Chapter 6 Evan
The air is thick with the scent of charcoal and meat, spicy onions and barbecue sauce mixed in there somewhere, too. The outside stadium field is bustling with members of the Missarali Storks, including their friends and families.
Overplayed pop music blasts through the speakers as Gracie helps man the sizzling barbecue, and rows of tables cluttered with plates, half-empty cups, and sweet treats line the grass.
Some of the team hopefuls casually throw a ball around to my left, trying to impress Coach Darrell and Peter, our manager, and let them know they’re taking this seriously.
However, this is a team barbecue we do every year during training camp, and there’s really no need to try to use it as a means to show off your skills.
Coach Darrell doesn’t just want good players. He wants a cohesive team —people who can work together. The team needs to gel, and if they don’t show they can socialise as well as play football, then the likelihood of them getting picked for the roster is slim.
There aren’t many kids here—only a few—but they’re a little older than Leo and aren’t that interested in playing with him, so he clings to me like melted candy to a wrapper, mouth smeared with red sauce.
While I’m still thinking about what I came home to yesterday, I’m trying not to.
Leo usually can’t wait for me to return when he’s with a nanny, and although he was excited to see me, waving me over with batter-covered hands to show me the obscene amount of chocolate chips he’d poured into the mixture, he didn’t seem upset by my absence.
He’d been enjoying himself, which is something that hasn’t happened with a nanny in a long while. Or maybe ever.
But then Flo had to go and get herself all wet, and like some horned-up teenage boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
Fuck, I shouldn’t have felt that tempted by the sight of her hard nipples under her wet top, but I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s almost like my brain took a mental snapshot, and it’s bouncing off the walls of my skull.
She needs to do something to mess this up so I have an excuse not to hire her. And quick.
“Dude, keep scowling like that and you’re gonna look older than you already do,” my teammate, Bennett Quinn, quips with a nudge to the shoulder.
His eyes drop down to my son. “I’m disappointed in you, Leo.
There’s still chocolate cake on the dessert table, which means you haven’t done your job properly.
Quick, go!” His finger points at the plate stacked high with slices of the gooey desserts, and Leo licks his lips and runs toward them with his tiny legs, determined to impress Bennett.
“Please don’t encourage my son to gorge on sweet treats until he’s sick.
” I shake my head, but I can’t help but smile—slightly—because there’s something about this golden retriever of a man that makes me laugh.
He’s annoying as fuck, but the team wouldn’t be the same without him, and I consider him a good friend.
Samuel, our teammate, joins us, clapping me on the back. His eyes scan the crowd as he releases a heavily dramatic sigh. “Can you believe it? This many people and not one person for me to hit on. What even is the point in this thing?”
I slowly turn to him. I’m aware Sam’s kidding, but there’s some truth to his words.
If there’s one thing Sam loves more than football, it’s flirting with women.
And if there’s one thing he loves more than flirting with women, it’s getting said women into his bed, respectfully, and on the down low, because the last thing we need is the media calling us pigs again.
“Maybe you should think with your brain instead of your dick for once,” I tell him, and he volleys back with, “Maybe you should use your dick for once.”
It’s all friendly banter. Our team does this, but I can’t help but narrow my eyes at him.
Sure, I haven’t slept with a woman in a while, but where is a guy like me supposed to find the time? Looking after my son is a full-time job; I’m not going to drop him off at someone else’s house for a few hours while I go out and bang someone. That just feels wrong.
Women are simply not on my mind. Most of them just say yes. Yes to everything. Yes to wherever I want to eat. Yes to whatever I say. They like what I like. Want what I want. It just doesn't feel real. Authentic. It feels… fake.
And I’ve accepted that that’s my future now—to be schmoozed by women who will do anything I want to make me like them.
“Oh, shit. There we go, boys. Damn, I think I just found my future wife.” Sam has heart eyes, staring across the field towards the stadium's back door.
“You say that about every woman you see, Samuel,” Bennett chuckles.
“Don’t full name me. The only people who call me that are Nathan and Mae… and my mother.” He rolls his eyes. “But nah, man, this is different. She is just… whoa.”
I follow Sam’s line of sight, blinking a few times to see Mae and Flo walking towards the field, and I know for a fact Sam isn’t talking about our ex-captain’s girlfriend.
My eyes gravitate towards Flo, skating up and down the entire length of her body. Her long as fuck legs. The way the sunlight hits her glowing, tanned skin and bounces off her clavicle. Her pouty lips that chew on the straw of the iced drink her hand is wrapped around.
I’d sure like her hand to be wrapped around something else, though.
I mentally berate myself for letting my thoughts go there, and I tune back in as Sam says, “I need to go and talk to her. Then, I’ll propose.”
My chest muscles ripple with dislike at Sam’s comment, because Flo isn’t just another woman for him to flirt and have a fling with. She’s my kid’s nanny.
She’s wearing a flowy summer dress—baby blue that matches her eyes, with white flower patterns splattered on it. The fabric hugs her, accentuating the curve of her waist, and the soft-looking cotton material moves along with her steps, brushing against her slightly red thighs.
She’s not even trying, and that’s the worst part, because she obviously looks effortlessly beautiful. It’s something that comes naturally to her. All the more reason not to want to be around the woman because I pride myself on the self-control I possess, and she seems to be poking holes in it.
After feeling like a creep for staring at her for a little too long, I rip my gaze away to see Sam still ogling her like she’s some kind of prized possession he’s about to steal.
“Who is that?”
“My nanny.”
Both Bennett’s and Sam’s heads whip to me. “Flo’s the nanny that coach was telling us about?” Bennett is a regular attendee of Nathan and Mae’s game nights, so he’s probably met her before.
“Well, Leo’s nanny.”
“Yeah, we got that, West.” He cackles. “So you're actually going to stick with this one, then?”
I’m about to give my default answer, which is probably not, but my eyes are drawn to my son rushing up to Flo, hands full of mushed-up chocolate cake. He offers her the blob, and she flashes her perfect teeth down at him, taking the glob of chocolate from his hands with a thankful nod of her head.
I’m sure most people would recoil from the chocolate mess, but there isn’t even a flash of disgust in Flo’s ocean-like blues. In fact, she appears humoured as she lets it sit in her palm, melting and dripping onto the grass.
“That’s obviously a yes from Leo,” Sam snickers, eyes shifting over to me to see my drawn brows. “And a big no from you.”
I sigh. Is it a no from me? How can it be? What other reason do I have not to hire her besides that I’ll have to try to stay away from her for the next couple of months? Darrell won’t accept that. Finding her attractive isn’t enough.
This isn’t about me. It’s about my son, who’s finally found someone he likes and gets along with. Someone who actually pays attention to what he likes and dislikes, and doesn’t turn all of their attention on me the second I get home.
I tilt my head back to the sky and groan. “It’s not a resounding no from me. Yet.”
Bennett blows a raspberry. “Well, that sounds promising.”
“She’s sure to mess up soon enough. I can’t imagine she’ll be staying long.”
“If I had someone like that watching my kid, I’d be staying home a lot more.” Sam winks at me, and I glare.
“Shut up. You probably have a million kids out there that you don’t know about.”
Sam fakes a gasp. “How dare you, Evan. I’m a responsible man, and I’ll have you know, I use protection. Maybe you could learn a few things?”
“Shut up before I rip that earring of yours out.” Moving away from the chuckling pair, I head over to Leo with a wet wipe, who has rushed back to the dessert table, cleaning off his chocolate-covered fingers. "Hold still, little lion."
He whines as I continue to wipe him, moving onto his smeared mouth, but the scent of apple and fresh flowers flows through the air, and I stand up to see Flo behind us, checking out the dessert table.
She pops a raspberry in her mouth, and I try my hardest not to let my gaze flick down to her breasts that are looking far too perky in her sundress.
“Didn’t know you’d be coming to this,” I say as I hand her a fresh wet wipe to clean her chocolate-covered hand.
Leo takes the used one from me and puts it in the trash before heading in the direction of Bennett and Sam, where I know he’s about to get quizzed on what his new nanny is like.
“Thanks, and Mae invited me.” Flo gives a half-shrug.
Clearing my throat, I shake my head and chuckle at seeing my son attempt to climb Bennett like a tree. And like the guy Bennett is, he lets him.
“Big turnout.” Flo nods to the crowd of people, who I’ve been politely mingling with. Not that I’ll remember any of their names.
I hum in response, needing to do something with my hands, so I scoop up the first thing I see, fudge, and bite into it. The overpowering sweetness explodes on my tongue, and I do my best not to cringe, having no desire to go in for a second bite.
“Gracie seems to be happy over there for a vegetarian.”