Want to come to the Sloppy Cow with us?” Koren asked Juliette.
“I don’t know what that is, but yes!”
“It’s a bar near here. Our friend Erin works there.”
“We see you all watching, ya know,” Koren said to us. “You can stop eavesdropping and come over here.”
Taco shrugged. “We didn’t want to interrupt.”
We moved over the few feet to the other end of the bleachers. Juliette was at the end of the bench, so I stood behind her, loving the easy way she leaned into me and tilted her head back for a quick kiss.
“You didn’t want to interrupt, just to listen?” Penelope said.
“Yep. Heard things get serious, had to make sure our girls were okay,” Sledge said unapologetically.
None of the girls looked offended. If anything, they leaned in to their men a little more. Sometimes I worried that my need to protect and take care of Juliette could backfire, but seeing these couples who’ve been through hell and back bask in that protectiveness soothed my worries.
After a bit more chatting, we all said our goodbyes, agreeing to talk soon to make plans to go to the Sloppy Cow. Juliette hugged the girls and promised to keep in touch, and we made our way back to the car.
As soon as the doors were closed, Juliette turned to me with an ear to ear grin. “I had fun! I like them a lot and I thinkthey like me too! Thank you for encouraging me to come and introducing me to your friends!”