6. Ava
SIX
AVA
Josie peers up at me as we wait for the elevator. “Do you promise to come visit me?”
From her other side, Maria nods. “I’m sure we can arrange a time to visit with Ava in the next week or so.”
Relief washes over me. God, I hate that Maria is setting boundaries regarding my visits with Josie, that she has to act as a buffer between War and me. That if I want to see my girl, I’ll have to do it at Tyler Warren’s home.
How in god’s name did this happen? Did I hit my head and wake up in an alternate universe? One where War almost seemed nice . Caring. Not toward me, of course, but toward Josie.
And the strangest part of the night? Discovering that he’s trying to adopt her. I still can’t wrap my head around the news. Maybe I really did hit my head. I must have fallen on the ice at the arena. Maybe I’m still lying there, unconscious. That’s the only reasonable explanation.
Josie tugs on my hand. “I want to show you my room. It’s so pretty. We have our own pond. That’s where the ice-skating rink is. And we have a movie theater. It’s like the one you and your sister always wanted.”
Warmth rushes through me at Josie’s words, at the knowledge that she remembers such a small detail about me. I’ve been to the house. This past summer with Xander. The home is beautiful, I remember that. After discovering that War and Xander were related that day, I was in shock and remember little else. “We’ll set something up, okay?”
She throws her arms around my waist and hugs me tight. “Thank you, Ava. I love you.”
Maria meets my eyes as I hold Josie close.
“I love you too.” To Maria I mouth, “We need to talk.”
In response, all I get is a frown and a simple nod.
I’m trying to decode her reaction when War reappears. “You ready to head home, fighter?”
At the sound of his voice, I turn, and as I do, I’m metaphorically knocked on my ass at the sight. Cuddled against Tyler’s chest is a chubby little girl with the lightest of blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. She’s got her thumb in her mouth, and her blue eyes are saucers as she studies me just like I do her.
“Sissy,” Josie coos, reaching for the little girl’s toes. “This is my sister, Scarlett,” she says, peering back at me.
War shifts, the movement making it impossible not to take him in. He obviously rushed here from the charity event. He’s dressed in a button-down shirt and suit pants—the standard pregame-slash-charity event uniform—but he has no jacket, and his sleeves have been rolled up his forearms. Between the little girl he’s cradling and the ink peeking out?—
No, Ava. No way am I looking at Tyler Freaking Warren and thinking he’s hot. He’s a thorn in my side. A genuinely bad guy.
Who is adopting two little girls…
“See something you like?” That cocky son of a B taunts, his blue eyes glittering with mischief.
God, I hate him.
“She’s beautiful.” I pull my shoulders back, unwilling to let him rattle me. “How old is she?”
“Two,” he says, just as Maria chimes in with the same response.
I use that excuse to turn toward Maria. “Could you call me once you get home and settled? ”
“Yes. Thank you for coming.” She pulls me into her arms and whispers, “I’ll explain everything soon.”
Sighing, I pull back and give her a nod. I can’t imagine any kind of explanation that will make this make sense, but I’ll gladly let her try.
“Wait, so you're telling me War—as in the Bolts bad boy captain and instigator—is adopting Josie?” Lennox blinks rapidly, bright eyes full of shock.
Hannah and Sara dragged me back to my apartment once War and his…family?…went their way and we went ours. Since the elevator, I’ve been basically catatonic. I don’t remember the car ride or entering my apartment. I’m pretty sure Hannah dug my keys out of my purse, but I can’t be sure.
Sara settles beside me on the couch, holding a mug out in front of me. “Made you tea.”
I offer her a weak smile and pull the mug to my chest, soaking in the warmth of it.
“It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” Sara adds.
“And the hottest,” Hannah says, her voice a little too loud in my small, quiet apartment. “Learned something new about myself today—I find dads hot . War was already the hottest guy on the team, but with his reputation, I’ve always sworn that I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole. Now, though?” She fans her face. “After witnessing him holding a little girl in his arms? The way he was so worried about our Josie? Girls, what the hell?”
“First of all.” Lennox snaps up straight. “War is not the hottest guy on the team.”
Snorting, Sara sinks into the couch, clutching a throw pillow to her chest. “And who, pray tell, is, bestie?”
Lennox crosses one leg over the other with a huff. “Daniel Hall is the prettiest. Camden Snow has that all-American boy thing going for him. Brooks”—she rolls her eyes—“has the whole ‘touch her and die’ vibe down to a science, and my husband ”—she grins at that last word—“has the star power. He flashes those pearly whites, and everyone melts?—”
Hannah folds her arms across her chest. “And like I said, War is the hot one. He’s got fuckboy written across his forehead. Or inked on his arms, I guess.” She narrows her brown eyes on me. “Don’t tell me you weren’t drooling over those damn forearms.”
When I stare back at her, still unable to form a coherent sentence, she smirks.
“He’s hot,” she continues. “Dark windswept hair, glacier-blue eyes, strong cheekbones, and don’t even get me started on that mouth. His lips are biteable.”
“Spoken like an author,” Sara teases.
Hannah shrugs, using a hand to flip her dark hair over her shoulder.
“You interested?” Lennox tosses out.
Head dropped back, Hannah barks out a throaty laugh. “God, no. The man is a walking, talking red flag. The baseball team is full of problematic men, so I spend my days babysitting more than enough of them. I have no interest in adding another to that list. Besides, that bad boy only has eyes for our doe-eyed redhead here.”
When no one so much as bats an eye in response to her statement, I gape and sputter. “Th-the man hates me.”
Hannah arches a brow. “I don’t see you arguing about how hot he is, though.”
Heart thumping loudly in my ears, I snap, “Can we focus on how the man I hate is adopting my Josie?”
Sara drapes an arm around me and squeezes, enveloping me in her sugary scent. “She seems really happy.”
Guilt and shame swamp me. She’s right, and yet here I am, upset about it. “God, am I an awful person for being annoyed that he gets to adopt her?” She seemed happy, and he acted as if he legitimately cares about her. She’s not in the hospital anymore. She’s living with a sister I didn’t even know existed and has her own bedroom. War’s house is gorgeous, and he can give her anything she’d ever want.
I look around my tiny apartment, deflating. If not for the Langfields’ generous compensation package, I couldn’t even afford to live in a place this nice. If adopting Josie had been at all possible, I would have already been pursuing it. But I spoke to her social worker. There’s no way a single woman who lives in a one-bedroom apartment with a bunch of athletes for neighbors would be approved.
Sara’s grip on me tightens. “You aren’t awful for loving Josie. Or missing her. Of course you wish you could be the one to adopt her, but there’s no denying that you’re relieved that your girl has someone in her corner, fighting as hard for her as War apparently is.”
Lennox leans forward, her pink hair falling over one shoulder. “Remember when War had us all over after he moved in? God, he was adorably shy when showing me the little girl’s room.” She breaks out in a grin. “He swore it was decorated that way before he moved in, but he was super awkward, asking if I thought a little girl would like it. Thinking back on that moment, I don’t know how I didn’t see that he was the one who painted it. There were little birds on the walls just like he did for Vivi’s bedroom.”
I remember the day they decorated Vivi’s room well. Gavin’s wife Millie, who also happens to be Daniel Hall’s twin sister and a good friend of mine, wasn’t in the picture at the time. Gavin had just found out he had a little girl, and the guys all came over to paint while the girls and I watched Vivi. That was just another in a long string of instances where it was obvious that everyone I knew loved War. And god, was it annoying. They went on and on about his artistic abilities for days. Sure, the birds he painted on the walls to match Taylor Swift’s album were adorable, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a selfish, cocky, womanizing jerk.
Why am I the only one who sees how much of a jerk he really is?
It’s as if they view him from a completely different lens. Rose-colored glasses that make him look like a wonderful person. Honestly? Maybe I saw a little of that today too. And I don’t like it. Because that means that maybe I was wrong about him.
If he’s going to be Josie’s dad, then despite how hard it is to comprehend, I can’t help but hope I was way off in my assessment of him. I hope more than anything that he can be the guy she deserves. Good. Caring. Loving .
I blink back tears. “She really did seem happy, didn’t she?”
With murmurs of agreement, the girls crowd in close, and we spend the rest of the night cuddled together, chatting and coming up with ideas for how to spend more time with Josie now that we know she’ll be part of the Bolts’ family. While it isn’t a perfect situation, it’s more than I had before. And I’ll take Josie any way I can.