Page 97 of Your Play to Call

“I’ve never made pie crust,” Willow says. The sounds of them in the kitchen, on Thanksgiving morning, is fucking wholesome.

I shut the door.

“Tripp!” Lo practically skips to meet me at the door. It never gets old. Her parents follow behind. “These are my parents, Kathy and Alan. Mom and Dad, this is Tripp.”

“Finally! We’ve been dying to meet you,” Kathy says while pulling me into a tight hug. “You can call me, Kath. How was your meeting? Are you hungry? What do you need?” Willow and her dad both shake their heads when Kath asks questions before I can even give her an answer.

“Give the man some room to breathe, and he better be hungry. We’ve got food for twenty here,” Alan says. I consider myself confident but I’mborderline shaking when her dad gives me his hand. I shake it and then he claps me on the back.

I don’t know a lot about having a dad. Especially a good one.

“You’ve been having a hell of a season. Even at this weird new NFL team,” Alan says.

“Dad! It’s not weird,” Willow shouts from the kitchen.

“A team materializing out of thin air is weird. It’s not Tripp’s fault. He didn’t do it.” Her dad throws his hands up and you can tell this is how they bicker back and forth.

“When you put it that way, you’re right, it is a little weird,” I agree with him and catch Willow grinning at me while she works with my mom in the kitchen. There’s a lump in my throat. “I’m going to take a quick shower and change. Be back in a minute.”

I walk into my bedroom, taking my shirt off, before I get into the master suite. I hear the bedroom door lightly click shut.

“MVP. Everything okay?” Willow asks as she puts her hand on my chest.

“Yes, it’s fine,” I get out without my voice cracking. I’m legit about to cry.

“That line doesn’t work on me. Sorry.” She shrugs while keeping her hand on me.

“It’s stupid. Nothing is wrong, everything is right. I’ve never had a family to do holidays with. Seeing your parents here with my mom and you. It’s just… something I’ve wanted for a long time.” I wipe the tear from my eye before it can fall.

Willow puts her hands on my bare chest. “That’s one of the most wholesome things I’ve ever heard.”

“I’m thankful for you. For today. All of it.” I kiss the top of her head. I hold her and we move back and forth for a few seconds.

“You deserve all of this. I hope you know that.” Willow looks up at me and there are tears in her golden eyes, threatening to spill. “I think you’ve waited long enough. Get in the shower and let’s do Thanksgiving.” She pokes me in the chest and walks out.

Dinner was delicious. Momand Willow pulled out all the stops which makes me wonder what they’ll do next year.

Now, we’re all in the living room, blankets on laps and after-dinner cocktails in hand. Football is on and it feels like we’ve been doing this forever. This truly is the Thanksgiving I wanted my whole life.

“How bad does it hurt to get hit by that guy?” Alan points at the TV where one of the best cornerbacks in the league is celebrating a broken-up touchdown.

“Worse than you think.” I laugh and take a sip of my old fashioned.

Alan is a massive NFL fan, and he’s been asking me some of the best questions. He wants to know all the ins and outs of plays, coverages, and any dirt I have on players he clearly doesn’t like.

“I can’t believe you have to get up after that and do it again,” Kath chimes in.

“Me either,” my mom and I chime in at the same exact time.

“Do you know if he’s single?” Emilie quips and the room breaks into laughter. I don’t spend a ton of time with Lo’s assistant but whenever she’s around it’s a good time.

“I’m so excited to get back and see a game in a few weeks!” Kath says, rubbing her hands together.

Kath and Alan couldn’t stay the whole weekend, but I promised them tickets whenever they wanted them. Sounds like they’re planning tocome the week before Christmas and stay for a while at Willow’s place. We haven’t fully planned the details, but I think we’ll host Christmas at Willow’s this year.

We’llhost. I don’t care if this makes me a sucker or not, because I want every single holiday with this woman and everyone that comes with it.

Willow’s phone rings from the kitchen. She lets it go to voicemail. It continues to ring a second time.