Even if she’d up and left their best friend for no reason.
They were loyal to Blake, so she’d felt self-conscious and awkward about seeing them today. But it had quickly become clear that they were doing their best to be nice to her. She could almost hear their pact. If Blake wanted her back, they were going to support him one hundred percent. Even if she’d been a bitch.
Grant picked her up from behind, making her scream. “I’m going to toss you over to Zack.”
They’d played this game with her many times. And yes, sometimes it was fun, but she was supposed to be working. She tickled his ribs, and he immediately let her go and released a high-pitched giggle.
“Hey, now, no need to be mean,” he said, putting plenty of space between them.
“I swear, if the guys in the league knew you were this ticklish, they wouldn’t have to tackle you.”
Brody advanced on him, and Natalie knew to get out of the way. A tickle fight was about to commence. She felt a strange sort of pride for having started it.
“Don’t you dare touch me!” Grant raved, but Brody, Logan, and Jordan rushed him, and soon the defensive lineman was running for his life across the yard with the others in hot pursuit. Touchdown raced after them, barking in short bursts.
Zack and Hunter exchanged looks.
“Guess we should probably follow them,” Hunter said. “They might run into a bear and get mauled.”
Zack snorted. “I’d love to see that.”
Natalie put her hands on her hips. “It’s time for lunch, so you’d best bring them back while the food is hot.”
Not that the chafing dishes wouldn’t do their job, but she knew these guys. Once they started horsing around, it was hard to get their attention until hunger descended. Then they turned into a pack of starving wolves. She didn’t plan on letting things unravel to that state of affairs.
“Yes, ma’am,” Zack said with a salute. “We’ll bring them back. And your little dog too. Assuming Grant still has his pants on.”
She shook her head. “Like I haven’t seen his ass before. How many times do you think you’ve pulled this sort of random crap around me?”
Hunter burst out laughing. “A lot. Not that we’ve ever pantsed Sam.”
No, no one would dare strip Sam’s pants off. “How many times have you gotten Blake?” She’d seen it happen at least twice. Both times had made her hot. And that was so not something she needed to be thinking about right now.
Zack scratched his goatee. “Probably a half dozen. He’s not the fastest, but he has pretty impressive evasion tactics.”
“And he’s mean,” Hunter added.
Yeah, Blake didn’t go down without a fight.
“All right,” she said. “Go get those morons and tell them it’s time to eat.”
She hated to sound like their mom, but this had always been her role with them, and it felt natural. At least she wouldn’t have to clean up after them this weekend. A few of them could be downright pigs.
Blake stuck his head through the open door as Zack and Hunter jogged off in the direction of Grant’s high-pitched giggles.
“Who are they pantsing?” he asked with a grin.
“Grant. He was going to toss me around, so I tickled him. It devolved from there.”
He strode forward, his sandy brown hair gleaming in the afternoon sunshine. Sometimes looking at Blake was blinding. It wasn’t just the mega-watt power of his grin. No, it was the easy power that radiated through his whole body, as natural as the electricity that ran through a house.
“So, you’re the instigator, huh?” he asked, standing beside her. “It’s good to have the guys here. I really appreciate you taking care of the food, Nat.”
She could feel the pull of other memories—various weekends when they’d hosted the guys together, as a unit. Her walls rose a few inches as an unwanted sense of yearning rolled through her.
“The Grand Mountain Hotel took care of the food,” she heard herself saying. “I was only the executor.”
When he didn’t say anything, she stole a glance at him. He was frowning.
“I thought we were friends again,” he said in a soft voice, one she had to strain to hear over the racket from Grant and the guys.
A pressure rose in her chest. “We are.” But how exactly could she backtrack to being friends with her ex-husband, particularly when she knew he wanted more?
He turned his head and stared into her eyes. She met his gaze and didn’t blink since he didn’t. There was hurt there, yes, but determination too.
“Guess who’s got Grant’s pants?” Jordan called out, emerging into view with a pair of tan shorts held high in his hands. “Too bad I can’t tweet this out.”