League Of Her Own

chapter three

Water never tasted so good.

Lying on the field, my body aching, sweat pouring out of every crevasse imaginable, I was never more grateful for ice cold water than in this moment.

"Good practice today," Coach said, with a smile.

"I'm alive but I'm dead," Nathan groaned.

Even laughing was painful, pulling against my already strained abdomen.

It was nearly ten minutes before I found the energy to stand up, Jake still lying face down on the field twenty feet away.

"Up and at 'em, Sunshine!" I called out. "We have a lot to do today."

His arm raised into the air, a thumbs up in my direction. "I'm on it."

One cold shower and a pair of fresh clothes later, Jake and I were at the gas station down the road, grabbing ice bags.

"What's the plan for today?" Jake asked, as we loaded the bags into the bed of his truck.

"Brennan comes home this week," I said. "And my Mom said she has a project for us."

Jake shut the back of truck, leaning against it with a sigh. "Hopefully it involves a nap."

"It'll definitely involve a nap."

As anticipated, my mom was waiting when we got home, her to-do list out on the kitchen counter.

"We need ice baths and a nap," I said, as she kissed my cheek. "Or we might not survive."

"You can have one hour," mom said, raising an eyebrow. "We've got a lot to do today, and I need some manual labor."

Jake let out a groan. "No manual labor."

"I didn't tell you two to play football. Take your baths of ice and a power nap and let's go. This list isn't going to solve itself."

~*~

As it turned out, we needed a lot more help than just Jake and me. With the bribery of pizza and promise of a jump in the lake after, I rounded up some of the team to help out.

Nathan and Wesley were helping my mom relocate all of Brennan's stuff from the second floor bedroom into the first floor master bedroom, and consequently moving her things up to the second floor.

Alexis and Carly were out running the last minute errands on my mom's list.

While Jake and I were stuck with the labor work. Following an instruction manual, we were trying to put together the ramp that would cover the stairs that led up to the front door. And while Luke claimed he was supervising, it was setting up to be a total disaster.

"This is why nobody consults you from IKEA," I snapped toward Jake. "You can't build a dresser and you're absolutely useless to me right now."

"I built your mom's dresser phenomenally!" Jake snapped back. "They put extra pieces in the bag for a reason."

"Oh is that why it wobbles?"

Luke stepped between us, taking the instruction manual from Jake's hands. "Step three? We're only on step three?"

"I don't know project supervisor, you tell me," Jake said, his eyes lowering toward Luke. "Load of help you are."

Luke didn't take to the insult, plopping down next to me with a sigh. "Where are the C-bolts?"

I held up the bag labeled C.

"And do we have a wrench?"

"No project supervisor, that's your job," Jake mumbled, before standing up. "Don't worry, I'll get the tools."