“You okay?”I take Ava in when I step through the doorway into her small entryway.
I will always think Ava is beautiful. She could dress in a Mumu and I’d think she was the sexiest woman on the planet. I’m just saying she seems . . . ruffled, and we have a reservation in twenty minutes.
“Didn’t you get my text?” She tugs on my hand until I’m all the way inside, then closes the door at my back.
I pull out my phone and notice a message. “Sorry, my phone locks when I’m driving.”
She smiles and kisses the side of my neck. “Safe of you, Mr. Huntington.”
“I’m basically a hero.”
She slips her fingers through mine and pulls me toward the front of her house. “Um, we’re going to need to order in.”
“Are you sick?” She doesn’t need to answer. When I round the corner, a small body slams into me, and two little arms try to wrap around my legs.
“Hi. Wanna play wif us?” Charlie tilts his head back and beams at me.
Ava holds out her arms, like she’s presenting a prize. “Emergency babysitting duty. My dad had an issue at the store, so my mom is manning the registers for him while he works it out. Lucky me.” She tickles her nephew until he giggles, then gives me a cautious look. “I know you don’t care for abrupt changes in plans, so we can reschedule . . . or you could stay.”
I want to stay anywhere Ava is, but I keep my expression neutral. Once Charlie bolts around the sofa and settles in front of a game ofChutes and Ladders, I lean into her. “I don’t know if Drake would want me around his kid.”
“He hasn’t said that. Not once.” She glares at me. “You’re not a disease, Ryder.”
Funny choice of words. Her brother used the exact word once, but in a very different way.
“Wanna play?” Charlie’s small voice pipes up. He holds a character piece from the game, a hopeful gleam in his eyes.
I face Ava and lift one shoulder. “Pizza?”
The smile on her face gives me too much credit. She looks at me like I brought about world peace. I step past her and grunt like every bone in my body aches—it makes Charlie laugh, so I’d do it again—as I sit next to the kid.
I’m not a kid person. True, I’m an unnamed guardian of baby Ever, but it’s not like I’m swaddling her or holding her a lot. It’s not that I don’t like kids, they’re some of my favorite fans, it’s more that I’ve not had much one-on-one experience with them.
But Charlie pats the space beside him and says with all the innocence in the world, “Bet it’ll make you smile if you play.”
Ava tosses her head back and laughs. “I think he’s saying you need to turn your frown upside down.”
I shoot her a glare. “I’ll play. But I’ve got to warn you, kid, I’m amazing at this game.”
“You are?” I could say anything and Charlie would look at me with wonder and awe. “So you make the good desi-zons?”
I’m trying to figure out the word he’s attempting when Ava rests a hand on my shoulder. “Ryder makes excellent decisions.”
She gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
I look at Charlie. “I’ve got to admit, it’s more fun going down the slides.”
He giggles and squishes himself between me and Ava once she joins the game. Within fifteen minutes our strategic board game turns into a battle for who can run their game piece down the big chute the most and make the best noises while they do it.
When the pizza arrives, Charlie follows me into the kitchen. Ava stays behind to clean up the gameboard and pillow fort the kid started to build. He’s a tiny tornado.
Charlie pulls himself onto one of Ava’s high-back chairs while I rummage through the cabinets to find plates.
“Was you always good at baseball?”
“Um, no.” I put a plate in front of him. “I had to practice. A lot.”
“My Pops likes baseball.” He kicks his legs and scratches his head. “So does my daddy. But he’s reeeeaaaally good at dwiving his truck too.”
