Chapter 11
Layla
KIERAN
please tell me my child is still alive
LAYLA
*photo attachment*
Emmy is very much alive and well
good luck tonight!
KIERAN
don’t need luck when you’re as good as me ;)
LAYLA
andddd there he is, the cockiest man to ever live
KIERAN
never left baby
Cindy’s gasp is so loud that Bella rushes back into the living room, a brownie hanging out of her mouth. Cindy’s hand flies to her chest as if I physically wounded her. “You did not just say that.”
Wincing, I pop a grape in my mouth. “Sorry.”
“What the hell is going on?”
Cindy turns to Bella as she sits down between us. “Your best friend right there”—she points an accusatory finger at me—“just said she’s never seen Lord of the Rings.”
Bella peers at her out of the corner of her eye as she slowly eats the remaining chunk of her brownie.
Cindy leaps up. “Oh fuck no! You too?” As quickly as she swore, she slaps a hand over her mouth, looking over at Emmy lying on her back on the floor, head popped up on Bambi’s belly as she watches TV. “Sorry, Em.”
I cough to hide my laugh, but it quickly dies as she turns those accusatory eyes on me again. “We’re watching it, right now.”
Bella snorts. “The guys’ game starts in five minutes.”
She flaps her hand, waving Bella off. “Lord of the Rings is more important.”
“Asher will be pissed.”
“I’ve watched him play since he was seven. Trust me, I don’t think he’d mind if I skipped a game.”
“Seven?” I ask, not being able to hide the awe in my voice.
“They’ve known each other since they were in diapers,” Bella explains.
“No way! That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“It’s cute until you remember that he’s seen everything. Every awkward hormonal teenager phase, braces, acne, boy band obsessions…” She gives me a look. “And he has the photo evidence to back it up.”
I slice some brie and put it on a cracker. “I highly doubt your bad phases were even bad. You’re drop dead gorgeous.”
“You’ll have to trust me on this one. Puberty was nice to me but before that…” She shivers. “Ugh, I tried to burn the photos once and my mom lectured me for two hours before hiding them in the house somewhere. I still haven’t been able to find them.”
“I’d kill to have dirt on Grayson. That man is practically a saint.” Bella’s quiet for a moment before springing upright, whipping out her phone. “I’m going to text Allie. She’ll bring his baby photos if I ask.”
“She’s coming tomorrow, right?”
Nodding, Bella types away furiously. “Yep, but knowing Allie they’ve probably already arrived. They’re so excited.”
Cindy drops her voice, her gaze darting to Emmy, checking to make sure she’s still riveted by the cartoons on the TV. “My heart broke when you told me.”
Bella winces. “Sorry I asked you to keep it from Asher.”
“Don’t worry, everyone has to keep secrets from time to time.” Something clouds her eyes before it’s gone as quickly as it arrived and she’s smiling again. “Do you know if Kieran will tell them soon, though? This is a pretty big thing to hide.”
I nod. “He said he was going to tell them before the game.”
Cindy whistles as she leans forward, plucking food from the charcuterie board. “The group chat is going to explode.”
“Group chat?”
Bella huffs out a laugh. “The team’s group chat. My god, Lil, you gotta see it. It’s the funniest thing you’ll ever read.”
“You read the group chat?”
“All the wives and girlfriends do.” Cindy smirks. “Pure entertainment.”
“Irving is the funniest,” Bella states.
Cindy shakes her head. “No way, Jack Lewis is.” Pointing to me, Cindy goes on. “Kieran will show you the chat if you ask him. He’d do anything you asked.”
I frown. “No, he wouldn’t.”
Bella pats my knee. “Oh, Lil. Yes, yes he would.”
“He never shut up about you while you were gone.” Cindy places a kernel of popcorn in her mouth. “Literally not one day went by where Kieran wasn’t asking about you.”
Sighing, I turn toward the TV just as the players start skating onto the ice. “That’s because he’s never had a woman say no to him before. He’s like a dog with a bone.”
“A relentless dog,” Bella murmurs before taking a sip of her drink. “I have to admit, I miss Totti’s.”
Cindy clicks her fingers. “We need to go, next week.” She turns to me. “And I won’t take no for an answer. If Bella hasn’t told you, I’m pushy.”
“Next week it is,” I say. I just don’t admit that I’ll be drinking mocktails.
No one directly said that alcohol would create an adverse reaction to my medication, but being a trial drug, I suspect it’s because they don’t even know yet.
I’m not ready to take that leap of faith yet, and why would I?
I’d probably spend the entire night paranoid about triggering a flare-up.
As much as I want to let loose, I can have fun without alcohol.
Cindy’s lips part right as Emmy suddenly springs up off the floor. With the golden retriever teddy bear clutched in her arms, Emmy sprints for the TV, coming to a skidding stop before it.
All three of us girls pop off the couch, beyond confused on what the hell made her—
“Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” Emmy shrieks, jumping up and down and clapping her hands together.
My jaw drops.
“Surely not,” Bella whispers.
I’m about to say—hell, I have no clue—but the camera pans to Kieran again and Emmy goes wild.
“Daddy! My daddy!”
I’m not sure what I’m stunned at more. At hearing Emmy’s voice again, the soft innocent lilt, or that the words she’s so excited to keep repeating are because of Kieran.
Either way, my heart is pounding a thousand miles an hour while simultaneously feeling like it’s melting.
“I wonder if her mom put the games on for her,” Bella whispers.
“She must have. She knows which one he is,” I say. “But Emmy hasn’t called Kieran Daddy, though.”
“It could be the jersey number,” Cindy suggests, her tone just as dumbfounded.
Bella’s eyes widen. “It’s because Kieran’s helmet is on. She can’t see his face.”
Quickly pulling out my phone, I hit record just as Kieran skates past on the TV screen, making Emmy squeal again. Bambi is beside her, bouncing on her paws. She can’t hear Emmy’s excitement, but her infectious joy is obviously spreading.
I’m not going to send it to him; something tells me he should be alone when he watches this. I do, however, fire off a text.
LAYLA
bring your jersey and helmet home with you
please
Cindy reads the text over my shoulder before she lets out a hoot of laughter. “He probably thinks he’s getting lucky.”
“As if.” I wave her off. “He would never actually sleep with me. It’s just a game to him.”
Pocketing my phone, I watch the TV before realizing it’s grown silent. The girls are looking at me like I’m… I don’t know how they’re looking at me, actually.
Frowning, I ask slowly, “What?”
“You genuinely believe that?” Cindy whispers.
“Believe what?”
Bella seems to shake herself out of a thought. “Layla…my dear sweet Layla. Honey, that man is smitten with you and has been since he met you at the charity event.”
I can’t help but scoff. That’s absurd.
My cheeks begin to flush, and as I feel that telltale heat climbing up my neck and along my cheeks, I turn my attention to where it’s safe—Emmy. If I thought the cartoon’s had her enthralled its nothing compared to now. Her eyes are glued to the TV, trying to catch a glimpse of Kieran.
Is this what it’s been for her? Waiting with baited breath for a small glimpse of her dad? What did her mom tell her? That he didn’t want her? How terribly heartbreaking that the only chance she got to see her dad was through a screen.
“I’m telling the truth,” Bella pushes.
“Kieran likes the chase and I’m the only one who has never given in to him. That’s it. I don’t doubt that the second I gave in to him, he’d lose any and all interest.”
Cindy folds her arms over her chest. “And how would you know that?”
I shrug as if it’s the easiest answer in the world. “Because it’s who he is. He’s only ever been with women for one night. That’s his rule.” I can’t help but wince. “I adore him and think he’s a kind man, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a fuckboy.”
“You can be a fuckboy and be infatuated with someone.”
I click my tongue at Bella. “Infatuated. Right.”
Bella and Cindy share a look, one which I honestly don’t want to decipher.
I don’t need anyone putting ideas in my head that my boss actually likes me beyond our teasing nature.
Kieran and I flirt, yes, but that’s it. He sees me as the woman who turned him down, and all he wants to do is rectify that and push my buttons.
He would never want to take it further than that.
I think that’s why I love teasing him so much. If I keep denying him, he’ll continue to flirt with me…and I don’t want to admit that to the girls. Yes, I know it’s a little sad and pathetic.
Although let’s be honest, I don’t think that many women would blame me. Because when Kieran gives you his full attention, it’s like you’re the only woman in the world.
Ididn’t have the heart to move Emmy up to her bed when the girls were here. Her hand was clinging to Bambi’s paw so hard we had to switch it out with the teddy’s paw when Bella went home thirty minutes ago.
Sighing, I gently sit beside Emmy still sleeping on the couch, the TV light brightening the room every now and then. A smile stretches across my face. Tonight was so much fun and such a success for so many reasons.
Bella was right. Cindy is so sweet and bubbly she pulled me right out of my shell, and I forgot I was even feeling nervous at all. The last time I clicked with someone that well was when Bella and I met in middle school.
And god, did it feel good to eat junk food and sit on a couch watching men beat each other up while giggling with my girlfriends. It healed a part of my soul, to be sitting here now with a dopey smile on my face instead of a wince as I hobble into bed due to exhaustion.
But not only that—Emmy.
Sweet little Emmy spoke.