I nod, at peace with the idea that Dani knew about Whitney and about Laurie long before I did. We'd talked on the phone the day before, in between a team lifting session and my evening video review for the week one Phantoms game, and we worked it out. I don't know if she has figured out that Whitney and I are back together, or seem to be headed that way. "Hey, speaking of Dani, have you told her?"
"In general or in detail?" Whitney says in a low voice. "Because you don't want to know what she's told me in detail."
"Oh, I know," I say. "That woman was a regular Penthouse Forum when she was an undergrad. At least until she met Pete again, from what I know. I don't want details of what they do. I've had my hands in between Pete's legs too much for comfort in that area."
Whitney laughs and slaps me on the thigh. "And you say Dani's bad? Troy Wood, I never!"
"Yes you have," I tease back, and lean in. "In fact, maybe some time soon, we can."
Whitney purrs and gives me a sexy little smile. "Maybe after we tell Laurie that you and I are seeing each other. I was thinking after the wedding reception, that way Laurie won't spoil the surprise for Dani and Pete."
“Monkey bars!" Laurie calls, dragging up a huge cloud of dust and sand as she drags her feet to slow down. "Mama, are you coming too?"
"Of course," Whitney says as I heave myself to my feet. "Think you can give me a hand up?"
I pull Whitney up easily, and for a moment, she's in my arms again, her palms on my chest, and we're looking into each other's eyes before I let her go, both of us smiling to chase after our little girl.
My daughter, I think as Whitney scrambles up the jungle gym that leads to a slide with Laurie and follows her down. My daughter. The words still clang around in my head as I think of them, and I'm laughing as Whitney thumps down in the sand, a cloud rising from her butt as her feet lose grip on the ground from the low slide. Laurie laughs along with us, and we're soon all playing on the monkey bars until Laurie's gasping for air and waving off. "I'm done! I need water!"
We go to the water fountain, where she soaks her face along with taking deep drinks. We're near the duck pond, and I see some ducks on the water, so I walk over to the vending machine the town keeps for the ducks and buy a cupful of food. "Hey, Laurie, want to take a rest and feed the ducks?"
"Cool!" Laurie yells, and she runs over, eagerly taking a seat next to me. The food floats, so we can toss it out onto the water where the ducks swim after it. "Hey?"
I look at her while Whitney takes a seat on the other side of her . . . our daughter. I exchange looks with her over top of Laurie's head, and she smiles. This has been a great day.
“What's it like being a pro football player?"
"There are a lot of good things, and a lot of bad things," I say. "On the good side, I make a lot of money, and I love playing football. It helps a lot with my inner demons."
"You have demons inside you?" Laurie asks, her voice dropping in fright.
I shake my head, remembering the she has spent most of her life in a Catholic country. "What I mean is, when I was younger, I had a lot of bad things happen to me. I could have become a very bad person if I let those things take control of my life. But football was one of those things that let me control the feelings that came from what happened to me."
"What else?" Laurie asks innocently, and I look over her head at Whitney, whose eyes are dark and full of meaning.
"A very special person," I say softly before looking down at Laurie and smiling. "But yeah, football helps too."
After I drop Laurie and Whitney at their home, I drive back to my house, troubled. Today was such a perfect day, and I'm worried. If the team trades me soon, I'm going to have to leave Silver Lake Falls, at least for the season, and I'm just starting to re-establish my relationship with Whitney, and I’m making the beginnings of a relationship with Laurie. How could I ask them to uproot and move to some other part of the country when they're just getting settled in again?
Maybe after some time has passed, I think. I mean, first of all, while we've got injuries, you never know who might become available after the last round of cuts to the fifty-three-man roster. Maybe a good right tackle or wideout could fall through the waiver wire, and then the Hawks could sign them without having to trade me.
I decide to hold my tongue on the potential trade until I know more about it. There's no reason to stress out Whitney or Laurie—not right now. Instead, I check out my suit, already looking forward to tomorrow. After all, it's not every day that two friends get married, and if what Whitney told me is true, then we can go public then too.
I'm just wiping down my shoes, putting a fresh coat of Kiwi wax on them, when my phone rings. Picking it up, I see it's Whitney. "Hey, it's good to hear from you. Is everything okay? Did you leave something in the car?"
"Not at all, and everything was nearly perfect today," Whitney says, her voice warm and loving. "Laurie's taking a bath right now before dinner, and I just wanted you to know she hasn't stopped talking about you since getting out of the car. She thinks you're the best. And so do I."