Free Change of Hart by M.E. Carter

So I’m really excited to be here.” He smiled wide at me and wiggled to the floor. I glanced over at Addison to see her watching the exchange with a small smile on her face.
    “You wanna come see my Pee-paw?” he asked, grabbing me by the hand and dragging me through the kitchen to the backyard.
    Jaxon introduced me to his grandfather and several other partygoers. Fortunately, everyone was pretty relaxed around me. No one asked for my autograph or a picture or anything, except for some woman named Samantha who kept giving me “fuck me” eyes and standing a little too close. I was able to grab a bottle of water and just relax in a lawn chair, watching all the festivities around me.
    There were about a dozen kids and their parents going in and out of the house. It was a small backyard, but had enough room for a small swing set and some regular party games like a ring toss and pin the tail on the donkey. In this case it was “Pin the Cube on the Transformer”. I cracked up when one of the kids spun around during his turn and toppled over while trying to walk with the blindfold on.
    “This is a cute house,” Lindsay said, sitting down next to me, a glass of wine in her hand. She wasn’t a lush, but the girl did love her wine.
    “The whole neighborhood is nice,” I said. “I was thinking it looks like a bunch of cottages.”
    “Are you talking about my house?” Addison said with a grin, walking over and sitting down on the other side of Lindsay.
    “I was just saying how cute this neighborhood is,” Lindsay said. “I’ve been teaching at Mountain Park for three years and never even knew it was here.”
    They continued talking about school, kids, life. Lindsay explained that Sam had a project to finish up in the office this weekend and Jaxon’s party was the perfect excuse for him to miss out on some family time without Lindsay nagging him about “work/life balance”. Ok, she didn’t say that last part. But I heard it a few times at dinner.
    I didn’t really participate in the conversation. I just sat back and watched the two of them get to know each other. Once again, I found myself dumbstruck being around Addison. She was more soft-spoken than Lindsay, but wasn’t lacking in things to say. She just had this presence about her I couldn’t explain. But I knew I wanted to be around it.
    She caught me staring at her, but I didn’t care. I caught her staring at me a few times, too.
    “Hey Addison, we’re running low on the fruit,” Jaxon’s Pee-paw said. Mick was his name, I think.
    Addison stood up. “I guess that means my rest time is up. You guys have fun,” she said and turned to walk away.
    “I’ll help you,” I said and jogged after her toward the door.
    “Always the charmer,” I heard Lindsay mutter from behind her wine glass as I walked past her.
    We walked into the small kitchen. It was covered with paper plates and napkins and balloons and a cake with the Cowboys logo on it and a bobble head of a player on top. Thank goodness it wasn’t #53 - my number - because that poor bobble-headed bastard was ugly.
    “What can I do to help?” I asked Addison as she pulled a bowl of fruit out of the fridge.
    “Oh,” she said, like I had startled her. “Um . . . can you help me slice the fruit? There are knives in there.”
    She pointed to the drawer next to me and pulled out an extra cutting board. We started cutting up the fruit in a comfortable silence. Every once in a while one of us would catch the other one looking and we’d smile. I know I looked like a total idiot, but at that moment, I just didn’t care.
    “I’m really glad you could come,” Addison said softly. “Jaxon is really excited you’re here.”
    I smiled. “I’m glad I didn’t have to miss it. Everyone seems really nice.”
    “They are,” she agreed. “Except my sister-in-law, Samantha,” she said, rolling her eyes.
    “I kind of got that vibe,” I replied. “I caught her taking a couple of selfies today that