Chapter 8
EIGHT
PEARCE
Hovering in the doorway with a hard-on was all levels of wrong.
It was all Eddie’s fault. The asshole knew it too.
It was the reason why he’d raced out of here after throwing all those words my way.
Every word he’d said, the tone he’d used, had hit their mark.
Caressing my skin before seeping through and finding a home in my chest.
Hope. The motherfucker had made hope surge to life. Well, that, and my dick.
Getting a chub while in the corridor outside his daughter’s room was not okay. But taking steadying breaths, thinking of gross things, hell, even digging my short nails into my palms weren’t helping.
“Daddy.”
But that voice right there worked wonders.
“Hey, Lottie girl.” I eased away from the doorframe and stepped properly into her room, making a beeline for the chair next to her bed. Groggy-eyed, she peered over at me, a frown dipping her brows before she yawned.
“Pearce, where’s my dad?”
I relaxed into the chair, placing my feet super carefully on the end of her bed. “I managed to kick him out so he could sleep and we could have us time. You know how rare it is to have you all to myself without the grown-up around.”
A drowsy giggle escaped her. “Does that mean you’ll let me have my phone to see what’s reporting on ESPN?”
This kid right here was incredible. Her dad had done the best job raising her.
While he grumbled at times and begged her to focus on her friends and encouraged her to seek other interests too, it didn’t mean he didn’t support her dream.
Considering she was ten years old, Lottie was more clued in than some adults I knew.
“Even better, we can get ESPN on this fancy TV you’ve got here.” I tugged the TV hanging from the ceiling closer so we could both see it, then swiped the remote and found the station.
“Sweet,” she said, following up with another huge yawn. Reflexively, she stretched, which was quickly stopped with a yelp.
“You hurting, Lottie?” I was on my feet immediately, hovering over the poor kid, wishing once again I could magic away her pain.
She bobbed her head. “Yeah. It’s really sore.” Her hands stopped short of touching her stomach where I knew her wound was.
“Let’s see if the nurse says you can have any different painkillers for that, okay?
” I pressed the buzzer and sat back down, refocusing on the TV and adjusting the volume.
“So, the first game’s at the end of the week,” I said, trying to distract her while waiting for the nurse to arrive. “What are you thinking?”
“Roosters are up against the Cardinals. The Cardinals have it in the bag.” She glanced over at me, and I nodded in complete agreement. The Cardinals got to the finals last year, and they’d kicked ass most of the season too.
“What about the Wolves versus the Mavericks?”
She scrunched her face together as if hard in thought, covered her mouth with her hand, and tapped her index finger above her lip. My heart warmed at the sight. It was something her dad did whenever he was figuring something out.
“It’ll be close. Wolves may just tip it though and take the win.”
“Huh, you don’t think—”
“How are we doing in here?” A nurse I’d not seen before entered the room, gaze flicking briefly to me before settling on Lottie. “Charlotte, my name’s Jamaal. I’m one of your nurses this afternoon. You doing okay?” He kept his attention on her as he paused by her bed.
“My tummy’s hurting.” She glanced over at me, looking decidedly sorry for herself.
“Is she able to have more painkillers yet?”
Jamaal picked up her chart and nodded, offering me a smile before turning back to Lottie.
“I think we can absolutely get you some more painkillers. Can you take a look at this chart for me and tell me which face you’re on right now?
” He held out the pain scale chart and waited patiently for Lottie.
She examined the diagram carefully and pointed at the amber unhappy face.
Jamaal offered a sympathetic smile and jotted down a note.
“Okay, let me go and get a doctor to sign off on those, and I’ll get them right on over.
While you’re waiting, how about ordering yourself a snack?
” He turned to me. “If she could eat something, it’ll help with the next lot of painkillers. ”
“Absolutely.”
His attention then flicked to the screen, and I followed his gaze, heat hitting my cheeks when I realized footage of my last game was playing.
“Right, well, I’ll be back as quickly as possible,” he said, once again talking to Lottie.
Once he’d left the room, Lottie said, “Let’s get this snack ordered and get to work.”
I chuckled, loving that she was focusing on anything rather than her discomfort.
“Deal, as long as I get something too. Have you seen how awesome this menu is?” I flicked through the TV until I got to the food ordering service.
“I vote chocolate cake, Jell-O, and ice cream. What do you reckon, kiddo?”
“For me sure, but you can have a protein shake. Don’t think you can use me as an excuse for slacking off.”
Lightness flooded me, my smile extra wide. “You know, it’s a shame I’m going to retire before you can be my manager. Truly,” I deadpanned.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Well, that’s definitely going to happen if you keep trying to eat chocolate cake.
Your plan should be to be the oldest player in the League.
” She sighed, all dramatic like. “I totally blame Mom and Dad for not having me five years earlier. It’s all their fault I’m not old enough to be almost finished with school. ”
Amusement bubbled in my chest. “You’re totally right. Your parents suck.”
From the moment Eddie returned, I was on alert. What that meant was I turned into a stumbling, bumbling idiot.
Case in point.
Eddie: “I brought you a coffee. Be careful, it’s hot.”
My mind lingered on “hot,” which led me to thinking how hot Eddie was, which led to the words “so fucking hot” spilling from my mouth and my face setting on fire. This led me to spilling said coffee on my pants and Eddie helping me clean up.
Of course this encouraged my dick to misbehave, pop a boner, at which point I sat down so hard on the chair to cross my legs to conceal said boner that I misjudged, missed, and landed on my ass.
Fun times were had by all.
Except me, who wanted the ground to open up.
But hearing Lottie’s sweet laughter did the job of calming me—in every imaginable way—and making me so damn happy that she managed to laugh despite her shitty couple of days.
I didn’t miss the barely concealed amusement on Eddie’s face. Heck, who was I kidding? Barely concealed… what a crock. The guy busted a gut laughing before helping me up. With the way his hands lingered in mine, though, it was totally worth it.
After that, we stuffed our faces. Them with juicy burgers, me with a chicken salad. Was it bad that I loved and hated Eddie for being so damn thoughtful? But seriously… a chicken fucking salad.
“It’s getting late, and you have an early start tomorrow.”
We’d just finished another game of bullshit, where I’d destroyed my opposition. Lottie had since plugged her earbuds in and was watching something or other on YouTube, her eyes drooping and her skin looking a little paler than earlier.
A quick glance at the time told me it was past her bedtime and definitely closer to mine, since I’d committed to an early run with Cassius and Ollie in the morning.
“Are you going to be okay?” My gaze roamed over Eddie’s features.
He looked a lot fresher than earlier. He’d showered and shaved and wasn’t looking as bleary-eyed as this morning.
The smile directed at me was soft and sweet and all mine. “Yeah. The sleep this afternoon helped. Thanks for looking after her.” His gaze darted to his daughter, who remained completely focused on her phone, before returning to me. “You sure you’re okay with us sticking around?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
His shrug was too stiff to be carefree. “You’ve got a lot on. I don’t want us being a distraction.”
Leaning forward in my seat, I captured his gaze. “It’d be more distracting not having you there, wondering how Lottie’s healing, not being able to make sure you’re both okay.”
When he swallowed hard, my focus shifted to his throat before snapping to his mouth as he darted out his tongue and swiped at his bottom lip.
We were quiet for a moment, and when he didn’t speak, I realized he was thinking about something hard. Five years of spending every spare moment I could in this man’s company had taught me a thing or two about reading his tells. “What’s up? Has something happened?”
An awkward laugh escaped as he ran his hand over his head, gaze once more darting to Lottie, then back to me. The clearing of his throat caught my attention even more. He was nervous? About what?
“I spoke to Wayne again.”
I stiffened at the mention of the man’s name.
Fuck, what if they’d worked out whatever was going on between them?
A couple of years was a long time together to be calling it quits.
I hoped Eddie wasn’t asking if Wayne could stay too.
How would I be able to say no to his request without coming across as a prize prick?
“Yeah?”
“I called it off with him. It was long past due. His reaction to Lottie….” He scoffed, and my brows sprang high at the derision in the sound. “Or lack of… Yeah, it was something I should have done a long time ago.”
As he spoke, my mind buzzed and my skin prickled.
Would it be bad if I fist-pumped? Probably.
Instead, I didn’t hold back my wide-ass grin.
“Oh no,” I deadpanned. “How devastating. He’s such a good guy and so worthy of your company and time.
How will you possibly cope without such a great guy in your life? ”
The sarcasm dripped off my tongue, earning me a loud laugh and a “Fuck off. Tell me how you really feel.”
I could barely form additional words with just how big my grin spread across my face. “I can if you need me to.”
Eddie rolled his eyes, and I tried hard to rein in some of my glee, offering a more genuine “But you are okay, right? Not cut up about it?” I hoped to shit I’d read this situation right, even though hearing this was something he’d been considering for a while took me by surprise.
“Yeah. I really am. The last six months or so, and probably since having Lottie full-time—” After a glance to ensure Lottie was still focused on her screen later, he carried on. “Well, we haven’t really seen each other all that often. We were just going through the motions, you know?”
Air whooshed out of me. I wasn’t even subtle about it. Since we rarely talked about our romantic lives, sex lives… whatever… I’d had no idea the state of his. Knowing that their relationship had been degenerating for a while shouldn’t have made me so happy, but I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t.
“I’m happy you’re not cut up over it. And let’s get this straight. Wankface was never good enough for you. You know that, right?”
With twitching lips, Eddie nodded. “I know, but it happened, and it’s done.”
My grin was back. “When you’re home tomorrow and Lottie’s tucked up in bed, we’ll celebrate.”
“We will?” His brows lifted high. “And how exactly will we celebrate, since the countdown to your first playoff game is on?” There was a hint of teasing in his voice that I liked entirely too much.
While he was right and I couldn’t get wasted, nor could he really since there was Lottie to consider, I’d think of something. “You let me worry about that. Just know that you not having Wankface in your life anymore deserves to be marked by something epic.”
I couldn’t very well let him know my first thought was me on his dick; that would be all levels of hot—I meant wrong… right? So with that potentially, maybe, probably off the table, I’d work something else out.
“Why do I have a feeling I should be nervous about whatever you’re proposing?”
Flames lit my cheeks. “Shit, did I say me on your dick aloud?” At his widening eyes, flushed cheeks, and with the way his mouth gaped, I figured not. Fuck. “Shit, fuck… uhm—”
“Daddy, I need the bathroom.”
My salvation came in the form of a ten-year-old.
I jumped out of my seat, startling both Eddie and Lottie.
Both pairs of eyes were locked on me. “Uhm… okay. I’ll leave you guys to it.
See you both tomorrow.” Pointedly ignoring Eddie, I focused on Lottie, dotted a kiss on the top of her head, and ran like my ass was on fire.
Holy mother of cock. I swore I was going to duct tape my mouth. How the hell did I come back from that epic brain spew? On autopilot, I left the hospital ward, heading toward the exit.
I supposed the only thing to do was distract Eddie with a celebration so he’d forget what an idiot I was, because surely to God, the idiot in me was strong. It wasn’t the ideal way to reassure the man I’d make excellent boyfriend and stepdad material.