Nico
NICO
I woke to a blindingly bright Sunday morning, and an empty space beside me. Strange how I’d already gotten used to having Everly sleep in my bed. Being a sprawler, I usually preferred to sleep alone. I’d offended plenty of women over the years when I’d ask them to leave after we’d slept together, or, if I was at their place, I’d have my trousers on before they’d caught their breath. I hated feeling penned in, confined, and the idea of curling up and falling asleep with someone I’d had sex with gave me the shudders.
Except with Everly.
I hadn’t thought about it until now, but the last three nights Everly had spent in my bed had felt like the most natural thing in the world. I loved listening to the change in her breathing as sleep pulled her under, the way she curled her knees up to her chest, how she liked to put one arm beneath the pillow and then rest her head on it. These little nuanced habits that I felt privileged to see.
We’d had a terrific day yesterday out on the boat, but when we’d returned home, Everly had gone very quiet. I’d gently probed, but she’d shrugged it off as feeling tired after all the sea air. I could smell a bullshit excuse a mile off, but I’d decided not to question her further. Every time I’d glanced in her direction last night, her arm around Rhett as he watched TV, I’d found her staring off into the distance, lost in her own world. It’d taken a lot of effort to quell the uneasiness taking root in my stomach. Something was wrong, but for whatever reason, Everly wasn’t ready to tell me yet.
I’d expected her to want to sleep in the room she’d recuperated in, but as we trudged upstairs to bed, she’d followed me into mine. The second the door had closed, she’d kissed me fiercely, hungrily, and we’d explored each other thoroughly before falling into a deep sleep.
I flung back the covers, quickly showered, and jogged downstairs. I entered the kitchen, spying Everly sitting outside, watching Rhett like a hawk as he dangled his feet in the pool.
“Morning,” I said brightly. “Gorgeous day.” I gripped her shoulders and rubbed, feeling the tension in her muscles.
She placed her hand over mine and tipped back her head, squinting up at me. “Morning.”
I bent down for a kiss, intending to ensure it met PG guidelines and failing miserably. She pulled away faster than I’d have liked, and I tried to tell myself it was only because she didn’t want to take her eyes off Rhett for too long, when in reality, there was something much more worrying going on here.
That uncomfortable feeling made a return, and I pressed my fingertips to my sternum.
Rhett scrambled to his feet and ran toward me. “!” He threw his arms around me and pressed his cheek to my abdomen. I leaned over and kissed the top of his head.
“Hey there, bud. You be careful by the water’s edge, yeah? Stay in the shallow end.”
“I will.”
He scampered off, and I grabbed a chair, pulling it up next to Everly’s. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said, refusing to look at me.
“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter.” I pressed a teasing tone into my voice when I’d much rather hit her with a barrage of questions until she told me what the fuck was wrong.
“I think Rhett and I should go home today.”
“What?” I barked, my eyes widening. Shit. I hadn’t seen that coming.
She twisted her head in my direction and shielded her eyes from the sun. “We can’t stay here forever. I’m feeling a hundred percent better than I was, and besides, I need to get back to work. My clients will find someone else if I don’t deliver a good service, and I can’t afford to lose them. Work is scarce.”
“You’re a website designer, yeah?”
She wrinkled her nose, her eyes narrowing. “How do you know that?”
I tapped my temple and smiled. “Can’t give away all my secrets.”
Rolling her eyes, she nodded. “Yep, I freelance designing websites for small businesses.”
“I have internet access. Why can’t you work here?”
I couldn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth, and by the surprise inching across her face, neither could Everly. My entire adult life, I’d lived on the edge when it came to racing but controlled everything else in my life, including how close I allowed the women I dated to get. Yet here I was, two months after meeting Everly, and only a few days of seeing each other, if what we were doing could even be described as that, and I’d almost asked her to move in with me, or at the very least to hang around for a good while longer.
She dropped her hand and bowed her head, then leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. Her eyes tracked Rhett splashing about at the edge of my pool.
“I think it’s for the best,” she said. “I don’t want Rhett to become too attached to you or to all this.” She swept her hand around, gesturing to my backyard. “Our lives are a long way from this, , and while I understand the temporary nature of our relationship, Rhett doesn’t. He’s already lost one key male figure in his life. If I allow him to get too comfortable here, and with you, he’ll be devastated when he loses another.”
“Temporary?” I pinched the bridge of my nose and pushed down a bite of irritation. “Who said anything about temporary? For God’s sake, Everly, you’re talking like our relationship is ending, when for me, it’s just beginning. This is supposed to be the fun part, yet the way you’re talking, anyone would think we’re breaking up.”
She ran her tongue over her lips, and all I wanted to do was kneel in front of her and kiss her, to feel that tongue stroking my own.
She plucked at her skirt and avoided my eyes. “But it will end at some time, won’t it? All I’m trying to do is protect my son from getting hurt.”
“Will it? Says who?” When she still wouldn’t look at me, I gently clasped her chin and turned her head. “Is that what you want? To call things off?”
“No!” she exclaimed.
“Then why are you pushing me away?” I bit out, disbelief giving my tone a clipped edge.
She sighed heavily. “I’ve told you. To protect Rhett.”
I rubbed the space between my eyebrows. “Do you think I’d simply walk out on Rhett, regardless of what happens between us?”
“You’d have to. It’d be awkward otherwise.”
I shook my head and huffed. “Rhett has a real future in racing, Everly. I want to nurture that, to sponsor him through the years ahead. As long as he has a passion for it and he’s willing to put in the hard yards, then I want to make his dreams come true.” I reached for her hand, folding her much smaller one inside my roughened palm. “You are a crazy lady, you know that? We’re just getting to know one another, and I, for one, am damn keen to learn a lot more. I’m not letting you go.”
“You want to sponsor Rhett’s racing career?” she asked, her eyes softening.
I might have known Everly would focus on what I said about Rhett rather than referencing the commitment I’d made about us and our relationship. She always put that kid ahead of everything else, and since being with her, for the first time in my life, I’d begun to understand the selflessness of a mother’s love. And damn if that didn’t make me hard for this woman.
“Yes.”
She burst into tears.
“Fuck,” I expelled, rising to my feet, then dropping to a crouch in front of her. “Don’t cry. Rhett will think I’ve upset you, and he’ll probably kick my arse. He’s tough for a little guy.”
She laughed through her tears, which brought on hiccups. I clutched her shoulders and eased her to a standing position, then wrapped my arms around her and held her close until she got her emotions under control.
“I suppose we could stay for another few days,” she said. “If you’re willing to have us, that is. But this doesn’t mean we’re moving in, and I need your help to make that very clear to Rhett. It’s too soon.”
Intense relief raced through my veins, relief so powerful that soon I’d have to take some time alone to figure out why I felt like I’d just been gifted everything I’d ever wished for. She said only a few days, but I could persuade her otherwise, given time.
I dropped a peck on the end of her nose. “We’ll tell him together. Later on. In the meantime, what do you think we should do today? I wondered if maybe you wanted to take a trip to Griffith Park.”
Everly stared at me as if I’d grown two heads, her lips parting. “That’s Rhett’s favorite place ever. Like, ever. He prefers it over Disneyland, not that we can go there very often on our budget. But seriously, he’ll go crazy. How did you know?”
I shrugged. “Lucky guess. Hey, Rhett,” I shouted over at him.
“Yeah?”
“How about a trip to Griffith Park?”
He scrambled out of the pool so fast he almost tripped over his own feet. He ran over, dripping wet. “That’s only, like, my favorite place ever.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, so your mum said.” I stood and swung him up into my arms, then threw him over my shoulder, fireman-style. At his peals of laughter, a swathe of happiness flooded my veins. “Let’s get breakfast and then go.”
Upon arrival at Griffith Park, Rhett insisted we head straight for the pony rides. Everly and I stood on the sidelines watching him bounce up and down in the saddle, his face glowing with excitement. God, that kid yanked on my heartstrings in a way I’d never have anticipated. There was something about witnessing his transformation from a troubled kid struggling to come to terms with his father’s unexplained abandonment to a happy, smiling, confident child with a bright future ahead of him. I liked to think I had a hand in the changes I’d seen over the past two months. The impact PFK Racing had on some of the needy children who applied to be a part of it made me prouder than I’d have ever thought possible. When Tate and Jared had first touted the idea to me at a really dark time in my life, I’d gone along for the ride, never imagining for a second that not only would our money and skill help to change the lives of others but, at the same time, I’d rediscover a zest for life I’d lost more than two years ago. And one of the main reasons for my renewed enthusiasm to enjoy all life had to offer was down to the little boy clutching the mane of a bay pony, and the phenomenal woman standing beside me.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Everly said, linking her arm through mine.
I smiled. “Just thinking how the solutions to insurmountable problems can come from the most unlikely of sources.”
“Ooh, deep,” she said, flashing me a broad grin. “Today’s supposed to be fun. Let’s leave the philosophical discussions for another time.”
I laughed and kissed the top of her head. “Done.”
Everly finally wrenched Rhett away from the ponies, using promises of ice cream as bribery. Our next stop, the zoo, soon grabbed his attention. If Tate could see me now, strolling through a packed zoo filled with screaming, overexcited kids, an arm slung around Everly’s shoulder, and holding Rhett’s hand, I knew exactly what he’d say: pussy-whipped. But he’d say it with a quirk to his lips and a nod of approval. I’d come so close to hitting rock bottom, yet now, I found myself shooting for the stars.
“So, Rhett,” Everly said, wiping a smudge of ketchup from the corner of his mouth as we sat at one of the shaded picnic tables outside Trails café finishing up our lunch. “What do you think about staying on at ’s place for a few more days? Maybe until Friday.”
An enormous smile broke across Rhett’s face, and he nodded vigorously. “Yes. Yes, please.”
“That’s settled, then,” she said with a warm smile in my direction. “Just until Friday, though.”
I smiled, too. Not if I can help it.