Giving him a squeeze, I pull away and head in to grab Mia and fill out the daycare paperwork. She’s over the moon when I tell her she’ll be coming back tomorrow while I work. Sonja was amazing with her, but this place has so much more for her to do. And I’ll be able to see her at lunchtime.
“So what’s your schedule going to be like?” Colt asks as we’re heading back to his monstrosity of a vehicle.
“It alternates, for now at least. Three twelve-hour shifts followed by four days off. After two rotations, I switch from days to nights, then back again.”
Colt’s eyebrows raise. “Isn’t that hard, shifting your whole sleep schedule around?”
“You get used to it. It’s never easy, but I’ve had some shifts where I had to do a day shift, then the night shift the next day. Those are hard. I swear we were mostly zombies on those nights.”
Colt still looks concerned. “But what about Mia? She’s going to sleep at the daycare?”
“Yeah. She’ll be ok though. There will probably be fewer kids there overnight, so it’ll be quiet for sleep. They’ll put cots out for them.”
Colton’s eyes keep shifting from me to Mia, back to me until I feel like I’m going mad. “What?” I finally ask.
He hisses in a breath. “Don’t get mad. I just want you to consider that a big reason you’re here is for a support system. Or at least I hope you are. So maybe keep in mind that you live in a building with eleven other adults who are happy to chip in on the nights you have to work. As irresponsible as we may act, we’re grown. We can camp out in your apartment while Mia sleeps in her own bed. I know you’ll need to get to know us better first, but it won’t be a fucking hardship to watch this little girl.” He smiles down at her, shaking her hand until she giggles.
Just then, Colton’s phone pings again for about the hundredth time since we stepped outside. “What is up with your phone? Do you need to check that?”
His neck reddens, and he pulls at his collar. “No. It’s fine. It’s just the family text thread.”
“And you can just ignore your family?” I immediately regret my words. Maybe I’m a bit jealous he has all these people he loves blowing up his phone.
Maybe.
He frowns, lips tight. “I don’t ignore my family. Ever.” His tone is hard. I pull my eyes away, suddenly feeling like a colossal ass. Where do I get off judging his relationship with his family? I don’t even speak to mine anymore.
Shaking his head, he pulls his phone out as we walk. His thumb scrolls for a while before he groans. “Fu-“ He mutters, biting back the swear as he looks down at Mia. Putting his phone away, he rubs his hand through his beard. “Dinner at Micah’s tonight has gotten bigger. I warned them not to overwhelm you guys, but they’re not listening.”
“Overwhelm me?” I ask with a smirk, happy to brush off the awkwardness from before.
“We can be a lot. There are nine of us, plus Becca and Holly. It’s a lot for anyone.”
My smirk gets bigger. “Who exactly do you think I am?”
His eyes narrow. “Ah…what?”
I snort. “Mia, baby, are we shy?”
“No Mama. We awesome.”
“Yes, we are baby,” I say with a smile. My eyes turning serious, I spell it out for Colton. “I’ve been a nurse for over a decade. I spent a good chunk of those years in the ER. I’ve been spat at, attacked, cursed out. I’ve helped pin down patients in the middle of psychotic episodes. I’ve held mothers as they wailed over their children. I’ve washed the bodies of loved ones before bringing their families in to say goodbye. I’ve helped collect rape kits and held the hands of mothers miscarrying their babies.”
He swallows thickly, slowly nodding his head as my meaning becomes clear. But I say it anyway.
“I have lived. I have seen more than my fair share of horror. And I’ve held my own through all of it. The person you met yesterday? That’s not me, she’s just a shell of who I really am. So believe me when I say I can handle supper with a bunch of rowdy billionaires.”
10
COLTON
Her words are still ringing through my head as I watch her. Evie doesn’t show a hint of shyness, greeting my brothers like friends. It isn’t until Declan rolls in on his skateboard, hair still in a Mohawk, nearly taking out Nick, that I think the real her comes out for the very first time.
And holy fuck, is the real her hot.
As Declan rolled in, she shifted to put herself between Mia, playing on the floor behind her, and the skateboard. When he crashed into Nick, both of them falling to the floor, skateboard flying off, she pinned Declan with a look that made even my balls shrivel.
“You get anywhere near my little girl with that thing, and I will kick you so hard you’ll be tasting balls for the next year.” Then she smiled, introduced herself, shook his hand, then headed to the kitchen with Mia.
