I nod. “Okay, your dad doesn’t get home for three more hours so I’m making you dinner while you shower. Then we’ll play a game together until he’s home. Deal?”
She beams and whispers to herself, “Awesome.”
And for the first time today, I don’t feel like I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Chapter 9 – Seth
I glare down at my phone screen like it’s personally offended me, re-reading the text messages from Brianna.?
Bri.
The woman who rocked my world when I was at my lowest with her wild, red hair. The same woman who almost had me asking for a repeat two nights ago. For some reason anytime she’s around, I can’t control myself. And this time it could have had potentially career ending consequences given I had no idea her father wasfuckingCaleb King.
I wonder why she stopped dyeing her hair red.
It doesn’t fucking matter.Nothing about her matters except the fact that our paths will now cross at the Mayhem facility and during pick up and drop offs for Sawyer.
I look at my phone again and see the pictures she sent of Sawyer from earlier. She looks so happy it causes an ache in my chest. I wonder if that’s just her putting on a brave face.
Brianna:Hi Seth. We’re home from Sawyer’s practice. I made seafood pasta. Sawyer and I picked up the ingredients at the store on the way home. I hope that was okay. She’s fed, showered, and we’re playing a card game.
I didn’t respond to that one either.
Or the follow-up text five minutes later.
Brianna:Sorry again.
Brianna: For everything... I know I should have told you in the gym who I was.
That doesn’t make anything better because she doesn’t get it. She has no idea what we’d be walking into.
This isn’t about the fact that we had one extremely hot, unforgettable Halloween night together—one that I’ve jerked off to more times than I want to admit wondering where she was at, what she was doing, if she ever thought about that night and whether our paths would cross again.
And it’s not just because I kissed her in the gym when I had no idea who she was. That I fucking initiated it when she was clearly trying to escape because for some reason, I’m the most controlled man in all of hockey, able to stop pucks flying directly at my face. But when it comes to her, my hands, lips, and dick refuse to behave.
And it’s certainly not the reality that I didn’t recognize her until after she’d run away, like I’m some goddamn caveman, completely blind to everything but her. No, it’s none of those things.
It’s the fact that I can’t get her out of my damn head. And that’s a problem because I know that I’d ruin her faster than her dad could ruin my career just like I ruin everything good in my life.That’s the reason I have to fire her as soon as I get home from practice tonight. Because if our lives weren’t already tangled enough, sleeping with the owner’s daughter, a woman I can tell is genuinely good, would be a sure-fire way to screw up my career and her life.
Yeah, I could argue that I didn’t know who she was at the time, that it won’t happen again, but the argument feels thin.Having her around—bonding with my daughter, embedding herself into my home, into my life—is going to be a problem when all I can think about is how good it felt to be inside her.
That’s the real problem.
I drag a hand down my beard as the train pulls into the Brookhaven stop.
Dammit.
I feel bad about it, but I don’t really have a choice. She mentioned that she needed the money and something about her medical bills, but her dad’s got to be at least a multi-millionaire—probably a billionaire with how well theMayhemhave been doing since he purchased the team and his long career in the professional basketball league. Whatever gap this job fills, her father can cover ten times over. It’s just my luck that out of the thousands of people in Brookhaven, she’s the one who took the job.
I shake my head, sling my warmup bag over my shoulder, and slip my feet back into my slides. A short walk later, I’m behind the wheel of my lifted truck, navigating the winding road that curves around the lake my new town was named after.
I wasn’t sure I’d like living in Brookhaven after coming from a beach town on the West Coast. But I’ll admit it, it’s not half bad. It reminds me a little of Alberta, where I grew up. And having mybrother and his wife nearby outweigh most of the long commute cons.
I pull into the driveway and cut the engine. It’s dark now, a little past eight, but Sawyer should still be awake. At least, I assume she is since her bedtime has slowly drifted closer to nine or ten these days. Which is why I stop short the second I step inside the house. The only light comes from the soft flicker of the TV in the living room. And there, curled up on the couch, my daughter is fast asleep with her head resting against Brianna’s shoulder like they’ve known each other forever.
From across the room, Brianna catches my eye and gently lifts a finger to her lips, telling me to tread quietly. I move closer to them until I’m next to the couch and then gaze down at my daughter. My chest tightens instantly.
Fuck.
