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Yael
At two in the morning, I gave up. It took swallowing every last ounce of my pride to pick up the phone and call Alex, but this was desperate times.
“Hello?” he rasped, his voice so thick with sleep, I was immediately green-eyed with jealousy.
“I need help.”
Oh man, that really hurt. If there wasanyoneelse I could have called, I certainly would have. But Alex was my only hope.
Rustling then shifting sounds filtered through our connection. Then a faint, feminine voice sighing his name.Murray.
“Yael? What’s up? Are you okay?” He sounded a lot more alert already.
“I’m fine.” I rubbed the aching spot between my eyes. “Wait—no, I’m not. I just locked myself in the bathroom so I could call you. Simone won’t settle and I’m getting a little delirious with no sleep. Do you think—”
“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” he answered before I could even ask.
“Okay.” A huge gust of relief blew from my lips. “Thank you.”
Before he hung up, the same feminine voice asked who was on the phone, but I didn’t hear his answer. I imagined it was “nobody.”
Alex showed up in record time, hood pulled over his head, sweatpants slung low on his hips. He immediately took the sad baby from my arms, shushing and rocking her like he’d done this his whole life. I collapsed on Mo’s couch, completely spent. I just watched from my seat as Simone melted into him, her whimpers weakening and eyelids drooping.
He took her into her room, and everything was so quiet. Spots danced in my vision. Even though I should have gone to bed, I couldn’t seem to force myself to move. Just like Simone, my eyelids drooped, and my muscles became puddles trapped by my skin.I’d just close my eyes for a minute…until Alex came back out here…
I woke up gradually. First, stretching my arms over my head, then a great, big, jaw-cracking yawn. Light filtered through my closed lids, and soft music floated through the air, coming from the direction of the living room.
The living room?
I shot out of bed—bed? What the fuck?—and dashed out to the living room. Alex was slouched on the couch, Simone sitting on his bare stomach. He was clapping her hands together and making all manners of crazy faces while she laughed and drooled with joy. For a fraction of a second, my heart fluttered in my chest.
But only for a second. This was Alex Murray, ruiner of my world. So he was good with babies—that changed nothing.
He glanced over at me, his Simone-smile still in place. “Good morning, Boo. Did you sleep well?”
Rubbing my crusty eyes, I grimaced. “Don’t call me that ever again. Also, what time is it?”
“A little after nine.”
My eyes flew back open. “Oh no. How could you have let me sleep so long? She needs her bottle and diaper change and—”
“Already done, sleepyhead.”
“What?” I sat on the edge of the couch, an entire cushion away from him. “You fed and changed her?”
“Yep. My girl was super smelly this morning too, so she had a little bathy. Now she smells like lavender and baby.” He glanced at me again. “You look less like death.”
It did not sit well with me that Alex had done all that while I’d slept. Not that I didn’t trust him with Simone—I definitely did, and I knew Mo and Mic did as well—but when he did things that were nice or sweet or selfless, I questioned how he could have been so awful to me. What the hell had I ever done to deserve what he’d done?
“Thanks. Looking less like death is always the goal.” I eyed his bare torso, freckled and lean. His abs flexed beneath Simone, and mine flexed in response. “Do you have to be half-naked in front of Simone and me? You’ll confuse her into believing all men should be polka-dotted.”
His face morphed from cheerfully amused into something that looked more like resignation. His chest heaved in and out, his normally upturned mouth pulling down at the corners. The change was swift and consuming, and I didn’t know how to feel about it, only that I was often the source of this expression.
“Sure. Take her. Wouldn’t want to assault your perfect eyes any more than I already have.”
He handed me the baby without looking at me and disappeared down the hall. Simone swatted at my face, then gave my hair a great tug with her wet, drool-covered fingers.
“Don’t judge me. I know it’s not nice to talk about people’s appearances, but this is Alex. He has no soul, okay?” I rubbed my nose against hers, making her giggle. “Or maybe it flees when he’s around me because he’s awfully nice to you, huh?”
