"Do you think he's going to notice?" Pauline asked as they stood side by side, looking at the back of the truck.
Jess stayed quiet as she took in the scuffed little dent.
"Are we sure it wasn't there before?" Pauline tried again, tilting her head at the dent.
"I don't know. I hadn't noticed it before."
"Because you didn't really hit anything when we were backing in here and I feel like we would have heard something that made that. We just went over that one place on the highway. Maybe it was the debris that flew up?"
"I don't know," Jess repeated, her voice sounding funny in her own ears.
"Well. It is what it is now," Pauline sighed pragmatically. "Can't change it. Let's get the horses off."
"I have to tell Scott." Jess murmured.
Pauline shrugged. "Is it going to change anything?"
"No, but I have to tell him now or I'll be worrying about it all weekend and I just need to tell him because I don't want him to be mad and- Oh my god how could I let this happen? He trusted me with his truck and now it has a dent in it!"
"Jess!" Pauline was giving her a look now. "How mad do you honestly think he's gonna be about this? Like…I mean if it was that Jason dude's truck I would probably understand why you're freaking out right now, and like, shit, Scott's scary as fuck but it's really clear he cares about you, he's pretty seems pretty chill and you said yourself he's really level headed-"
"I know!" Jess snapped, getting more agitated as the horses on the trailer kept dancing around and calling to the other horses around them on the farm grounds. "I just…he told me I had to take care of his truck and now this!"
She gestured to the side of the vehicle.
"Ok. You know what? Call him. I bet you fifty that he's not gonna be mad at you."
Bright eyed, Jess looked a moment longer at the dent and then slipped her hand into the side pocket of her riding leggings to retrieve her phone.
"I feel sick." She muttered, walking away from Pauline and climbing up into the passenger side of the truck, closing the door for privacy.
Her hands were shaking when she found his number and dialed.
He answered on the fifth ring, just before Jess was going to give up.
"Hey, kid."
The gruff answer was slightly out of breath, like he'd been running or working out. She could hear echoes of music and other guys talking in the background, she figured she wasn't off the mark there. It was about that time on a Saturday for him anyway.
"Hi." She answered, swallowing down a lump in her throat as anxiety started to spill over.
There wasn't even a pause before Scott's voice shifted to sharp alertness, "What happened?"
Taking a shaky breath, Jess started to tell him, well aware her voice was pitching dangerously with tears, "So, um, I'm really sorry-"
"Are you hurt?" The voice on the other end interrupted without hesitation, gruffness leaving his tone and replacing it with firm, focused calm.
"No."
"Promise?"
"Yes."
"Good. Anyone else hurt?"
"No."
There was a subtle intake of air from Scott before he said quietly, "Ok. What are we sorry about?"
"I don't know how it happened, and I don't know when, but when we going to get stuff unloaded I noticed a dent in the tailgate," Jess took in another hitching breath as tears spilled over, "I'm really sorry-"
"Jess-"
"I'll get it fixed-"
"Jess."
"The only thing I can think of that did it was maybe this debris we had to drive over on the highway! It looked like cardboard but then it sounded like metal scraping under a little- and it must had kicked up and-"
"Jess!" Scott's voice came loudly this time, jolting her words to a screeching halt because he never raised his voice with her. The second the rest of her panicked explanation died in her throat, Scott spoke again, this time quieter and with a deadly calm, "Is the dent on the left side? Bout the size of my fist?"
"Um," Jess shuddered, coming back from the blank, terrified place she'd been in that brief moment after his voice raised. "Y-yeah, I think so."
"Then stop worrying about it. I did that, not you."
"Y-you did?" Jess asked dumbly, air shuddering through her lungs again.
"Yeah. It's been there for about three years, kid."
"Oh." Jess was well aware of the smallness in her voice now as sick relief flooded her bones along with some embarrassment over her freak out.
"Take a breath, kid. You're ok."
"I'm sorry," Jess moaned, rubbing her face with one hand and leaning her forehead into the dash.
"Knock that off and listen to me. Are you listening?" Scott's customary growl was back, but she could hear the soft, gentle note in it which did wonders for soothing the stress sitting in her chest.
"Yes," Jess answered, tears immediately pouring down her cheeks.
"Even if you had dented my truck, you got yourself all twisted into knots for nothing, pips. I know I said something about not lettin a horse kick my truck, and I'd appreciate it if we could try to avoid that, however-"Jess could hear a door close and the noise of the gym died down as Scott's tone softened more into a firm seriousness, "As long as you are safe, and not hurt, I don't give a damn about my truck. I know you're careful. I also know shit happens and accidents happen. So, relax. It's ok."
"Ok," Jess gulped, rubbing the tears off her face with her palm.
"Did you seriously think I was going to tear a strip off you if you'd dented my truck?" There was a note now that Jess couldn't identify. It almost sounded tired and sad.
"I don't know," Jess admitted miserably. "Maybe, I think so. I'm sorry."
"You're ok, pipsqueak. I'm not mad."
"Ok," Drawing a deep breath, Jess tried to force herself to believe him.
"You good?"
"Yeah."
"How'd the drive go?"
"Good, other than the running over the metal thing I mentioned."
"Check the tires, make sure they're not losing air and then the trailer lights, make sure they're still working. Other than that, you're probably fine. I'm not worried. Driven over worse."
"Ok."
"Hey. You're fine. We're fine. Got it?"
"Uh huh," New tears started to creep up and her tone was tight.
"What time does everything start?"
"In an hour."
"Ok, well you better get going. Don't want to be late."
"Yeah, I should help Pauline get the horses off the trailer."
"Did Pauline remember to bring a tent?"
"Yes."
"Good. I'm gonna let you go. Go have fun, stop stressing, call me if you need me."
"Scott?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"You got it, kid. Now get going."
When Jess climbed out of the truck, wiping her eyes, Pauline already had both horses off and was brushing them down.
"So," She called over the top of Charlie's back. "He pissed?"
"Nope," Jess blushed and moved over, picking up a brush and getting to work. "And the dent is old. He did it himself."
"Called it!" Pauline gave her a smug look. "Even if you had dented it, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't even blink and would tell you it was fine. I get the feeling you could get away with pretty much anything with that guy."
"That's not true," Jess protested, making a face as she started in on the other side of Charlie, forcing her body to calm so he would calm down too.
"Is too! I overheard Sonny and Brock talking the other night about how he's the biggest teddy bear with you and that you could get away with burning his house to the ground and he would still keep his cool."
"That's probably an exaggeration," Jess mumbled.
"Not even a little," Pauline gave her another pointed look as she moved over to Joey. "Seriously, Jess? I pity the guy who tries to date you. He's going through hell and back before he'll be let within ten feet of you."
A fond smile started to form around her mouth and Jess shrugged, "Yeah…that's probably true, and I think I'm good with that."
"Better you than me. Glad you have people like that though. You've been so different the last while and honestly, Jess? It's amazing to see."
Jess's head jerked up.
"Really?!"
"Ah, yeah . You're changing, and you're more confident. I think it's great."
"Huh." Jess considered Pauline's words for a bit, taking the full weight of them because Pauline almost never said stuff like that. "I suppose the fact I'm eating better is helping, and I do sleep more than I used to."
Pauline rolled her eyes. "Yes. I'm sure that's the only reason."
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
Laughing, Pauline ducked when Joey threw his head up, whinnying at a horse walking past.
"Nevermind. Let's do this!"
When Metal slipped back into the gym, he could feel Trent, Ray and Jason watching him.
"Right. I need a sparring partner," He announced, still fuming under his breath at the people who'd taught Jess to be so afraid of people being upset with her over anything . It wasn't until he'd ended the call that he let himself feel just how frustrated and pissed off he was that Jess had been convinced he would tear a strip off her if she'd accidently done something to his truck. The poor kid.
"Jess ok?" Jason asked, less than subtle worry coloring his tone and he reached for his water bottle.
"Yup," Metal put his phone down and nodded to Trent who'd volunteered to spar. "She thought she dented my truck. Had a little freak out over it. I don't know how she didn't notice it before. It's huge and has been there a while."
"That was, what, three years ago now that happened?" Trent asked, stepping into the middle of the mat and giving him a tired look that silently told him to take it easy.
"Yup," Metal nodded, getting ready to somewhat beat the crap out of Trent. He'd be nice. Probably.
"Wasn't that after that one girl cheated on you?"
"You wanna step into this ring instead?" Metal tossed a glare at Jason for reminding him.
Jason dropped what he was doing and marched towards him. "You know what? Yeah. I do."
Ray and Trent exchanged a look. It didn't take someone with great powers of observation to be able to tell Jason was ticked off about something now. The lines weren't hard to draw and Ray heaved a long suffering sigh while exchanging a second look with Trent.
"Jess?" Trent asked quietly.
"Uh huh." Ray muttered. "Wish he would get his head out of his ass and make up with the kid properly. It's makin him just a little cuckoo."
Welcoming the opportunity to not hold back, Metal waited for Jason to signal he was ready and settled into the match. Right away he knew that Jason was also looking to blow off steam. The man was giving it all he had and Metal got the feeling he expected him to back down.
Like hell he would. Bravo 1 was in for a rude awakening if he thought he could out muscle him when he was pissed off.
Metal landed Jason on his ass repeatedly. Jason bruised Metal till he was black and blue. The pair went round after round until Jason was starting to feel it and his own obvious anger cooled.
Pride and bullheadedness kept either party from calling time out until Trent announced loudly and sardonically, "Oh look! Jess just sent a picture! I think I might open it and see what she's up to!"
By now Metal was aching more than he cared to admit and Jason was heavy for air.
"Call it?" Jason asked, eyes flicking to where Trent and Ray were already smiling at the pictures.
"Yeah, I'm good," Metal growled, holding out a hand. "Good match."
"You're meaner when you're cranky," Jason commented, taking his offered limb for a friendly handshake. "Forgot just how mean."
"You're stupid when you're mad at yourself." Metal grunted, pulling his shirt up to wipe at his face. "Just fuckin talk to Jess already. You know she won't take the first step and every day this goes on she's just gonna convince herself more and more that you're done with her."
"I told her-"
"Seriously? Have you met Jess?"
"Look, it's between me and the kid. Keep out of it." Jason snapped, stomping over and taking the phone Trent offered him. The pain was clear in his eye when he saw the picture of Jess sitting up on the horse in her more casual riding gear, grinning from ear to ear.
For his part, Metal was glad to see how happy Jess seemed and that all traces of her crying earlier were gone. As for Trent and Ray, each had this unshakable feeling that this wasn't the end of Jason taking out his frustration on Metal and both knew Metal well enough to know it was welcomed.
The man had a long fuse, most of the time, except for when it came to a certain little sister's feelings. Jason was running out of time to fix things.
"Hey guys, check this out!" Brock sat down quickly in the empty chair next to Clay and leaned over the table, holding out his phone so they could see. "Jess just sent this to the group chat!"
"Oh, dear lord! Tell me this is not another 'Jess courts death' video!" Sonny groaned, spotting the fact that Jess was sitting up on Charlie.
"No, man, this is way cooler!" Brock enthused. "Look!"
They watched as video of Jess flying over high, solid fences played.
"Has she fallen off yet?" Clay asked, curious and torn between hitting on that pretty girl at the bar and watching another one.
Sonny had no problems walking away after the next round of Jess taking a jump too soon and the horse only just clearing it.
"Yeah, I'm out. It's time for Sonny Quinn to do his thing. You comin blondie? Works better with my wing man."
"Yeah," Clay tore his eyes from the video and got up, following. Over his shoulder he tossed, "Tell Jess it's cool and that Sonny is worried about her!"
Shaking his head, Trent got out his phone and sent the message along, saying quietly, "And then there were three. Ray with the little one's tonight?"
"Yeah."
"Where's Jason?"
"Already found himself a squeeze for tonight." Metal muttered. "Early on, when we first got here."
"Didn't take long."
"Nah. He's really in a mood."
"Should we be worried about him?" Brock asked mildly as he flicked through the Instagram photos that Pauline uploaded of her and Jess, occasionally grinning and showing them one or two.
"I don't know, man. I try to keep out of it as best I can." Trent admitted. "I'm just glad Sonny and Clay aren't at each other's throats and Jason still has his head on while we're in the field. He's really taking this whole thing with Jess hard. Maybe we should-"
"Let Ray hold his leash," Metal grumbled. "If that doesn't work I'll bust his head in and tell him what's gonna happen."
Lifting his drink to his lips and drinking, Trent murmured, "Yeah, that'll go over well."
"You got a better idea?"
"We could also convince Jess to talk to him."
Bright, obnoxious red hair caught their eye then and a distinct laugh carried from the bar before Metal had a chance to answer.
"Awww shit…" Trent cast a wary look to Metal who was still as a statue now, staring at the tall, dressed to the nines, red haired woman with a horse tattoo on her neck.
"Who's that?" Brock asked quietly, sensing the unbelievable tension rising in Metal and getting instantly worried. He wasn't prepared to help rein in the big guy tonight.
"Valerie." Metal practically spat.
"Look, Scott, she's not supposed to be here. She has to leave."
"Well, I sure as hell ain't leaving." Metal snarled as he death glared at the woman across the room.
"Let's just keep our heads-" Trent murmured warily.
"Oh my head is on and my mind is crystal clear." Metal answered almost savagely when Valerie turned his way and gave a sickeningly sweet smile. "She's gotta go."
"Hey! Brock! This a bad time?"
The amiable voice from just behind Metal and Trent made them all jump just a little. Usually they were better at noticing when people walked up to them.
"Trev! There you are! Take a seat!"
Trevor Bailey shook his head and smiled, holding up his hands, "Oh, no, I gotta buy you a drink first, remember?"
Distracted, Trent tracked up to look at the young man standing next to him.
"Why are you buying him drinks?" He asked.
Trevor's smile grew, "He helped me fix my roof today. I owe him. Couldn't have done it without him."
"I think you would have managed, but I'm glad to help," Brock laughed and tapped his empty beer. "I will never pass up free alcohol. I'll take another one of these."
"Beer it is. Can I grab anything for either of you?" Trevor glanced at Metal who slowly turned back to face them all and took in the dark expression.
"I'll take another beer too, if you're offering." Trent chimed in, not even trying to explain the sour faced caveman to his right.
"And, ah, Metal?"
"Whiskey." Metal ground out. "Make it a double."
Wisely keeping his surprise and uncertainty to himself, Trevor nodded and said, "Alright. Coming right up."
The three seals sat in a tense silence while Trevor got the drinks and Brock scrolled through his phone, hoping to find something to take Metal's mind off his deep seeded rage. Trent could see things about to go one of two ways; either Metal would down his drink and leave, or he would drink until he was hammered and start a fight.
A minute or two passed and Brock re-watched one of the videos twice before blurting, "I think I'm going to go up tomorrow and watch Jess ride. This is so cool!"
"Yeah?" Trent stirred, casting a calculating look over his shoulder at the bar and keeping half an eye on Valerie. The woman knew she wasn't supposed to be there and she was taking a fast track to getting drunk, which meant she was more likely to do something really stupid…like try to talk to Metal. "She'd probably love that, Brock! You should do it."
"If I took Cerberus it would be a good chance to have him around a huge crowd of horses, get him more used to it."
"Gentleman, your drinks."
Trevor was back, carrying the drinks on a tray.
"You should quit your day job, Trev!" Brock teased as the younger man gave them their drinks carefully.
"Awww, nah. I wouldn't be a good server. Too clumsy," Trevor answered lightly. "But I'll have to keep it in mind for a side gig. I hear tips are great!"
"So what was wrong with your roof?" Trent asked when the final member or their table seated himself.
"Tree fell on it. Messed up the shingles and I got some water damage in the attic. That's the next project."
They talked about Trevor's renovations for a bit until Brock got a new notification of pictures posted by Jess and he started to share them with the group. By now Metal was still quiet and tense, but his energy shifted the moment he saw the update about Jess. When he saw the picture of her and Pauline making faces at the camera as they set up the tent with their horses in a tiny little paddock behind them, he almost smiled.
"That's awesome," Trevor grinned as Brock showed him the last riding video. "She mentioned a horse thing! Good to see she's having fun!"
Instantly Metal's dark stare found the younger man and he asked gruffly, "When did she mention it to you?"
To his credit, Trevor didn't shrink under the stare and laughed instead, "It was right after she tried to run me over with her shopping cart at the store on Friday."
Metal blinked and then sat back, crossing his arms with a solid nod while muttering, "Sounds like Jess."
"Jess? That sweet little thing is still hanging around you?"
The grating voice brought Metal's back ramrod straight and he refused to turn around to face the tall woman who'd just pushed her way through the crowded bar to stand behind him.
"Leave." He snarled.
"I'm just saying hello," Valerie sniffed. "You look good, Scotty boy."
"I'm not telling you a second time."
"I'll go, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least check to make sure you didn't harm that poor, sweet, innocent little girl, Jess!"
Confused, Trevor watched the interaction with a furrowed brow while Trent and Brock got ready to hold Metal back if necessary.
Metal didn't answer, but they could all see the darkness flooding his face.
"I tried to warn her away from you, you know- I do hope she listened, but then she didn't seem that smart, so maybe I'll need to have another chat with her."
In one fluid motion, Metal rose, knocking back his chair and turning to tower over Valerie. She was tall, but not that tall. There was a gleam of triumph in her eye when Metal moved into her space.
"You stay away from her," Metal snarled. "You stay away from me…or have you forgotten what a restraining order means?"
"Aww, that's so cute! You're actually protective of her! That's nice, but, I'll talk to whoever I want, and I'll come here as much as I like, and I'll paint any story under the sun just to see you suffer and see the fear and doubt creep into her eyes. Who's gonna stop me? You?" Valerie tossed her hair and swayed a little on her heels, indicating she'd had a substantial amount already to drink. "Are you finally going to do it, Scotty? I know you want to…I can see it."
"Uh, hang on here," Trevor's voice shifted from his easy going lilt to a serious, unwavering timber. It was like a completely different person appeared in place of the cheerful 'kid brother' of Brock. "You have a restraining order against this woman?"
"Yes." Metal ground out through barred teeth as he stared down his nose at the woman, every fiber of his body radiating tension and rage.
"Ma'am I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premises." Trevor was already on his feet and moving towards her.
"Excuse me?" Valerie turned on him, eyes flashing dangerously as her shark smile reappeared. "What are you going to do about it, boy scout?"
"Well, for starters, I could arrest you for violating the restraining order."
"Oh, look at that Scotty boy! You have yourself a little policeman on your payroll!" Valerie cooed. "Do you know what kind of person he is, boy scout? You'll want to watch your back with him."
"Let's go. Out." Trevor didn't go for the bait at all. "Nope. Out. We can do this the hard way or the easy way."
"You can't arrest me-"
"The beautiful thing is I actually can and you know what? I'm even willing to do the extra paperwork tonight."
"I will make your life a living hell!" Valerie hissed. "I know people-"
"Don't we all. Hands behind your back."
"You can't do this!" Valerie screeched, backing up.
"Ma'am, stop moving."
"I beat you're not even a cop!"
About eight different people around them all chorus, "Yes he is!"
"He's arrested me twice!" A muscle head piped up.
"Oh hi Hank! How's the shoulder?"
"Still hurts like a bitch, Bailey. Good to see you, buddy!"
As Trevor arrested Valerie, Metal stood still as a statue watching the whole scene unfold, speechless. Somewhere in his mind he knew that this was basically Christmas coming early for him, the fact that bitch was getting what she deserved. When she tried to smash a bottle into the side of Trevor's head and he added 'assault of an officer' to the list of charges as he walked her out the door and called dispatch to send someone to come pick her up, Metal slowly seated himself.
"Wow. That was…something." Trent breathed, subtly rubbing sweat from his neck. "Thought I was going to have to pull you off her for a second there."
"You would have had to if Bailey hadn't stepped in." Metal answered quietly. He felt gross and mixed up now. Like everything was upside down. That woman…she brought out something dark from deep inside.
"I can't believe she threatened Jess. It's like she had a death wish or something!" Brock fumed.
"She does." Metal answered harshly. "She was trying to get under my skin. She wanted me to hit her so she could file charges."
"Good thing Jess wasn't here." Trent said suddenly.
"Why?"
"She would have taken a swing at her."
Brock and Metal considered the thought for a moment before agreeing that, yes, Jess likely would have gotten scrappy long before Metal did and the big guy would have had to strong arm her out of the bar to keep her out of trouble.
"So you still going to see her ride tomorrow?" Trent asked Brock, flicking a glance at Metal.
"Yeah, I think so."
"What if Metal and I joined you?"
Frown deeping, Metal turned his head to the side and glared at Trent, "Why am I going?"
"It'll make Jess happy," Trent answered a little too innocently. He left the second part unsaid "And it'll be good for your head after seeing that bitch again."
Grunting, Metal turned the glare back to the table before muttering, "Yeah, ok."
The weekend had been a blast so far.
Jess was exhausted and happy all at once as she rode Charlie up to where they were having a 'Fun Day' event for local families, including watching the horseback riding. Jess and Pauline signed up for all the games of the show and she tried not to think about the fact it was probably way more money spent than she likely should have.
Time well spent though and it all went to a good cause.
Hurrying now, because she'd had to go back to the truck for something, Jess nudged Charlie into a trot and clipped up the trail to the main grounds, making sure to keep to the outside and away from people as she approached the ring.
There was a little part of her that had to admit a glowing pride when little girls stopped to stare at her with open mouths. She felt like the coolest person ever.
Over the loudspeaker, Jess could hear the games being announced and she breathed a sigh of relief that she'd made it just in time.
"You're cutting it close!" Pauline laughed, not at all bothered. "We're up next!"
"Awesome! This is so much fun. How are we going to do this?"
"Umm….well we should use Charlie for the pick up because he's smaller."
"What are we going to do with Joey?"
"Leave him tied at the fence like we do when we're messing around with this kind of shit. He won't do anything. He's exhausted."
"Ok! Or we could-"
All words died in Jess's mouth when three figures caught Jess's eye on the other side of the ring. The one with the dog caught her eye and waved enthusiastically, grinning while the other two seemed to be engaged with a young girl and scanning the crowd.
Speechless, Jess watched the scene unfold. Scott crouched back down, talking to the little girl with every bit of gentleness she knew from him, slowing the frantic tears rolling down the small face while Trent casually used the fence to add some height. Taking a guess, Jes figured they were helping to find her parents.
On one hand that was a perfectly natural thing to see them doing and her brain almost dismissed seeing them there, except that she did NOT expect to see them here at all and it made her stomach bubble with a giddy happiness.
"JESS!" Pauline swatted her. "Come on!"
"What? Oh, right! The thing!" Jess tore her eyes from her brothers just as what looked to be the child's mother came pushing through the crowd with an even younger girl in toe and a slightly older boy. It seemed their mission was accomplished.
She entered the ring with Charlie and Pauline followed.
"Ok. You get off."
"Oh yeah! You have to do this part."
Jess slid off and ran to the end of the ring to wait. She was extremely aware that her new observers were close to the fence behind her and Jess wanted to show off a little more now.
She got ready as the buzzer sounded and Pauline took off with Charlie through the course to come get her. The younger horse loved every minute of it, taking the turns tight and controlled.
Next thing Jess knew Pauline was coming right for her, arm reaching down for her to grab.
She ran to meet them, just like they practiced when they were being silly, caught it, kicked off and swung up flawlessly while the crowd cheered. Jess could have sworn she could hear her brothers over the rest and it filled her heart with so much joy.
Once they were out of the ring and there was a break between events for a bit, Jess made her way over to them.
Brock greeted her first with Cerberus and Jess made sure to fuss over her favorite dog.
"Hi! When did you guys get here? What are doing here?!"
"Came to watch you," Brock told her as he gave her a big hug. "I didn't have anything on, and then Trent and Scott decided to come too!"
"We've been here a few hours now." Scott told her gruffly as he came to stand next to her, almost grudgingly accepting her side hug only Jess knew better because he'd reached for her first.
"Really!?"
"Yup!" Trent hugged her last. "Saw that race between you and Pauline and the other girl over the fences down on the other grounds! That was cool!"
"Oh shit, so you saw that fall at the end then when Charlie slipped after the last jump!" Jess bit her lip, flushing.
"Oh yeah. Totally. You're gonna let me check you over after, right?"
"I feel great!"
"Your horse partially fell on you." Trent challenged, folding his arms.
"It was soft ground! I got right back up again! I'm fine!" Jess ignored the throbbing of her left calf muscles and the way her ankle clicked when she walked as they all made their way over to where Pauline was holding Joey and Charlie.
"And this is why I told you to stay out of it," Scott told Trent dryly. "She's stubborn."
"I can't believe you guys came!" Jess quickly changed the topic. "I never expected that at all!"
Scott didn't say much, but she caught the way the small smile around his eyes flickered with more warmth, chasing away whatever it was that was bugging him.
"Jess! We're up again!"
Grinning and for the moment not caring why Scott seemed off or questioning further what they were doing there, Jess heaved herself back on Charlie and went into the next game.
It was going to be a great afternoon.