Chapter 9 Evan
“One chocolate chip pancake in the shape of a dinosaur for you, sir.” Flo uses the spatula to ease her creation onto Leo’s plate, and even though we all know it definitely doesn’t look like a dinosaur—more like a giraffe with wings—his eyes shine with gratitude anyway.
“And for you.” She spins around, angling the frying pan towards me, pushing a plate in my direction.
“I don’t need one. I’m leaving for practice in a minute. Thanks.”
“Well, you can’t just survive on coffee for the rest of your life, can you?” With a smirk, she dumps my pancake on the plate, and my eyes widen into the size of saucers once I see the shape she’s formed my breakfast into.
A dick.
A very large dick.
“Yours doesn’t really look like a dinosaur, Daddy.” Leo leans across the table to try and get a better view, but I pick up the steaming hot pancake and stuff it into my mouth, turning to Flo while I chew. I know my glare is saying what my mouth can’t right now.
“Wow, someone’s eager. Is my cooking really that good?”
“No. I don’t need you to make me breakfast,” I tell her after swallowing the pancake, and I’m pretty sure my gums are now peeling from third-degree burns.
“Well, it would’ve been a shame to waste the batter, and now you’re fuelled for the day, so you’re welcome.” Her eyes twinkle with mischief.
She’s wearing some kind of sleeveless, tanned crochet top that I don’t doubt she made herself.
Not because it looks bad, but because it fits her a little too well, as if she measured herself and crafted it to mould perfectly to every inch of her upper body.
The neckline dips low, but not so much that you would consider what she has showing as cleavage.
“Look, Daddy, it’s you!” Leo points to the TV screen we can see from the kitchen table.
My face is front and centre, with a news reporter talking in front of the green screen.
There’s a woman’s face next to mine—someone I’ve never seen before—and the woman presenting the news points from each picture as she talks. Luckily, it’s on mute.
“Uh, yeah, it is, buddy.” I can’t snatch the remote up and switch the TV off fast enough.
My efforts to shield my son from all of this are exhausting, but every day he grows smarter, and I’m going to have to explain one day that women from all over the county involve themselves in this almost running joke and come forward, pretending to be his biological mother.
It gives them their fifteen minutes of fame.
“Let me guess, you’ve never seen that woman before in your life.” Flo’s voice is close beside me, and I realise I’m staring at the black TV screen, the remote still in my palms.
“Uh, no.”
“You can sue them, you know? For defamation.”
“That’s more stress than it’s worth.” I don’t want to talk about this.
Suing these women has crossed my mind before, but I can’t sue everyone, and I don’t want to bring any more attention to their stories.
In my mind, the best thing I can do is ignore it all and hope that one day, the desire to mess with me and my family fizzles out.
I’m certain that once I retire, nobody will give a shit about me anymore anyway.
“They’ll stop one day.”
Flo offers me a sad smile—a kind of smile that doesn’t hold the same pity that people often look at me with when they see what the media enjoys saying, but a smile that looks like it’s bothering her too. “Hopefully.”
I run my tongue along the front of my teeth. “I’m going. Thanks for the pancake. I’ve probably burned my taste buds off now, though.” I take one last sip of coffee and slip off my chair, kissing my son on the top of the head like I do every morning. “Behave, please.”
“Yes, Daddy,” Leo says, mouth overflowing with food.
“Yes, Daddy,” Flo copies, right after reminding my son not to talk with his mouth full.
All I can do is scowl as I shut the door behind me, running a tired hand down my face.
I wish Gracie didn’t have to go back home to Wyoming and could’ve stayed to look after Leo for the rest of the season, because judging by the mood Flo’s in now she’s got the job, I can tell she’s going to give me a whole lot of trouble.
Coach Darrell is grinning at me from ear to ear, and honestly, it’s fucking creeping me out. “Stop it. You’re going to give me nightmares, and I barely get enough sleep as it is.”
“You kept Flo.”
I quirk a brow, catching my breath back as I cease my jogging on the field. Sweat is trickling down my back, my training top wet and sticky. “You say that like you’re surprised.”
He stares at me, dumbfounded. “Because I am, West. You finally did it. You finally stuck with a nanny.”
“It’s not a big deal. Leo likes her, and she needed a job. She’s only staying for the summer.”
“I’ll be searching for her replacement in the meantime, don’t worry, but it’s the little things, Evan. Let’s celebrate the little things.”
It bothers me. Leo’s spending his time with someone he trusts, but I’ll have to remind him that Flo’s leaving soon, and we’ll be heading right back to square one, starting all over again with a different nanny who Leo probably won’t click with.
It’s precisely what I’ve been trying to avoid.
My son doesn’t deserve to feel left behind, but it’s a reality we’re going to have to face sooner or later.
He knows he doesn’t have a mother. I’ve explained to him before—not in detail—that it’s just me and him, but he doesn’t remember her.
I don’t want to see the sadness in his eyes when the time comes for me to reiterate him that Flo’s temporary, and drop the bomb that Darrell’s found him a new nanny.
But in the week that Flo’s been here, she’s been the best nanny my son’s ever had. I can’t fault her, besides that her wild streak will definitely rub off on him, but in a way, it’s endearing. It’s also not boring, and my life has been far too dreary for too long.
After showering and beginning the drive home, my phone buzzes, and Alexander from Starbound AKA ignore flashes up on the screen. I debate not answering it, but ultimately, putting it off won’t do me—or Darrell—any favours, so I accept the call.
“Evan, my man, how are you?”
My man. I recoil. Are we part of some cringy fraternity or something?
“I’m fine. Driving home from practice.”
“Great, okay, listen, when can we schedule you in for another meeting? I have some great companies lined up that are interested in having you as their face. This could mean big bucks for you and me both, Evan.”
A sigh sounds from my throat. “I’m busy right now, Alexander, and I’m really not interested in representing companies. I have my son to look after. Brand trips and launch parties aren’t a priority for me.” Neither are they even in the question.
There’s a short pause before Alexander says, “Oh, yes! Little Leonardo, how is he?”
“It’s just Leo.” My son’s full name is reserved for friends and family, and Alexander doesn’t fit into either of those categories.
“Right, so, did you see the news report earlier? Wild, isn’t it? Are you gonna tell me you’ve never met this one, either?”
“No, I’ve never met her.”
“Hey, good press, bad press, it’s all press. Are you sure you don’t want to come out and make a statement about this one? Do an interview? Write a book? I’ve got some great ghostwriters who would be perfect for this.”
I stare at the screen of my phone for a beat in disbelief, on the verge of just hanging up. “Do you ever listen to a word I say, Alexander?”
“Okay, I can hear you’re occupied at the moment.
I’ll have Matthew send you some dates for a meeting, so let us know which ones suit you.
I promise you you’ll be excited when I tell you the money these companies can make us both.
” I can hear the phoney smile in his tone.
“I’ll catch you later, man. Great talking to you as always. ”
“Bye.” I end the call as I pull up outside my house, gritting my teeth.
That man grinds my gears. It’s no wonder Flo left Starbound, because I don’t understand how anyone can put up with a man like him.
I’ve never met someone who loves the sound of their own voice more than he does, and with Flo’s lack of patience with assholes, I’m surprised she lasted so long in a job with him as her boss.
Pushing my key through the front door, I twist it and enter slowly. But my eyes shoot to the couch, where Flo and Leo are, out cold, a kids' show playing on the TV in front of them. My son is curled up to her, his head on her shoulder, both of their chests rising and falling in unison.
I don’t move. I just stand in the doorway with my key in hand.
They look so peaceful. Flo’s eyelashes are long and thick, fanning across her high cheekbones, with a few strands of her long, ashy hair that have fallen from her clip resting against her forehead.
She has one arm around Leo’s back in a comforting manner, and a throw blanket covers their dangling legs.
My son looks so calm, his face neutral as he naps.
My eyes drop to Flo’s tanned and toned stomach, the hem of her crochet top having risen to the point I can almost see the underwire of her bra, but I rip my gaze away.
Because I’m definitely not about to ogle my twenty-six-year-old nanny while she’s asleep on the couch with my son.
Although I already did, which makes me feel even worse.
I can’t help but notice how red parts of her legs still are, as if she’s been scratching at them again. It looks uncomfortable, and as I set my bag down, studying the slight hives, Flo stirs.
Her bright blue eyes meet mine as she awakens, and she blinks, momentarily confused, before she glances down at Leo, who’s still fast asleep.
“Shit,” she says nonchalantly, straightening her top, pulling it down so her midriff is no longer on show. “How long have you been back?”
“About thirty seconds.”
“And you stood there and stared at us for a whole thirty seconds?” Flo peels herself away from my son with a grin, replacing her shoulder with a soft cushion, which Leo cuddles up to, smacking his lips.