Winning Brynn (Seattle Strikers)

49. Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-five

Leo

"Where's my Say Say?" Alex thrusts a six-pack of beer into my arms, whipping his head around in search of my daughter as he storms through my apartment. "Don't tell me she's already in bed."

Rolling my eyes, I follow him down the hallway into the living room, where Brynn is feeding Salem her last bottle of the night.

"There she is." He squeals, beelining straight for the baby.

"'Sup, bro." Brynn tips her head at her brother, huffing a short sigh of exasperation when he steals Salem for himself. Then she holds out a hand in my direction, her eyes sparkling, as she wiggles her fingers in a silent demand for a beer.

Fucking princess.

It makes me want to take her over my lap and spank her ass raw. Or bend her over the kitchen island and fuck her until tears roll down her cheeks.

It's funny how her attitude was one of the reasons I disliked her so much at the beginning. I thought she was vapid, self-absorbed, and conceited—the type to block my car in the car park so she could grab a drink from Starbucks. I know now that the blasé, careless mask she wears is only to shield herself from the world. And the sass she shoots me now comes from a place of teasing, of mirth, even seduction.

Because, fuck me, is it a turn-on now.

Slipping a bottle into her hand, I give an exaggerated bow and tip my ball cap. "For you, m'lady."

She smirks, lifting the beer to her mouth and wrapping her lips around the rim. My gaze flies to Alex, who is thankfully distracted by trying to make Salem say his name, before zeroing in on the flick of her tongue against the glass.

When I discreetly adjust myself inside my sweatpants, her lips tip into a smug, knowing smile.

"Stop it," I mouth silently.

She responds by doing it again.

"You'll pay for that later."

"Promise?" She mouths back, and it's all I can do not to take her right here on the couch, with Alex here or not.

I don't understand how she can flirt with me so obviously in front of her brother when I'm sweating with the effort of keeping our new relationship concealed.

Relationship?

The word hits me out of nowhere. Like a battering ram, it tears through my mind, ricocheting across every ridge and dent in my brain. Brynn is the first woman I've slept with in over a year, and now I'm thinking of us as being in a relationship?

The thought should scare me.

And yet, more terrifyingly, it doesn't.

Maybe it's because I'm so used to having her in my space that integrating her into my life wouldn't feel like much of a change. Or maybe it's because I've already found myself visualizing a future with her in the moments before I fall asleep and dreaming about what life would look like five or ten years down the line.

I don't do it on purpose.

But it happens, nonetheless.

There's a knock at the door, and I use it as an excuse to tear myself away from Brynn's hypnotizing stare.

"I'll get it," she says softly, pushing off the sofa before I have a chance to stop her. When she returns with Roman in tow, she's got a bottle of kombucha clenched between her slender fingers.

Presenting it, she grins teasingly. "Roman bought the good stuff. Who wants a glass?"

Alex and I grimace. Even Roman looks turned off by it.

"Nobody?" she asks again then, with a shrug to Roman, says, "Sorry, Ro."

He grumbles, throwing himself down into the armchair across from Alex. The only spaces left for Brynn and me are at each end of the sofa. Highly inconvenient of him to do that to us—and most definitely deliberate.

I shoot daggers at him as I plop down onto the sofa cushions closest to his chair with Brynn taking the side closest to her brother. She's so calm, so nonchalant—as if tonight is a night the same as any other, as if I haven't been buried inside of her at every opportunity over the last week—whereas I am feverish with anxiety, sweating under my ball cap, from the effort of keeping our secret.

Roman knows it too.

And evidently, he's already trying to make this as difficult for me as possible.

"Oh, Leo, I forgot to ask something." She turns to me, her eyes glittering in the warm lamplight. "I have a friend visiting in a couple of weeks. Is it okay if she stays here?"

"Which friend?" Alex cuts in.

"Isabella."

"Oh, she’s nice." He perks up. "I like her."

Which says a lot, actually, considering he hates most people Brynn dares to socialize with.

"You’ve never even met her."

"Yeah, but she’s a good influence, unlike that other friend…what’s her name? Beth something?"

"Bethan,” Brynn corrects with a pointed look. “What about her? You think she’s a bad influence because she makes choices about her own life that you disagree with? You don’t seem to have a problem with the interesting choices your friends make, or are they bad influences too?”

“Hey!” Roman gapes, his fingers tapping against the wooden arms of his chair. “I am a sensible and upstanding member of the community.”

“You did a keg stand this summer and nearly drowned,” I interject.

He shoots me a death glare in response. Meanwhile, Alex’s gaze ping-pongs between us, his mouth open, words seemingly frozen on his tongue.

“And what about you?” Brynn continues, hellbent on putting her brother firmly in his place. My dick stirs as I watch her, the glower on her face, the angry red tint to her cheeks. She’s sexy as fuck when she’s mad. “You’ve slept with the entire female population of Seattle. Should I stop hanging out with you?”

Alex stutters something unintelligible.

“Well?” Brynn waits.

To his credit, Alex realizes his defeat in this match is inevitable and hangs his head in surrender. “No,” he sighs. “You win.”

“That’s my girl.”

All eyes swing to me. Ah, shit. I meant to say that in my head. Brynn’s lips twitch with both amusement and endearment, her sparkling eyes so soft as she looks at me, her pretty pink-tipped fingers ghosting across her chest.

“Sorry, bro.” I choke, my gaze not leaving hers for even a second. “I was rooting for your sister.”

Thankfully, Alex brushes off my little slip-up. He drops his head to the back of his chair with a sigh. "I'm gonna need a fucking beer if I have to put up with you guys all night."

"Thought you weren't drinking beer tonight." Roman smirks. "You know, since we're playing tomorrow."

"Shut the fuck up, dude."

"Language," Brynn snaps, but her tone is light and teasing.

Across the room, the tiny padding of three kitten paws echoes into the space. Gordon's face appears round the corner, and he heads straight for Brynn, butting his head against her arm that’s hanging off the couch. She scoops him up in one hand and sets him on her lap, where he watches the rest of us like a prince looking down on his underlings.

"So, how has everyone's week been?" Roman asks with a slap of his knees and a smirk smeared across his stupid face.

"You got amnesia or something?" Alex pulls a face. "We've been with you all week."

"Yeah, but Brynn hasn't."

If looks could kill, that fucker would be dead by now.

Brynn, however, is totally unfazed. Crossing her legs on the couch so her bare feet brush my thighs, she pulls a blanket over her lap and takes a swig of beer. "Yeah, it's been good. I took Leo and Say to Poppy Fields."

Alex shoots up in his seat, Salem bouncing in his arms at the movement, and gapes. "What?"

Roman looks between the two of them, his brow scrunched in confusion. "I didn't think poppies were in season right now."

Brynn rolls her eyes, absentmindedly stroking the purring mass of fluff on her lap. "It's a home for orphans."

"Oh." He nods as if he understands, but his expression stays the same. "Why would you take Leo there?"

"I visit sometimes and thought it might be nice for him to see it. They could do with a big donation, and I thought it might persuade Mr. Money Bags over there to loosen the purse strings a little."

"Ah." I purse my lips playfully. "Now it all makes sense."

She shoots me a secret smile, so brief and small that no one else is able to notice it. But I do. I notice everything about this woman.

All the while, Alex continues to frown at his sister. "You've never taken anyone there before."

She shrugs. "I knew Ivy would love Salem, and I wanted to make her happy."

He sighs, shaking his head as he looks down at the sleeping baby in his arms. "You're too attached to that kid."

"She just reminds me of myself when I was her age."

I note how careful she's being with her words, how conscious she is not to say too much in front of Roman. What gets me is that I know she isn't doing it for her own benefit, but her brother's. After how open she was with me the day I found out about her history, and then her actually taking me with her to visit, there's no part of me that thinks she would care if more people knew.

But Alex would.

So, she remains tight-lipped. Even if talking about her experience would help her, she resists the temptation. For him.

"What about when she's adopted some day? Forever this time, by parents who won't just give her back when it's harder than they thought it would be," he says.

"Then I'll be happy for her."

"It would destroy you, and you know it." He sighs, wriggling a hand free from beneath Salem to scratch the back of his neck. "You need to pull back from her. It's not good for either of you."

An angry flush creeps across Brynn's face, her lips pulling tight, her forehead creased in a scowl. "Why are you being such a dick?"

"I'm not being a dick, Brynn Bear. I'm just worried about you."

"Well, don't be." She stands, scooping Gordon into her arms and turning toward the hallway. "If it were up to you, I'd never make a connection with anyone. Not a man, or a friend, or a child. It's getting old real fast, Alex."

His eyes soften, but he doesn't back down. "I just don't want you to get hurt. If that makes me a dick, then whatever, I guess I'm a dick."

She shakes her head, trying to calm herself down. All I want to do is go to her, pull her into my arms, and soothe her myself, especially because I suspect her reaction is about more than just Ivy.

But I can't. Not if I want to play tomorrow without a black eye and a broken rib.

It's killing me, though. That I can't touch her, can't hold her, can't whisper words of reassurance into her hair. And for the first time in a long time, I don't want to be around my best friends right now. I want them out of my house so I can go and comfort the woman who has occupied all my waking thoughts for weeks now.

Roman watches me, his eyes surprisingly compassionate. I guess he can sense my turmoil. It must be radiating from me in waves if he can find it in himself to be empathetic.

"If you had it your way, Alex, I would be alone forever." With that, she stomps her way over to him, pausing only to drop a goodnight kiss on Salem's forehead and whisper, "Sweet dreams, baby girl," before disappearing down the hallway to her room.

The three of us watch her go, our chests deflating with simultaneous sighs.

On the outside, I school my expression to mirror Roman's. But on the inside, a war is raging inside of me. Frustration. Sadness. Anger.

He couldn't be more wrong about Ivy. I saw their connection for myself, the way Brynn melts when she sees her, and how Ivy relaxed the very moment Brynn had her in her arms.

Their relationship isn't bad for either of them. It's magic. And they certainly don't need distance. They need the opposite.

I wonder if Alex knows how much Brynn wishes she could adopt her. He definitely doesn't share the feelings I do that Brynn and Ivy belong together. And that maybe, hopefully, one day, it will happen for them.

"Maybe we should go," Roman says quietly.

Alex nods, his shoulders drooped, his gaze despondent. "Yeah. Maybe we should." Then to me, "Will you make sure she's okay?"

Something inside of me softens at his obvious dejection. So, I stand, taking my sleeping daughter from his arms, and give him a reassuring nod. “Yeah.” I clear my throat uncomfortably. "Will do."

When they've gone, I lay Salem down in her crib and head straight for Brynn's room.

She's already asleep. With her face turned toward me, two hands tucked beneath her cheek, she sleeps with shaky breaths and dry tears on her skin. Above her, Gordon curls around her head, his face lost inside her halo of hair.

I don't wake her. I simply wrap my body around hers and press my lips to her shoulder. She may not know that I’m here, but I’m here all the same.