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Caden has been in my bedroom more than once when Logan arrives to pick up Elaine, respecting my wishes and staying inside instead of showing himself to Logan. Whatever Caden and I are doing, I want it just for us. The only person who knows about our arrangement is my best friend, Blanca. Everyone else just knows Caden as a friend of mine, even if they’re surprised at first, given who he is.
I simply don’t want Logan to meet Caden—especially because I know Logan is a fan of the Chicago Rebels, Caden’s team, and I’m petty and don’t like my daughter’s father all that much.
Caden arches a brow. “And I mean it every time,” he responds pointedly, making me smile in amusement as he takes a step toward me. “I gotta go. I’ll see you later?” I nod at that, and something inside of me tightens when Caden dips his head to press a quick kiss to my temple before making his way toward the door.
I can’t help but watch him as he goes, biting the inside of my lower lip as I try to ignore the fluttering in my stomach. It’s a dangerous feeling—as is the slight emptiness I feel when Caden leaves with a two finger salute, shutting the door behind him once he’s gone.
Unlike when Logan leaves, something deflates in me when Caden has to go, and I often find myself wondering why my daughter’s father couldn’t be someone like Caden.
And then I push that dangerous thought away, and try to get about my day without thinking too much about my daughter.
2
CADEN
Rubbing the towel through my hair, I step out into the training facility’s locker room where several of my teammates are getting dressed. The room smells overwhelmingly of different kinds of colognes as half naked men get dressed after an intense practice. The subtle sore in my muscles is gratifying as I approach my locker and pull out my clothes from my duffel, hearing the guys’ mid conversation when I approach.
“Andrea took over planning everything, so it’s going to be good,” Leo says with a huff of a laugh. As I pull on my underwear, towel dropped on the bench, Leo asks me, “You’re coming, right? To Lilah’s birthday?”
Leo’s daughter is turning three soon, and in that moment my thoughts almost instantly drift to Elaine. I think of the little girl who I have gotten to know over the last year—and her mother. Two girls with bright blue eyes and blonde hair that I spend most of my free time with if I’m not with the guys, because in the year that I have known her, Daria Riley has become one of my closest friends.
With her, I don’t feel like I’m some famous, professional athlete. Many people I meet treat me like a celebrity, and I’m surrounded by yes-men and those who would say anything to feed my ego. And as grateful as I am for my career and the privilege I have been given, those are not the kind of people I want to be around. Nothing about them seems real, but Daria—she’s never been afraid to tell me how it is and call me out on my shit whenever necessary. It’s refreshing being around her.
She’s a hell of a kisser, too. But that’s a fact I’ll keep to myself.
As I put on my shirt, I ask Leo, “Is it cool if I bring Daria? I think her daughter and Lilah would get along well.”
I’ve known Lilah since that little girl was born, and she reminds me a lot of Elaine. I may not have any kids of my own, but I do think the two of them could become friends.
Leo pauses and looks at me—as do JJ and Reed, all three of them watching me with surprise dancing in their eyes. I pointedly ignore their looks as I sit down on the bench and pull on my socks. JJ slides onto the bench next to me and when I glance at him, he’s grinning.
“You finally gonna introduce us, then?” he asks with a raise of his eyebrows.
I shoot him a mildly annoyed look. “Not if you’re going to be annoying about it,” I retort, bending to tie my shoelaces.
JJ snickers and Reed smirks quietly. Leo chuckles but nods as he buckles his belt. “Yeah, man, of course. Bring them.” Then he exchanges looks with the other two and adds, “Can’t lie, we’ve all been wanting to meet Daria for ages.”
I roll my eyes. “I know.”
Truthfully, the guys don’t even know the extent of how well I know Daria. All they know is that she lives in my building, and we became friends—they have no idea that I spend a couple nights a week in her bed. They have no idea how intimately well I know her body, and she knows mine. And that isn’t to say that I haven’t told the guys because I’m trying to keep her a secret. If anything, it’s to protect her and Elaine, and it was Daria’s choice to keep things quiet as well.
I know the only person she told is her best friend, and that she has told me multiple times that if I wanted to tell the guys, knowing they are my best friends, she wouldn’t be upset. But my need to keep Daria and Elaine protected has me keeping my mouth shut, for now at least. I know the guys wouldn’t tell anyone if I told them to keep the information to themselves, but I don’t want to risk anything right now.
Daria already has a lot on her plate, being a single mother—a freaking hero in my eyes, truthfully. I don’t want the true, full extent of our friendship to somehow get leaked and have her be thrown to the wolves in the shape and form of the media. The public can be ruthless, so why would I want to put my friend and her three-year-old daughter through that? Simply being my friend, without the sex, is gossip worthy enough for the media to eat it up. No need to paint a target on her back as the woman whose bed I’ve been warming.
Theonlywoman, for months now.
“Any allergies Elaine has I should know about?” Leo asks me as I shut my locker after pulling out my duffle.
“Peanuts,” I answer automatically.
“Knew that instantly, didn’t you?” Reed asks dryly, though the amusement glints in his dark eyes.
I roll my eyes, not bothering to confirm that the information is ingrained in my head since the day I met Elaine. Daria is extremely careful, justifiably, in what Elaine eats, making sure there are no peanuts in her food or desserts, or nothing is cooked in peanut oil if they go out to eat. I can’t ever forget a fact like one that has to do with what can potentially, God forbid, kill a child.
Leo slightly changes the course of direction and pins us each with a look. “Wednesday, five P.M. I better see all of your asses there.”
JJ snorts. “Sir, yes sir.”
