Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
REESE
When I wake the next morning, the sun is already streaming through the window. I sit up and brush my hair out of my face. I immediately look to Malaki’s side of the bed, my face heating from the instant memory of what we did last night, but it’s empty.
Did that really happen?
I glance at the time on my phone.
Charleigh should be up by now.
My legs get tangled in the blankets, and I fall to the floor with a thud. I quickly climb to my feet and rush toward the door to throw it open. I’m instantly hit with the scent of…bacon?
If I hadn’t just fallen like a bag of potatoes out of the bed and hurt myself, I would think I was still dreaming.
In fact, part of me wonders if last night was a dream too.
When I make it to Charleigh’s room, it’s empty.
Does Zoe have her?
I follow the scent of bacon down the stairs before coming to a complete stop at the sight.
My heart swells as soon as I lay eyes on Malaki, shirtless, holding my daughter. She’s happily playing with a spatula, like she’s the one cooking breakfast.
“Does your mama like eggs?” he asks her. “Or is she more of a pancake girl?”
Charleigh smiles, and I nearly faint at the sight of Malaki grinning back at her. “You could stop a war with that smile, Charleigh-girl.”
And he can apparently stop my entire world by existing.
What have I gotten myself into?
I’m mid-panic when my sister’s whisper reaches my ear. “Stop eye-fucking your fake fiancé and just do it already.”
I yelp and slap my hand over my mouth to keep my response behind my trapped lips.
The last thing I need to admit aloud is that I did, in fact, fuck my fake fiancé.
I have no idea what he’s thinking this morning.
Was last night just a moment in time between us where our facade got the best of us?
Is he going to pretend that it didn’t happen?
Was he being serious when he said all those things to me last night, or was he just caught up in the heat of things?
“Ma, ma, ma, ma!”
My hand falls, and I quickly banish the futile thoughts in my head for another time. I smile at Charleigh when Malaki turns to face me. Zoe brushes past with a quick snicker, and if I weren’t too busy trying to act normal, I’d stick my foot out and trip her.
Brat.
“Good morning.” Malaki’s voice is smooth and steady.
Very unlike what I'm feeling at the moment.
“Hi,” I squeak.
A loud laugh bursts out from my sister, and I send her a scathing look. She stuffs a piece of bacon into her mouth to hide her amusement.
“How’d you sleep?” Malaki asks. The longer we stare at each other, the more curved his mouth gets.
I’m almost certain he’s grinning at me because he knows I slept like a baby, thanks to the orgasms.
I shrug, playing it cool. “Fine. You?”
“Just fine?” he questions.
He looks at Charleigh with wide eyes. “Did you hear that? Just fine?”
“I feel like I’m missing something,” Zoe mutters through a mouthful of bacon. “Did something happen last night, and also, I thought cooking was her job?”
“I gave her the day off,” Malaki says. “We had a late night.”
Malaki and I immediately make eye contact, and my cheeks burn. I walk farther into the kitchen and hold my arms out for Charleigh. Malaki’s eyebrows furrow, and he spins away with her in his arms. “Stop stealing my girl,” he chides.
His girl?
Why does that make my entire world tilt?
“Did something happen last night?” With a piece of bacon in between Zoe’s fingers, she looks between Malaki and me.
“What happened was–”
I cut Malaki off. “Benedict texted me.”
His jaw tightens, and the muscles in his temples flicker back and forth. He turns toward the counter, still holding Charleigh tight.
“What did he want?” Zoe asks.
“He wants Reese,” Malaki mutters under his breath.
Zoe scoffs. “Well, he can’t have her.”
I pop a hip. “Obviou–”
“Agreed.” Malaki throws his knuckles out for my sister to fist bump, which she does, replying with a stern nod. He then glances to Charleigh and holds his fist out for her too. She looks at it with confusion but smiles when Malaki forms her hand into a little fist and pretends to fist bump himself.
He cheers, praising her for the action, and just like that, I’m swept away into a fantasy land where Benedict doesn’t exist and Malaki does.
“Shit. I gotta get to the arena.” Malaki tenses before glances at Charleigh. “Don’t repeat that word.”
I laugh while Malaki whisks over to me. I hold my arms out for Charleigh, who happily climbs into them. “See you later, Charleigh-girl.”
My heart warms as her little dimples appear, and I’m pretty sure mine are showing too.
Malaki pauses in front of me, his eyes bouncing back and forth between mine.
His hair is messy, a lock or two falling onto his forehead when he leans in closer.
One of his hands wraps around my waist, and he lowers his voice. “Just fine, huh?”
My cheeks warm as I sink my teeth into my bottom lip. He pulls back slightly and stares directly at my mouth. I lift a shoulder, ready to play it off, but Malaki’s cheeky smirk has my mouth twitching to hold back my own smile.
“That’s what I thought,” he says before bopping Charleigh on the nose.
He strides past us confidently and disappears down the hall to gather his things for their last away game of the season before the playoffs.
When I spin back around, my jaw half on the floor from Malaki’s cool exit, my sister is resting against the counter with a sparkle in her eye.
“Don’t,” I warn, giving her a stern look.
“Do!” Malaki calls from down the hall.
A suck in a lungful of air, and swing around with Charleigh propped on my hip. Malaki winks at me, and this time, I make sure he is completely out of sight before turning toward Zoe.
“My, oh, my,” she sing-songs. “You and your fiancé are very flirty this morning… I wonder why that is?”
I huff and grab my own piece of bacon. “Don’t you have class or something?”
Zoe rolls her eyes. “Yeah, my friend is outside waiting for me.”
I instantly go into mothering mode. “Your friend? Who?”
Zoe comes over and gives Charleigh a kiss on the top of her head before heading for the door. “You don’t know him.”
“Him?”
“God, not you too.” Zoe sighs. “You and Malaki are two peas in a pod.”
I take a bite of my bacon. “What does that mean?”
With her hand on the doorknob, she turns and sends me a deadpan look. “He saw Micha drop me off yesterday and quickly began questioning everything there is to know about him.”
I slow my chewing. “He did?”
Zoe opens the door. “Yeah. I told him not to worry because I know how to use condoms…unlike my sister.”
My mouth falls open, bacon still half-chewed inside.
Zoe laughs loudly. “Oh my god, I’m kidding.”
“You better be!” I snap.
She’s halfway out the kitchen door when she smiles deviously. “But seriously, there are condoms in my underwear drawer if you need any.”
I shout after her, “I’m going to throw a fork at you!”
Unfortunately, she shuts the door before I can grab the utensil.
Charleigh looks up at me with curious eyes.
“Don’t you start too,” I say, wrinkling my nose at her.
She giggles. “Ma, Ma, Ma.”
“Come on, Charleigh-girl,” I whisper. “Let’s get you ready. Daisy is waiting for us.”
“Hold on, Char.” I shush her whines as she fusses in my arms. “I gotta find my key.”
Why is it that my bag turns into Mary Poppin’s the second I’m flustered and desperately searching for something? Binky? Lost in no man’s land. The house key? Who knows.
Sweat forms on my hairline. Charleigh’s whine is three seconds from a full-blown cry. With my free hand, I push my hair out of my face and search again. My fingers brush against the crumbs at the bottom of my bag, and I silently curse.
“Charleigh-girl!” I freeze at the sound of Malaki’s voice and frantically look around. I spin, look over my shoulder at our quiet street, and turn back toward the door. Charleigh is just as confused as I am. Her bottom lip stops trembling for a second, and she looks around too.
“Why are you crying?” Malaki asks.
I call out to the abyss. “Who? Me or her?”
“You’re crying too?”
Still confused, I spin around once more before exclaiming, “Where are you?”
His chuckle is as smooth as ever. “I’m in Seattle, remember? But I had someone install an alarm with a camera. I kept getting an alert that someone was at the door, so I thought to check, only to find my adorable fiancée stressed to the max.”
I follow the sound of Malaki’s voice and find the culprit off to the side of the door. Charleigh fusses again, arching her back, seconds from a total meltdown. “Shh,” I adjust her on my hip and rub a hand over my moist forehead. “I can’t find my keys!”
“Relax. I’ve got you.”
I hear the lock click, and I immediately turn the doorknob. “How did you do that?!”
“The alarm comes with a lock feature too. I can unlock it from my phone.”
I glance at the camera with relief. “Thank you.”
I’m halfway inside before I stop and lean out the door to look at the camera again. “Wait, when did you have this installed?”
“Today. While you were out.” There’s a pause. “I didn’t like the feeling I had yesterday when I left for the airport.”
Charleigh’s head rests against my shoulder, seemingly to calm down.
“What feeling?” I ask.
“Uneasy,” he says. “I don’t like the thought of you and Charleigh being at home alone without me.”
My eyes water, and I don’t know why.
“Benedict’s text bothered me,” he adds.
There’s a voice that echoes through the speaker, someone calling out his name.
“I gotta head out on the ice,” he says.
Right.
He’s in Seattle to play hockey.
“Okay…” I step inside the house but lean back once more to wish him luck. “Good luck!”
“I don’t need luck. I’ve got you.”
The speaker cuts off, and I dart inside the house to pretend his words had no effect on me.
When I glance at Charleigh, I realize she’s fast asleep on my shoulder. Her plump, soft cheeks are no longer red with anger, contentment seemingly settling over her as soon as we made it inside.
Which, ironically, is exactly how I feel too.