Losing an Edge (Portland Storm Book 13) by Catherine Gayle Read Free Book Online Page A

more snacks than we could possibly need for a two-hour trip to play.
    Sara rolled her eyes and finished buttoning up Cassidy’s coat. “Come on. I don’t know about alligators…”
    “They’re gonna eat him,” Connor said gleefully. “And I’m gonna watch.”
    Somehow, the three of us adults managed to load the two kids into Sara’s SUV and climb in ourselves, along with all our mounds of stuff , and soon enough were on our way to the indoor park. No sooner had we arrived than Connor seemingly forgot all about alligators due to the massive ball pit waiting for him. I managed to pry his coat free before he sprinted away and dove in without waiting to see how deep it was.
    Connor sunk in up to his head, but he had the biggest grin on his face. I doubted he would care if he went completely under. At least the pit was full of balls and not water.
    Sara busied herself with taking Cassidy’s coat off and finding a play area more appropriate for someone of her size, leaving me and Anthony to find a locker in the coat room to store all our stuff.
    “He seems like quite a handful,” Anthony said, taking the diaper bag and snacks from me.
    I raised a brow and chuckled. “You haven’t seen anything yet. He seems positively well behaved so far today.”
    Anthony snort-laughed. “Should make for an interesting afternoon.”
    Which would suit me nicely. The more interesting this afternoon became, the less time I’d have to worry about my date with Levi Babcock tonight.
    With everything safely stowed for the time being, we headed back out to the main play area. Sara and Cassidy had found some blocks and another mother and baby, leaving Connor to the two of us. The holy terror himself was busy flinging his body through the balls toward some bigger kids, using his arms to make it seem like he was a gator trying to chomp them. I let out an internal sigh and tried to mentally prepare myself to go haul him off before he went overboard and hurt another child. I’d barely resigned myself to what I needed to do before Anthony kicked off his shoes and jumped into the fray himself.
    Connor gator-chomped Anthony’s arm and giggled.
    Anthony let out a fake howl of pain. “You got me!”
    “The agilators got you.”
    “I’m dying! Help. Help me, Cadence.” He held out his arms, which allowed Connor to jump on his midsection and bury him in the ball pit until I could only see his feet.
    “CayCay can’t save you from the agilators.”
    In no time, half the other kids in the place had joined Connor in climbing all over Anthony, but he only laughed and egged them on. It only took him minutes to become the prime attraction of the day, a human jungle gym for their amusement. He laughed and joked with them, giving in to any punishment Connor and his newfound friends saw fit to give him.
    I found a nearby spot on a bench where I could be sure Connor didn’t cause any true harm. My cell phone buzzed in my pocket only a moment after I took my seat. I dug it out and swiped the screen to find a text message from Sara.
     
    I like Anthony, too. Just in case you don’t trust yourself in determining whether you should like him. Don’t know him as well as 501, but there’s no need to feed him to the agilators.
     
    I laughed out loud, which caught Anthony’s attention. He flashed a grin in my direction—a distraction that lasted barely long enough for Connor and the other kids to pile on top of him again—and I did my best to sit back and enjoy the day without worrying about any of the men who were at the forefront of my mind.

    AT TEN TILL eight, I parked behind Jonny’s pickup in the driveway, my knuckles practically white as I gripped my steering wheel. There was no fucking good reason for me to be this nervous. Yeah, Cadence was Jonny’s sister, but despite appearances, he was a reasonable guy. Besides, he’d married his coach’s daughter. And my brother had married the daughter of one of the other coaches. The guy who used to be