Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
Kaylee and I laugh and cheer as I point to where her dad just tackled the opposing team’s player. She claps while I hold her on my hip so she can see over the adults in the row in front of us.
My jaw practically hit the floor when I saw the seats Romel got for us. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised—I mean, he’s a player so I’m sure it’s no big deal for him to get second-row seats like this—but I’ve never been this close to the action. The last time my dad and I attended a football game together was when I was in high school. They were nosebleeds, but I still remember having the best time.
I’ve tried to make the experience similar for Kay. We bought snacks and hot dogs—which I cut up into much more manageable bites for her—and we’ve cheered every time her dad gets on the field. I make sure to point him out so she can see him, and she always gets the biggest smile on her face whenever she does.
I have to admit, watching Romel play is mesmerizing—and distracting. His football jersey does nothing to hide the way his muscles flex as he moves, the power he puts into his tackles, and his speed when he runs toward an opponent; it’s all doing things to me it absolutely should not be doing.
We watch as he makes a tackle, and almost instantly, I know something’s not right. The crowd around us grows quiet as we watch the guy he tackled get up, but Romel stays down. His right hand is gripping his left shoulder, and I hold my breath as three other players run toward him, one getting down on a knee to check in. The team medic runs out onto the field.
“God, I hope Watson’s not hurt,” someone says nearby.
Worry fills Kay’s face. “Is Daddy hurt?” she whispers, her words already wobbling with the threat of tears. I hug her tighter against me, wishing I could offer her the reassurance she needs, but I also won’t lie to her.
I point out to the field and the people surrounding her dad. “There’s a doctor checking him out right now. We just need to wait a few minutes and then we’ll know more, okay, KayBear?”
She wraps her arms around my neck and rests her head on my shoulder, her gaze still locked on the field. She doesn’t lift her head, or loosen her hold, until Romel stands. Then we both let out a heavy breath as he walks over to the sidelines. His gaze searches us out in the crowd, and his brows furrow in worry once he finds us.
I point to him. “Look, Kay, he’s okay.”
“He’s okay?” she sniffles.
He waves with his good arm—the one he was gripping on the field is still held lax at his side—and gives her a smile.
I brush away the few tears that escaped her eyes and hug her tighter. “He’s going to be okay, Kay.”
“Promise?” she asks, staring me down.
My chest tightens painfully at the fear I see in her eyes—how scared she is of losing him. She might not know her mother, but it’s clear she recognizes what she’s lost in a weird abstract way and doesn’t want to lose her dad. I rest my forehead on hers. “I promise that your daddy will always do whatever he can to come home to you.” It’s not a lie. In just the few weeks I’ve worked for him, I’ve seen that he will always do everything in his power to be there for Kaylee.
She must believe me because she relaxes against me.
Even though Romel gets back on the field and plays, it’s clear Kay is no longer having any fun. Even when I try to get her to dance with me to one of the songs they play during halftime, she barely cracks a smile.
“Do you want to go home?”
She shakes her head, and I let out a sigh. The rest of the game feels like it drags on forever. Romel plays great, but it’s clear his shoulder is still bothering him when he rubs at it whenever he’s on the sidelines. He’s trying to be subtle about it—probably to avoid the other team taking advantage and making it worse—but it still has me worried. I try to think if I’ve seen ice packs in the freezer at home.
By the time the clock runs down to the end of the game, my arms are exhausted from holding Kay, who clung to me like her life depended on it whenever I tried to put her down after her dad got injured. We go to the area of the stadium Romel told me to take her after the game where the players exit.
By the time Romel comes out with three other guys, Kay is half asleep in my arms. She wakes up as soon as she hears her dad’s voice.
“Daddy!” she shouts, squirming out of my arms and running straight for him.
He scoops her up in his good arm and gives her a kiss to the side of her head. The three other guys, who I now recognize as Gabe Romero, Dominic Smith, and Tyler Russell of the Fierce Four, all coo over her. Despite the stress of worrying about Kay’s emotional state for most of the game, a smile breaks out on my face to see these four giant guys turn to mush for this little girl.
“You okay, Daddy?” Kay asks, her tiny brows furrowed as she touches his shoulder gently.
He glances at me before he answers her. “I’m okay, baby girl. Just fell on it wrong, but it’ll be fine after a little ice.”
She doesn’t look convinced.
I’m about to speak up when Romel says, “You know what would really make me feel better?”
“What?” she asks.
“Ice cream,” he says with a big smile, and her face splits into a huge grin.
I let out a sigh of relief. Of course, he’d pick up on how worried she really is and be able to defuse it almost immediately.
Sometimes a girl just needs her dad.
He walks closer to me, still talking to Kay. “You still had a good time, though?”
She nods her head and her smile grows. “Miss Mere got us so much food,” she says, giggling.
“Oh, did she now?” Romel asks, his own smile growing as he directs it my way, and I have to remind myself to breathe because this man is handsome on a regular day, but when he smiles, he’s like “Sexiest Man Alive” levels of handsome.
“My dad used to always treat us to all the sports park goodies when he’d bring me to games, so I thought I’d carry on the tradition with Kaylee,” I explain.
He nods and then mouths a “thank you” before walking past me with Kaylee in his arms and letting her tell him about all the food we ate. I watch them for a second too long when I realize the other three guys are watching me .
Waving awkwardly, I dash off to follow Romel and Kay, but not before I hear one of the guys say, “ That’s his new nanny?” Then they all laugh and another voice says something, but by that time I’m too far away to hear the distinct words.
Romel drives us all home, and it’s no surprise to either of us when Kaylee is already passed out by the time we get there.
He carries her inside and I follow them in, but when Romel heads upstairs to put her in bed, I head to the kitchen and check the freezer. It takes me a minute to find what I’m looking for, but I shouldn’t be surprised to find ice packs in an athlete’s freezer. I doubt this is the first time he’s ever been injured, even if it’s only minor.
Next, I head to the cupboard where Romel keeps ibuprofen on the top shelf and grab a couple. I’m filling a tall glass of water when he comes into the kitchen and stops in his tracks when he sees the ice pack and medication on the counter.
He glances at me. “What’s this?”
“You’ve been favoring your right arm, which made me think your left is still bothering you from when you landed on it wrong. I figured a little ice and ibuprofen might help.”
“I was just coming in here to grab exactly that.” He says his words slowly like he doesn’t know how to handle someone else taking care of him.
I know it’s not my job, but it is my job to take care of his daughter, and I know how much she worries about him, so in a weird roundabout way, taking care of him feels like taking care of her. I place the full glass of water next to the pills and then step back.
“Well, I guess I’ll head to bed,” I say, gesturing with my thumb in the direction of the back doors.
He’s still staring at the ice pack and meds. “Sure, good night,” he says absentmindedly.
“Good night.” I don’t linger.
I’m halfway across the patio and beating myself up for making things awkward again when the back door opens and I spin around. Romel stands there, illuminated by the dim lawn lights he has set up along the edge of the walkway to the guesthouse.
“Thank you,” he says, his voice carrying across the yard.
“You’re welcome.”
“You didn’t have to do that and I appreciate it. It’s been a long time since someone tried to take care of me.”
“It was nothing, really.”
The air between us feels weighted. “It was something to me.”
My breath gets stuck in my lungs as we stare at each other.
“Sleep well, Meredith.”
I swallow thickly. “You too, Romel.”
He nods with his chin. “I’ll stay out here and make sure you get in safely.”
That brings a smile to my face. “In this neighborhood?” We’re in a gated community and he’s got security cameras all around the exterior of his house.
“I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
My smile falls as something else fills my chest. I don’t say anything else. I don’t think I can over the lump in my throat. Instead, I turn around and walk the rest of the way to the guesthouse. I don’t look back until I’m inside and have closed the door.
Then and only then do I turn around and find him still standing in his doorway, staring at me, his brow furrowed slightly. Except the longer I watch him, the more I realize he’s not staring at me. He’s staring at where I was, lost in thought. He shakes his head and then looks up at the dark sky, only the faintest glimmer of stars visible here in the city, before he finally closes the door and disappears from sight.
I spin around, leaning my back against the wall, and try to catch my suddenly shallow breath. I don’t know what that was back there, but a part of me hopes I’m not the only one feeling this off-kilter.