More Than A Game (The Kings of Kroydon Hills Book 2)

by Bella Matthews

  “Me neither.” Carys places the cookie she was about to eat back down.

  Leave it to Cooper to be a glutton for punishment. He breaks off a piece of beer-soaked cookie and throws it at me. “This sounds juicy. What did you walk in on, Murph?”

  Declan kicks Coop under the table. “Shut the fuck up, little brother.”

  Coach stops wiping the table long enough to swallow and stare me down, silently warning me to choose my next words wisely. Then he must decide “fuck it” because his next words stop all the chaos. Grabbing my mom’s hand, he glances at Carys, then begins to speak.

  “Murphy, Carys, I love your mother. She’s the most selfless, smart, caring, and beautiful woman I’ve ever met.”

  Turning his attention to Nat, Coop, and Declan, he says, “Kids, after your mother and I divorced, I never thought I’d feel this way. I never thought I could love like this or trust like this, but Katie has shown me that I can.”

  Nat wipes her face.

  Are those tears?

  Jesus, she’s a sap.

  Then, Coach brings it home when he gets down on one knee and pulls out a little blue box. “Katherine Murphy, I know, without a doubt, you are the love of my life. I don’t want to waste any more time without you by my side every day. I want to know that when we come home at the end of the day, it’ll be to each other. I want to know I get to be the man to help shoulder your burdens and that I can count on you to walk side by side with me through this crazy life. I will protect you, and support you, and love you until the day I die. Katie, will you marry me?”

  Mom has tears streaming down her face. “I don’t know what to say.”

  Coach opens the box to reveal a massive emerald on a band of glittering diamonds.

  Damn. I guess Coach moves fast. We didn’t even know they were dating, and now they’re getting married?

  Still on his knee, Coach’s voice shakes slightly, “Say yes, Katie. Say yes and make me the happiest man alive.”

  Reality catches up with my mother as she flings herself at Coach. “Yes. Yes. Of course I’ll marry you.” He picks her up off her feet and kisses her a little more passionately than I’m comfortable with.

  Fucking gross.

  I didn’t realize I said that out loud until another cookie gets thrown at my head.

  Cooper’s grinning at me. “What exactly did you see earlier?”

  Mom and Coach break apart long enough for Coach to kill me with one look. “Congratulations, Mom.” Standing up, I pull Carys into my side. “Looks like you’re finally getting that sister you always wanted.”

  Carys looks down the table and makes a strange face. Then she smiles. “Well, Nat, I’ve always wanted a baby sister, but I guess an older one whose clothes I can borrow won’t be so bad.”

  Declan is the first to get up and offer congratulations to our parents. We all follow suit.

  When it’s my turn to shake Coach’s hand, I pull him into a hug. “You know, Coach, it would’ve been nice if you’d asked my permission.”

  Coach’s laugh fills the room. “That’s funny, Aiden.”

  My mother doesn’t look amused, but she wraps her arms around me and reaches for Carys, who happily joins for a group hug. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Coach wrap Nattie up in a big hug. “Wow. I guess it’s a good thing you’re dating Brady and not me, huh, Nat? We could have been kissing cousins.”

  She flicks my ear. “You would have been the weirdo kissing your sister, not your cousin.”

  “You know, they say tying a game is like kissing your sister,” Declan adds looking between us.

  Coach clears his throat, then claps his hands together. “No more talk of kissing any sisters. Thank you all for being incredible kids. I can’t wait to create this family with all of you.”

  Nat walks to Cooper and wraps her arm around his waist, laying her head on his shoulder. She looks at her dad and asks, “So, are we doing the whole big church thing? Ooh, or are we flying to an island?”

  Coach wraps his arm around my mom’s shoulder. “That’s up to Katie.” He brings her hand up and kisses it. “Just tell me where to be and what you want me wearing.”

  And that’s enough of them kissing to last me a about a year.

  Mom holds her hand out in front of her for a moment before looking around the room to all of us before answering, “Actually, I’d really like to keep it small. Us, the kids, and our closest friends and family. But we have to wait to hear when Cooper will get his first leave.”

  Coop looks uncomfortable. “I should have two weeks off after boot camp and before my next move. It should be right around the Christmas holiday.”

  My mom beams at Coach. “That settles that then. Once Cooper confirms when he’ll be off, we’ll schedule the wedding. If you can’t come home, we can all come to you. As long as everyone in this room is there, I’ll have everything I need. We can compare everyone’s football schedules and try to settle on a date. We may have to wait for the season to be over, but that’s fine with me.”

  Coach pulls my mom in and kisses her again.

  I’m never gonna get fucking used to that.

  5

  Sabrina

  It’s another unusually warm fall day. Looking around the Sinclairs’ backyard, I’m reminded of the various types of vibes you get at different parties. When my parents throw a party, there are chauffeurs dressed in tuxes and waiters wearing white gloves. The music is almost as uptight as the people, and it’s obvious no one is enjoying themselves. The vibe I get as soon as I enter the Sinclairs’ party is the complete opposite.

  Coach Sinclair is standing in front of his built-in grill, a silly smile covering his extremely handsome face. Chloe has referred to him as Big Daddy Sinclair since they moved to town. It’s fun watching her torture Nat over how good-looking he is.

  I watch him smack Mrs. Murphy’s ass as she walks by and make a mental note to ask Nattie about that. Pretty sure that’s new.

  It smells like ribs and barbeque chicken, and I see more carbs spread out on the table than I’m allowed to eat in a month. There’s pasta salad, potato salad, chips, dip, corn on the cob. If my mother found out I ate any of that, she’d freak out.

  I can hear her now. The camera adds ten pounds, Sabrina. You don’t want to look fat in your father’s campaign photos, Sabrina. She’s been all over me since I decided not to play soccer in college. She doesn’t get that balancing the workload I’m taking on and playing on a team at that level is impossible. At least for me it would be. That doesn’t matter to my mother though. God forbid I ever skip a day of exercising. She has a sixth sense for these things. She knows when I eat crappy or when I slack off, and she calls me on it right away. She’s more worried about me gaining the freshman fifteen than I am.

  Apparently, senators don’t have daughters with more than 10 percent body fat.

  Looking around the yard, I find Brady and Bash in the shallow end of the heated pool throwing a football to Tommy, the boy who’s become everyone’s little brother. They met when Natalie took a job at the local dance studio last year. I’ve met Tommy a few times, and he is such a sweet kid. He has autism and doesn’t usually like to be in big groups of people, but he loves this group.

  Annabelle, Tommy’s big sister and Natalie’s boss, is sitting with her feet in the pool, happily watching her brother enjoy himself. Her boyfriend jeans are rolled up and her ever-present rose gold, sparkly Doc Martens are sitting next to her.

  Declan is relaxing behind her on a chaise lounge, and I’m betting behind those mirrored sunglasses, he’s got his eyes on her. Hmm. Another thing to make sure I talk to Nat about when we catch up for coffee and yoga this week.

  This backyard is like a hot-guy convention. These guys could make serious Pinterest inspiration pics.

  “Everybody Talks” by Neon Trees is pumping through the outdoor sound system. As I look around, everyone seems happy until my eyes land on Murphy. He doesn’t look unhappy exactly, but there’s something about the look on
his face. His eyes are hidden behind his Ray-Bans, but his expression seems tight. He’s sitting on the diving board with his feet dangling in the pool. Green camo cargo shorts cover his powerful thighs, and I really wish his t-shirt was off so I could get a chance to drool over the muscles I know are hiding beneath it.

  Since our conversation last night was still bothering me when I woke up this morning, I take a deep breath and make my way over to him, ready to apologize. When I manage to cast a shadow over him, he leans back on his elbows on the board and sighs.

  “Listen, Princess, it’s already been a fucking crazy twenty-four hours. Do you think we can call a truce for today? I don’t think I have one of our sparring sessions in me, especially with no chance of all the buildup leading to actual fucking.”

  I open and close my mouth with nothing coming out, feeling like a fish out of water, gasping for air. Finally, I manage to ask one question, “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Seriously, Sabrina. My brain is fucking fried. I can’t do this today.”

  “Well, I was coming over here to apologize for last night. I think somehow I managed to start our sparring session. I swear, you just bring my inner bitch out to play. I don’t even know why I’m so bitchy to you.” Well, I do know why, but I can’t exactly say, Sorry, Murph. I have a huge crush on you, and you make me nervous, so I’ll stick with my excuse.

  “Yeah, I was an ass last night too. It was a fucking shitty night.” Murphy cringes and sits back up.

  I cross my arms over my chest and ask, “Want to talk about it? I’m a good listener. It might help to get an outside perspective.”

  “Christ, my weekend has been so fucked up. It would be easier to talk about what isn’t wrong with it than to list all of the ways I took it up the ass this weekend.” He swings his legs to the side, no longer straddling the diving board. “Metaphorically speaking.”

  Now his body is turned and facing me, so I kick off my pink and green plaid Sperrys and sit down on the concrete by his legs. I slip my feet into the warm water. “Spill it.”

  “Let’s see, where do I start? In the last twenty-four hours, I was told I might be a dad in a few months. I walked in on Coach Sinclair banging my mom on the fucking kitchen table. Saw his naked ass and everything. I had to have the most uncomfortable conversation a son could ever have with his mother after that clusterfuck. Oh yeah, and then I watched her and Coach get engaged. That’s not actually a bad thing. It just caught me off guard. I feel like someone fucked me up the ass with no lube.” That visual should not be hot, but Murphy’s naked ass always has been on my top ten list of things to see.

  I look down at my feet moving around in the warm water to give myself a moment to get that image out of my head before I answer. Cocking my head to the side, I look him over. “Wow. I’m not sure what to say or where to start unraveling that future therapy bill. Do you want to talk about the ‘might be a dad’ thing?”

  He closes his eyes, and his shoulders rise and fall before he speaks, “No. Not really. I was going to my mom’s house earlier today so I could talk to her about it but got sidetracked with all the nakedness. I have to go to an appointment Tuesday afternoon. Guess I’ll get more information then.”

  “Holy shit, you’re serious.” I can’t help the astonishment in my voice. I really wasn’t expecting him to say that.

  “I know I like to fuck around, Princess, but not about this. I’m not ready to have a fucking kid. I can barely take care of myself. I always wanted kids someday. But when I pictured that, it was way far off in the future, once I was playing ball professionally. I had a wife in my picture, not a baby momma. I had a house I owned, not a house that’s a step up from a frat house. When I pictured it in my mind, I was happy about it, not scared to death and resenting the hell out of all of it.” He’s finally slid his aviators off his face, and I can see his eyes. His handsome face that’s usually full of laughter and happy is full of stress and, I think, fear.

  Murphy kicks his feet in the water, splashing my legs. “Anyway, that was before I walked in on my mom bent over the kitchen table. Swear to God, I’ll never be able to erase that image from my memory no matter how hard I try.” He closes his eyes and exaggeratedly shakes his head. I’m guessing he’s trying to get me to laugh. There’s the Murphy I know.

  “And now, she’s marrying Coach. I’m going to have to see him at every family function. Christmas morning. Jesus. He’s gonna be everywhere, and I think I’m always going to be picturing his white ass until the end of time.”

  This time I kick water at his legs. “You’ve had a pretty fucked up few hours. I’m sorry I added to it.” I genuinely am, too. I hate that my insecurities may have made his night worse.

  “You really didn’t, Sabrina. I just wanted to numb the pain last night, and by the time you got there, I’d finished off half a bottle of Jack. I don’t even remember what you said that set me off. It probably didn’t take much.” He surprises me when he reaches over and tugs a lock of my hair.

  Umm . . . okay.

  Pulling my legs out of the pool, I stand and look down at him, offering my hand. “Truce?”

  Murphy stands and looks me over from head to toe. “Yeah, okay. Truce.” He reaches out to place his hand in mine but instead pushes me in the pool. But the moron forgets I was an athlete too. Before I fall in, I grab him and bring him along for the ride.

  6

  Murphy

  As the sun begins to set on the Sinclairs’ backyard, and the fireflies start to light up the night, we’ve eaten all the food and told every funny story that we’ve all amassed about Cooper Sinclair. And all things considered, we had a fun afternoon. We’re sitting around two teak tables that have been pushed together. The smell of the BBQ has begun to fade.

  There’s been a ton of talk about the wedding, the bridesmaid dresses, and the fucking flowers. I had no idea how much chicks are into this shit. I think it helped keep everyone’s mind off the fact that Coop is flying out in a few hours, and it worked for a while.

  The afternoon flew by, especially after Sabrina and I called a truce. I forget how much fun that girl can be when she isn’t a massive pain in my ass. It doesn’t hurt that she’s smokin’ hot too. She has long, thick hair—the color of my favorite chocolate candy—and big brown doe eyes to match. She’s not skinny, but she’s not heavy either. Her body is the result of years of playing soccer, and she has the sexiest legs and ass I’ve ever seen. They’re shapely and muscular.

  Sabrina Cabot wouldn’t break while I fuck her. And I need to stop that train of thought right there.

  I’ve got enough girl drama for now.

  When Brady and I were in elementary school, Sabrina was in school with us, always trying to prove she could do anything the boys did but better. Competitive little shit. Then fifth grade hit, and her parents decided to send her to the all-girls Catholic school. She was always tight with Chloe, so we’ve all been around each other for years, but it wasn’t until we were fucking around in the pool today that I saw a different version of her.

  Most girls would have freaked the fuck out if they got pushed in the pool. They would have been whining about their makeup or their hair, but not Sabrina. Nope. She just pulled me in with her.

  Didn’t seem to care at all that we could all see through her wet, white t-shirt. When we both surfaced after we fell in, she just laughed and pushed my head down again as she swam toward the shallow end and proceeded to throw the ball around with the guys for a while before she got out of the pool and asked Nat if she could borrow some clothes.

  I wasn’t thrilled when she reemerged from the house in a pair of Nat’s dry shorts and one of Cooper’s t-shirts. I mean, I guess her C cups don’t fit in one of Nattie’s tiny shirts. But still, seeing Coop’s shirt on her annoyed me.

  Not sure I’m ready to dissect that just yet.

  That brings us to now.

  Cooper has his duffle thrown over his shoulder and is holding a crying Nattie. He asked to be allowed to say goodbye t
o everyone here. Coach is taking him to the airport alone, and Nat is struggling with saying goodbye.

  Brady walks over and pulls her away from Cooper.

  She goes from sad puppy dog eyes to pissed in a split second. “Cooper Sinclair, if you get yourself hurt, I’ll never forgive you. Don’t ever forget I’m your older sister, and I will kick your ass.”

  Coop reaches out and grabs Natalie’s hand. “Love you, Nat.” He looks around at all of us—Nattie, Brady, Declan, Bash, Chloe, Annabelle, Tommy, Sabrina, Carys, his dad, my mom, and me. “I love all you guys. Take care of each other, and I expect care packages and letters all the time. I want to know everything that’s going on in Kroydon Hills.”

  Annabelle’s brother, Tommy, steps forward, squeezing his stuffed dinosaur tightly. “I’ll send you letters, Cooper. I promise. I’ll tell you everything that’s happening and make sure you know all the scores of all the games.”

  “You better, Tommy.” Cooper squats down to look in Tommy’s eyes. “I’m counting on you, buddy.”

  Annabelle pulls Tommy back. “Be safe, Coop. We promise to send you those cookies you like.” She kisses him on the cheek and puts an arm around Tommy, who buries his head in her shoulder.

  “Dad, promise me something.” Looking over at Coach, Coop wipes at the corner of his eye dramatically. “Promise me you won’t give my room away to this jerk-off if the Murphys move into our house.” Then he fist-bumps me. “Kidding, man. But you still can’t have my room.”

  We hear the beep of his watch.

  “Guess it’s time to go.” He kisses Nat’s head one last time, hugs Declan tight, and waves at the rest of us. “Love you, guys. See you at graduation.” With that, Cooper walks through the wrought iron gate to the driveway and is gone.

  Coach kisses my mom. “I’ll be back in a bit.” He follows Cooper through the gate.

  Declan reaches over and wraps his arms around Nattie. “He’d hate to know you were crying, Nat. It’s just two months. He’ll be okay.”