by Taryn Quinn
Bonds to be rebuilt.
“Laurie’s mother’s feelings have nothing to do with me. Now if you’ll excuse me…”
“No? She knew you would always be between her and her husband and she grew tired of second place.” Mr. Hamilton shifted back to face forward, adding over his shoulder, “Laurie not having her mother around is on you.”
Oliver approached the table as I stared at the back of his father’s head. Seth’s twin hadn’t returned to his own table, he’d come to mine.
“Hey Al, you know next time you don’t have to whisper—” Oliver stopped and frowned. “Are you all right? You’re shaking.”
“Fine. I’m fine.” I grabbed my purse and started to slide out of the booth, but he halted my movement with a hand on my arm. “Don’t touch me,” I snapped.
He immediately drew back. “Okay. I won’t touch you. Do you need a ride somewhere?”
“Oliver,” Mr. Hamilton barked, but his son didn’t pay him any mind.
“I’m fine. Really. I just need some air. I think I’m getting the flu or something.” I attempted to get out of the booth and this time, Oliver let me pass.
My mistake was glancing up into his dark eyes, so familiar and so foreign at the same time. They matched Seth’s in color and shape, though not in feeling. Not in humor or mischief.
No one was like Seth. And maybe that did make me a game-player, because I’d been lying all this time. To myself most of all.
Now I wasn’t the only one without a mother. Laurie was too. I wasn’t dumb enough to completely believe what Mr. Hamilton had said, but if any part of it was true, it was too much.
Swallowing hard, I sidestepped Oliver and hurried out of the diner.
12
Seth
My day was going to consist of chaperoning twenty four-year-olds—and a three-year-old or two—and instead of drinking beforehand as any other intelligent father would be doing, I was again trying to bathe my daughter. Without success.
“I thought boys were the ones who didn’t like to take baths,” I muttered as Laurie gripped the edge of the bathroom door with both hands so she couldn’t be nudged any farther into the bathroom.
“Ally,” she said again. At this point, it was starting to become a chant.
“She’ll be here in a little while. Wouldn’t you like to be all dressed in your pretty party dress for her? She’s so excited to see it on you.”
Since the only reason Laurie even had a new party dress to wear was because of Ally taking pity on us and coming shopping with us last weekend, I’d wanted Laurie to be ready when Ally showed up. But naturally, my willful child was not having that. God forbid I demonstrate my competency at parenting even once per month.
Hell, per year at this rate.
“Wait for her.” Laurie changed tacts and decided to push the door shut, effectively shoving me into the hallway. I slammed a hand on the wood, halting her efforts. It wasn’t much of a victory, considering she was four and all, but hey.
“If you want to take a bath by yourself, fine. I’ll wait out here. But you have to start now. Your friends will be coming over soon and we can’t wait for Ally. She might be late.”
Or not come at all.
I didn’t truly think she’d bail on Laurie’s party. There was no denying Ally had been weird lately. Our Skype session had definitely gone in a surprising direction, though she’d still helped to plan Laurie’s party.
Forget helped. She’d asked all the questions and made most of the phone calls to make it happen. That was my girl. She got things done.
Even if she didn’t have nearly as much to say to me anymore.
Ever since I’d presented her with that contract—that was now collecting dust in my desk drawer where it belonged—she’d been…off. That was probably understandable, since it involved a big life change. And seeing her best friend in a different light, yadda, yadda. Then there was the girl processing thing she’d mentioned.
And she’d been a virgin.
Fuck, I’d been the only man to ever have her. Still couldn’t believe it.
I shut my eyes. I was not getting an erection right now. Just was not gonna happen.
Moving on.
We’d been on a damn roller coaster since that day. Having sex definitely represented the highs. We’d been together another two times over the past week, which wasn’t exactly optimal for pregnancy-achievement, but I was rolling with her schedule. She claimed she was busy. That was the same reason she gave for never staying for more than a few minutes afterward. A couple of nights ago, I’d made the mistake of falling asleep after we’d christened the couch.
Unsurprisingly, I’d awakened alone.
Most of the time, she was oddly quiet and not as eager to toss back her usual zingers. The one place she was uninhibited was in bed. Or against the wall, since that seemed to be our favored spot. We hadn’t actually done it in a bed again since the first time. I also hadn’t been able to lift her legs in the air again. That was all right. I was just as happy keeping my cock inside her until she squirmed. I was all about improvising.
“You stay out.” A thud against the door indicated my little girl was leaning against it. Apparently, shoving me into the hall wasn’t enough of a signal. She wanted me to get the message loud and clear.
Ally—awesome.
Daddy—major suck.
“The door needs to stay cracked if you’re getting in the tub. And you are getting in the tub, Lauren Elizabeth.”
The cry on the other side of the door surprised me less than the windy sigh and tap of heels. “This again?”
I turned to see Ally marching down the hall toward me, once again in heels, her hair up in some complicated knot thing and her dress…
Fuck, her dress was like sheer gauze or something. A pale lilac wrap that hugged her curves and made me harder than the wood my daughter was currently pounding against.
“Front door was unlocked.”
“Mmm.” I couldn’t currently speak, and from Ally’s little smirk, she knew what her outfit was doing to me. This wearing dresses thing of hers was all new.
I fucking loved it.
“Down, boy,” she said, pressing her knuckles against my chest as she grabbed the bathroom doorknob with her other hand. “Laurie, honey, it’s Ally. Can I come in?”
Moving quickly, I snaked my hand into the back of her hair and yanked her mouth to mine. I had to. There wasn’t conscious thought involved. She drove me to a point no other woman had before.
Some kind of fruity lip glossed mixed with cherry cola hit my senses and I slipped my tongue inside, already desperate for more. She moaned, her hand curling in to fist my shirt.
And Laurie opened the door.
Gotta say one thing about my daughter catching me kissing Ally—it stopped her tears. Immediately. Instead, she started to giggle. She slapped her hands over her face as I drew back, not looking at Ally because I knew she’d be giving me that accusatory glare she’d patented in tenth grade.
Nice job, Hamilton. You fucked up again.
I cleared my throat. “Ally’s here.”
Laurie giggled more.
Ally swept in the bathroom and lifted Laurie onto her hip. That caused the wrap dress to shift and bunch in ways that had me shifting and bunching like a motherfucker.
I turned away. Christ. I’d need a cold shower myself if I didn’t find a distraction.
Watching Ally with my kid wasn’t going to work either. It might slow my roll sexually, but seeing them together churned me up in a different way altogether. Made me think impossible things. Ones like maybe we didn’t have to be friends who had a baby. Maybe we could be more. A couple. For real. With two children instead of one.
A fucking family.
“Were you giving your Dad a hard time again?” Ally swept Laurie’s sweaty blond hair back from her brow. “Today’s your big party. You don’t want the birthday fairy to hide all your presents.”
I winced. Laurie was half and half on
believing such things. If she decided you weren’t telling the truth, she was apt to call you a big fat liar.
Delicate, my child was not.
“Birthday fairy?” Laurie screwed up her mouth and looked at me. “Daddy?”
I pointed at myself. “Are you asking if I’m the birthday fairy? Or asking if I know the birthday fairy?”
“Both. Real?” she demanded.
Ally sent me a secret smile over Laurie’s head and I would’ve sworn this was her form of payback for having the softest, fullest lips I’d ever kissed.
“Ally is the birthday fairy, know why?” I took advantage of Laurie’s curiosity to once again step foot into the bathroom. “She’s the one who made your party as magical as it’s going to be today. But you won’t get to enjoy it if you’re not clean. Dirty girls don’t get to play with their friends.”
Laurie sighed and tugged on one of Ally’s brown curls that had come loose from her updo. In the light from the window, all the red highlights in her hair made it look as if it were streaked with fire.
Christ, I was barely a dude anymore. Anytime now, I’d whip out paper that curled at the edges and start composing sonnets about the wonder of a summer’s morn.
Or Ally’s pussy, which probably meant I wasn’t quite ready to give up my man card yet.
“You do my bath?” she asked.
Ally stroked Laurie’s hair. “You sure you don’t want Daddy to do it? Or he can stay with us. How about that?”
Laurie shook her head and stuck out her lower lip, her most common expression these days.
I sighed. “I have to get the grill started anyway. Whose idea was it for me to feed hamburgers and hot dogs and veggie burgers to twenty kids and their parents, anyway?”
“Yours. I mentioned catering. You said you could handle a little grilling. That it was your manly duty.” Ally hid her smile in Laurie’s blond hair.
“I said nothing about my manly duty. Just that I like grilling.”
“So go grill then. We’ve got it under control.” Ally shifted Laurie in her arms, tipping her upside down until she squealed. “Don’t we, shortcake?”
“Yes!”
“Okay then. I can tell when I’m not wanted.” I turned in the doorway. “No bubbles this time though. It has to be a quick bath. Your friends will be here soon, and you don’t want me entertaining them.”
“Why not? You’re so good at playing horse.”
I narrowed my eyes at Ally. “Yeah, and if I throw out my back, guess who’ll be rubbing it later?”
Ally took long enough to reply that I wondered if what I’d said was more sexually explicit than I’d intended. Especially since Laurie was glancing between us as if we were the most fascinating people ever.
She’d definitely never seen us kiss before. A hug here or there, a playful shove, sure. But anything resembling making out, absolutely not.
“That’s what you think,” Ally finally responded. “I’d suggest you invest in some Icy Hot, pal.”
“I’m going to start the grill,” I muttered, deciding my best place was far away from where I could somehow scar my impressionable daughter. I might be tempted to kiss Ally’s smart mouth again and then Laurie might end up in psychotherapy years later because I couldn’t control my hormones.
When they finally came downstairs, the first wave of dogs and patties were on the grill and I’d already fielded two phone calls from crazed parents who were having issues of their own rounding up their kids. One of Laurie’s preschool classmates and her little brother were both attending the party, and their frantic mom had called to commiserate about trying to get them ready. I’d figured she was just explaining why they’d be late until she asked me out after making a DILF joke.
I wasn’t an idiot. I knew that among many women of childbearing age, I was considered something of a prize. An employed man who was willingly parenting his child singlehandedly—though not necessarily with any skill—was basically a unicorn, except my horn was in my pants. And many of them wanted to ride it.
Usually, I managed to divert conversations away from the topic of dates, or finding a good woman to settle down with. I must’ve been off my game today because this one had broadsided me and I’d ended up fumbling through an excuse and basically hanging up on her.
I didn’t have an answer why I couldn’t go out with her. Technically, Ally and I had no rules. No arrangement that precluded either of us from seeing anyone else. We were friends who were fucking and trying to have a baby. There was no box to tick on Facebook for that one. Even “it’s complicated” didn’t begin to touch the reality of our existence.
But I didn’t want to date anyone else. And I sure as fuck didn’t want Ally to. Ever.
“There’s Daddy. Wait til he sees you in your pretty, sparkly dress.” Ally’s voice carried out to me.
When she stepped out on the deck, carting my daughter in her arms, the inane thoughts in my head spewed out. “What does your Facebook status say?” I demanded, as if it was the most important question in the world.
Ally shifted Laurie in her arms. “What? Look at her dress,” she commanded.
Laurie’s grin tilted precariously. And her big blue eyes filled with tears.
Ah, fuck.
“Look at you in your beautiful dress,” I said, setting down my spatula to step toward them. I reached for Laurie but she pushed out a hand, nudging me back. With her other hand, she clung to Ally’s neck and buried her face in her chest.
The look Ally gave me was mutinous.
I stroked a hand over Laurie’s curling wet hair. She burrowed more into Ally. “You look like a princess, honey. All these purple sparkles.”
She didn’t reply. Ally just glared.
“What do you say you open one of your presents before your friends get here?” I wasn’t above bribery. Besides, I was keeping a pretty big secret about the party. But hell, it was supposed to rain, and how else could we entertain twenty kids indoors?
Laurie lifted her head and knuckled one of her eyes.
“Let’s go downstairs to the family room.” I checked the food on the grill, making sure I could leave it for a moment or two.
“You want to man the grill then while I take her downstairs?”
Ally stuck out her chin and her hand. “I can do it.”
“Fine. We’ll be right back.” I exchanged the spatula for my daughter and had to swallow a chuckle as Ally poked at the simmering meat. Even after all these years of working at the diner, she still wasn’t very adept at making food.
Laurie poked me in the chest. “Down.”
Sure, Ally could carry her all over, but me? Not gonna happen.
Swallowing a sigh, I set her down and she immediately took off down the hall, reaching up for the doorknob that led into the basement. She couldn’t quite turn it herself so I helped, and she rushed down the stairs. And stopped at the bottom, still gripping the railing.
Saying absolutely nothing.
I came down the steps behind her and taking advantage of her surprise, swooped her up again and set her on my hip. “It’s a giant sandbox.” I walked around the edges of the mostly contained mounds of sand I’d had trucked in on a whim yesterday while Laurie was at Pre-K. I’d had to pay outrageously for it, as well as call in a few favors, but I now was the proud owner of a shit-ton of sand that would be hauled out tomorrow at great personal expense. Not to mention all the furniture in this room had been shoved in the spare room and would need to be brought back out again.
Too bad Laurie was frowning at the giant, cool-as-fuck sandbox as if she didn’t get what it was.
“See, look.” I put her down outside the sand and bent to grab one of the oversized beach balls I’d added to the sand. I tossed it across the sand and it got stuck, so I leaned forward to grab it—
And my mischievous child saw fit to push me into the sand, letting out a huge squeal of laughter.
“Think that’s funny, huh? You rascal.” I darted forward on my knees and snatched her
up, lifting her sideways and holding her over a big pile of sand. “Maybe I should push you in the sand too.”
“No, no, Daddy, no!”
The door upstairs opened and closed and footsteps sounded on the stairs. I turned, still holding my squirming kid, to see both Ally and the mother who’d asked me out on the phone, Tina, gaping at me.
“You filled your entire family room with sand?” Incredulously, Ally hurried down the rest of the stairs and hiked up her dress to pick her way around the sandbox. “You do realize how impractical that is? How you’re never going to actually manage to get every grain out, and it’s going to embed in the floorboards.”
“There’s safety rubber underneath.” I glanced past her at Tina. “Hi there. Is anyone manning my grill by any chance?”
“Yes, Mr. Robinson from down the street took over. Tina was worried about you. Said you guys were in the midst of setting up a date when the phone disconnected.”
Oh fuck.
“Al—”
“Then we heard squealing and hurried down here.” Ally bent gingerly to push one of the inflatable beach balls across the sand. “I can’t believe you did this.”
First time of many I had a feeling I’d be hearing that today.
I righted Laurie in my arms and gave her a quick hug. “Your friends are here. Why don’t you go back upstairs with Mrs. Johnson while I talk to Ally?”
“Okay.” As soon as I set Laurie back on her feet, she scampered off, scattering sand. Then she spun back around and charged up to me again, gripping me around the legs. “Thank you, Daddy.”
It came out sounding a little like Tank Eww, Dabby but close enough.
Though Tina held out a hand for Laurie, she was staring fixedly at me. “I hope we can continue that conversation later, Seth.”
“Actually, it’s probably good if we don’t.” I smiled at her to soften the blow. “I’m actually committed to someone right now. But thank you for your interest.”
It was a toss-up which one of the women gave me a more scathing glance.
