14. Bailey
CHAPTER 14
Bailey
C harlie is completely enraptured by Olivia, allowing Hannah to pull me aside to chat. The other girls weren’t able to come out tonight, so it’s just Liv, Hannah, Charlie, and me cheering on the team today.
“So, I heard from a little birdy that Caleb kissed you outside the changing room before the game,” she says with a shit-eating grin. “I guess you decided to take my advice and go for it.”
I blush, remembering all the events that have gotten Caleb and me to this specific spot. Hannah’s finger does a circular motion in front of my face. Her smile grows larger and her eyes light up.
“Okay, spill because women don’t blush like that for nothing.”
Olivia catches the motion and comes to sit beside us as Charlie decides she’s going to run an entire lap around the boards. I can see the entire thing, so I let her go ahead and run. It will help wear out some of her energy and hopefully make putting her to bed tonight easier.
“Okay, spill,” Hannah says, nudging me .
I sigh. I’ve only met Hannah recently, but I know she’s relentless and I’m not going to get away with saying nothing.
“So, I ended up working a flu vaccine day at his precinct, and he was our liaison. He caught one of the guys flirting with me, and honestly, I wasn’t not flirting back. But Caleb came up and was all alpha and told the guy to get back to work and basically, without actually saying it, said I was off limits. So when he took me to his locker to give me back the container his cookies came in and I saw a photo of him and Charlie in his locker…” I trail off. “I may have jumped him and kissed him.” I rush the last words out as quickly as possible.
Their mixed expressions of amusement and pride tell me they heard.
“He then told me he promised to teach Charlie how to skate. That night, I invited him over for dinner. Then we went on a date Friday, and it was good.” I blush, thinking about it. I’m still embarrassed about it, but it also turns me on knowing how much Caleb enjoyed receiving it.
Hannah’s eyes narrow. “More happened. You’re not telling us everything. We want everything.”
I cover my face with my hands as I say, “I may have accidentally sent him a voice message of me masturbating while thinking about him and calling his name.” My hands are pulled away from my face, and I’m left staring at their shocked expressions.
“I’m sorry, I’m going to need you to repeat that,” Olivia says. “Because I believe you just said you accidentally sent Caleb a voice message of you masturbating and calling his name.”
I nod, and both girls break out into uproarious laughter. I shove their shoulders.
“This isn’t funny. I was mortified. I found out I sent it because he texted me about it. Then, to top it off, the fucker showed up at my house Saturday morning with a cat-who-ate-the-canary look when I answere d the door. If it wasn’t for the fact that Charlie had seen him, I’m not sure I would have answered the door after I slammed it in his face. He used my daughter and breakfast to weasel himself into the house.”
The girls continue to laugh so hard they clutch their stomachs. After a few seconds, their laughter dies down and they wipe at the tears leaking from their eyes.
“So glad you two can have a laugh at my expense,” I huff.
“Girl, when Josh and I had just started to date, I woke up on the couch one day and he was sitting there reading on my Kindle. He had opened up one of my dark mafia romances. I was mortified. But it did turn out good in the end because he now has taken to finding inspiration from my books. He’s not intimidated by them, he uses them to his advantage.” She rubs her hand lovingly over her belly. “I wouldn’t be surprised if one of those inspiration nights made this little one.”
The guys walk out and begin to make their way towards the ice. Just as Caleb walks past, Hannah calls, “Hey Caleb, I hear you have a fondness for voice messages.”
I elbow her in the side, and Liv covers her mouth, trying to suppress her laugh.
He grins mischievously. “From Bails, hell yeah. Think they might be my favourite.” He winks at me before he steps onto the ice and does a lap.
A blush covers my entire body at this point.
I know I need to steer this conversation somewhere else. I pat my thighs and ask Liv about the baby until it’s time for puck drop.
Charlie cheers loudly for Caleb every time he’s on the ice. Near the end of the second period, he goes on what Liv says is called a breakaway towards the other team’s goal. He fakes a pass across the ice to the left, sending the goalie following the movement, and then he shoots into the top corner. I jump and cheer as he skates towards whe re we’re sitting and points at me, mouthing, for you .
I sit back down, and Liv bumps my shoulder.
“That means something,” she whispers.
I look at her, not sure how that could mean something. She must be able to read the question on my face because she says, “In high school, the guys would point to whoever they were trying to impress, and it usually meant nothing. Then, as the guys got older, they didn’t do it anymore, but Josh did it for me when we started dating. No one knew we were seeing each other. That was the first time I had seen him do it. I watched his college games sometimes, and he never did it during those.” She analyzes my expression as her eyes bounce around my face. She smiles softly. “It’s a good thing, babe. It’s definitely a good thing.”
I spend the third period absorbing her words. When the game horn buzzes, the score is 4-3, and Caleb’s team wins. The guys come off the ice, and I watch as Josh and Caleb make their way to us. When Caleb’s close, Charlie runs to him. He picks her up, and she wraps her legs around his middle.
“You won!” she calls as she jumps in his arms.
He smiles at her. “We did.”
Caleb puts her down, and she joins Liv and Josh while he makes his way to me. I stand and smile at him. He smiles back before bending and placing a kiss on my lips. Despite how PG the kiss is, the effect is the complete opposite. It leaves me wanting more. I want to wrap my arms around him, pull him in, and taste his mouth. But I don’t.
“I think I need a kiss before every game to make sure we win,” he says with a grin.
I bat my lashes up at him. “We’ll see.” I rise on my tiptoes and whisper in his ear, “You’ll have to be a good boy to make sure.”
He groans, leaning his forehead on my shoulder and gripping my hips, giving them a squeeze. “Woman, you’re killing me.”
When he lifts his head, I take a step back, hoping the distance will prevent me from doing something I shouldn’t.
“I, uh, should take Charlie home. I have to get dinner ready and get her ready for school tomorrow.”
His eyes search mine. Apparently finding what he’s looking for, he nods and says, “One more kiss for the road?”
I smile and wrap my arms around his neck, going up on my toes to kiss him. His arms wrap around me, and his hand finds my ass, squeezing it. This second kiss begins to cross the line of PG as he licks at my lips before giving them a nip. A throat clearing behind Caleb has us tearing apart.
“As much as I’m greatly enjoying the show,” Grayson says grinning at us, “But, I’m not sure how much longer Liv is going to be able to distract Charlie. I think Liv has started her ‘I gotta pee’ dance.”
I turn and look over my shoulder and see Liv bouncing from foot to foot, and yup, I remember doing that dance.
“Charlie, say your goodbyes. It’s time to head home.”
“But, Mommy, I want to spend more time with Aunty Liv,” she calls.
“I know, but you’ll see them soon. Let’s get you home and fed so we can go to bed.”
She gives me a pouty face. I know how much she wants to stay. Caleb squats down.
“Come here, Little Bear.”
She walks right into his arms and hugs him. He whispers something to her, and she nods against his shoulder. When they pull apart, Charlie walks up to Olivia and hugs her before meeting me and taking my hand. I mouth a silent Thank you to Caleb before calling and waving my goodbyes.
O ver the next few weeks, Caleb and I text daily. He checks in with me. He asks about Charlie and her school. He invites us to his games. And with Olivia also asking us to go, I can’t say no. I can’t stay away from this man for some reason. I thank my lucky stars that I don’t hear from Derek. I’m not going to actively seek him out about his visitations with Charlie because I’m not sure what I’m going to do when I’m forced to see him again. Caleb has been my rock, and that scares the crap out of me. The last time I leaned on a man this much, it didn’t turn out well.
Charlie loves seeing Liv and Caleb and going to all these games. She has this new support system of people who genuinely care about her, and it feels as though a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I’m just not sure how long this peaceful feeling in my life will last.