Chapter 6
SIX
JJ
Theo: Any idea why Gracie was asking me to bring her a penis when I come to visit?
I chuckle as Finn picks up his phone, knowing he’s about to read the same text.
Bray: Who is Gracie?
Finn: Hope’s daughter. And she wants peonies. Blame your cousin. He was in charge of her.
Scoffing, I point at the phone. “Dude, what the fuck?”
Finn clasps his phone to his chest, his head whipping from one side to the other, his eyes wide. “Watch your language. In this house, we use duck.”
I scowl. “That’s absurd.”
“You’ll see. Give it a couple of months, and you’ll be making friendship bracelets and singing ‘Duck, Duck, Goose.’”
I shake my head. What the fuck is he talking about? “Anyway,” I sigh, “thanks for making dinner. It was a little less awkward with you here.”
He roughs both hands through his curly brown hair. He wears it shaggy enough that it bounces as he moves, and the media in Boston goes nuts over it. “Awkward? How so? You mean because you and my sister do everything you can to not look at one another even though you can’t look away?”
I give him the middle finger salute. “I’m gonna go help with bath time.”
Grasping my shoulder, he squeezes. “I’m just kidding. This is going to be good for all of you. And who knows, maybe you’ll actually learn to get along with each other again.”
I let out a low huff of a breath. “You are really laying it on thick for a guy who refuses to tell the woman he’s obsessed with how he feels.”
With a step back, he turns and picks up a dish. Then he busies himself wiping down the counter, even though it’s spotless. “I’m just being a good friend. She doesn’t need anyone sniffing around her like that right now.”
“Ah, so you’re gonna play the role of her guard dog. Make sure no one else dates her rather than just telling her how you feel. Smart, smart.”
My usually jovial friend scowls.
I glare back.
The two of us are hopeless. Neither of us can admit how we feel about the women in our lives.
Though saying Adeline is a woman in my life is a dramatic overstatement. Once upon a time she was my best friend. Maybe more. Now? She’s my coach and my roommate. And if she had a choice, she’d be neither.
Our phones both buzz again.
Theo: Weird. Is there a specific color she wanted?
Finn: Pink. And don’t worry, I’ll get her some.
“Because you love her mother,” I singsong as I head for the stairs. “See you tomorrow. Lock up when you leave.”
Avery went upstairs a while ago with Hope and her girls.
Since Hope is sharing a room with her two youngest, she moved into the owner’s suite, and the girls begged all the way through dinner to use the jacuzzi tub in the connected bathroom.
And because Hope is the sweetest, gentlest soul, who never says no, she took them all up for baths.
Figuring I have a little while before I have to put Avery to bed, I head toward my own room. I showered in the locker room after practice like I always do, but I usually take another at home. Showering with a bunch of grown, sweaty men doesn’t leave me feeling clean.
I head into my room, yank a pair of sleep pants out of my dresser, then knock on the bathroom door. When I’m met with silence, I head inside, then turn the shower on. I’ve just grasped the collar of my shirt, ready to take it off, when Declan runs into the bathroom from my room. “I gotta poop.”
“Don’t you have a bathroom?” I ask.
The kid pushes down his pants and hops onto the toilet. “Get out, pervy old man. You can’t look at my penis.”
Eyes squeezed shut, I whip around and search blindly for the doorknob.
“Fuck.” I slam the door and drop my head into my hands. “Why the fuck did we move in here again?”
“Why the hell are you in my room?”
I groan. “Shit, I must have gone out the wrong door, sorry.” I straighten and drop my hands.
Instead of finding a pissed-off Adeline—that, I’m used to; she’s always pissed off at me—I discover a sight that shocks the absolute hell out of me.
While it’s possible that her face is screwed up in its normally irritated way, I wouldn’t know because Adeline Langfield is not wearing a lick of clothing.
And my mouth has gone dry as I stare at her miles of creamy skin.
She slaps a hand over what I imagine is an absolutely delicious pussy and hisses. “JJ.”
My focus jumps but still doesn’t reach her face. No, there’s no fucking way I’ll make it there once I catch the swell of her breasts.
And her nipples. They’re pink and pointed in my direction.
“Hello! Stop staring at me.”
Finally I force myself to look at her face. Just as my attention lands on her lips, a pillow comes hurtling at my head.
“Get out,” she shrieks.
Maybe the pillow knocked some sense into me because I finally stumble toward her door.
“Don’t use that door,” she hisses. “I’m naked.”
Shaking my head, I point to the bathroom. “I’m not going back in there.” A pissed off Adeline is scary, but I’m used to her. The angry four-year-old accusing me of staring at his private parts? Abso-fucking-lutely not.
With a huffed fine, she stomps across the room to her closet.
The entire time, I’m mesmerized by the way her ass sways.
It doesn’t jiggle because the woman is all fucking muscle.
She has a six pack, toned thighs, and calves that could put any hockey player, regardless of sex, to shame.
But it’s the fucking curve of her hips when they meet her ass and the dimples at the small of her back that make my mouth water.
I want to bend her over and eat her from behind. I want to taste every inch of her until the fight has left her and she’s a boneless mess. I want to kiss her lips and pull her into my arms and bury my head in the crook of her neck because for years that was my safe space.
Fuck.
Finally, I spin around and face the door, letting the shame and sadness wash over me.
“I’m dressed,” she grouses. “You can go now.”
Eyes closed, I drop my head to the door with a thud. “Adeline, I—”
“Daddy, can you come tuck me in?” Avery yells from down the hall.
As my shoulders fall, I shake my head. Now’s not the time, apparently.
That seems to be the theme with Adeline Langfield and me.
It’s never the time.
“I’m sorry.” I ease the door open and disappear down the hall without waiting to see if she accepts my apology. I know better than to believe she ever will.
Before entering the room Avery is sharing with her cousin and the twins, I take a deep breath and force a smile onto my face. My little girl is far too perceptive, and the last thing I want is for her to worry.
“No, he walked in on me,” Declan tells Winnie who is trying to get him to lie down on the bottom bunk. Beck is already resting on the top bunk, eyes closed and headphones on.
Pretty genius, actually. I might try it when I go to bed.
“Well, you were in his bathroom,” Winnie says, patting the bed again. “Now go to sleep.”
I turn away, not wanting to argue with a four-year-old, and head toward the girls’ bunk. “Did you have a good tubby?” I ask them.
Avery is sitting on the mattress of the bottom bunk, setting up her row of Squishmallows.
She’s got an absurd number of them because my mother brings her a new one every time she sees her.
Catherine Bouvier’s philosophy on life is “What’s money good for if I can’t use it to spoil my grandbabies?
” I suppose she’s right. Still, Avery can barely fit on the twin mattress without being on top of one.
“Hey, short stuff,” I say to Gracie, who’s in the top bunk doodling in a notebook. “You almost ready for bed?”
The little girl giggles. “That’s not my name, Uncky JJ.”
Technically we’re first cousins once removed or something like that, but she’s always called me Uncky and I kind of love it.
“Can we call Mom?” Avery asks, voice soft but demanding.
Sighing, I pull out my phone. She asks every night, but Tabitha hasn’t answered at all over the last two weeks.
This is where the comment about harassing her comes in.
Since she wouldn’t answer calls or texts from my phone, my attorney stepped in, hoping to talk some sense into her and explain that her four-year-old misses her, but I’m not hopeful that she’ll pick up.
And when she doesn’t, it’ll crush Avery.
Still, I settle beside my little girl and hit Tab’s number.
Avery stares at the screen as it rings five times. When it finally goes to voicemail, she hits the End button rather than leave a message. “Mimi next.”
This is a nightly thing. Avery insists on saying good night to all the people she loves. It’s sweet, of course, but I worry that it’s because I travel so much and because Tabitha has never been a present parent.
My mother answers on the first ring. “Hi, my little angel. How was your day?”
Avery settles against my chest, smiling up at me. “It was good. Daddy took me to the park, and then Finn made burgers and we played with the raccoons.”
“Sounds like a great day,” Mom says.
“Is that Avey?” Dad asks, his voice muffled. There’s a little rustling, and when he speaks again, he’s louder and more clear. “Hey, blondie, when are we going for ice cream?”
Avery giggles. “My schedule’s open. How ’bout yours?”
Dad hums, affection dripping from the simple sound. “For you? I’ve got all the time in the world. How about I pick you up tomorrow afternoon? We can drive around and sing and get ice cream.”
“Okay, Pops,” Avery says, yawning.
“All right, say good night to Pops and Mimi.”
“Night, Pops. Night, Mimi. I love you.” The second the call ends, she asks, “What about Uncle James?” Her eyes are getting heavy and she’s burrowed deeper into me, minutes from drifting off.
“We’ll call him and Aunt Chloe tomorrow night. We’ll do it a little earlier so you aren’t so tired.”
She snuggles one of her many stuffed animals, burying her face in its plushness. “Okay, Daddy.”
With gentle movements, I help her climb under the covers. Then I lean down and kiss her forehead. “I love you.”
“Wait.” Her eyes fly open. “What about Addie?”
I frown. “What about Addie?”
She nods toward the door. I follow her line of sight, and sure enough, Adeline’s walking past.
My little girl sits up. “Can I say good night to Addie?”
“Why don’t we just go to bed?”
Adeline is probably still pissed at me, and I don’t want her to inadvertently take her anger out on my little girl.
“Addie,” Avery yells. “Can you come say good night to me?”
We’re met with silence, but a heartbeat later, Adeline shuffles back toward the door. She’s in a pair of white shorts with light blue lines and a loose light blue T-shirt that matches. “Me?”
Avery nods.
My new boss pads into the room, pausing when she reaches the edge of the bed. I press another kiss to Avery’s head and then shift out of the way so she can say good night.
“Good night, Avey girl,” she says softly, her eyes full of affection as she looks at my daughter.
“Good night. I love you.” With a smile on her face, Avery closes her eyes.
Sighing, Adeline brushes her fingers through Avery’s silky blond hair. “Love you too, Avey girl.”
My chest squeezes tight, and as I turn away, my eyes heat.
“Make sure you kick some hockey boy butt tomorrow,” Avery mumbles.
Adeline’s responding laugh is light. “I’ll try.”
“But go easy on my dad.” Another yawn. “He’s not as tough as he looks.”
That comment has me turning back, my lips turned down.
Adeline peers at me, her big brown eyes seeing far more than they should.
Avery’s right. When it comes to Adeline, I’m not nearly as strong as I should be.