Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
PEARCE
I could barely feel my legs let alone my dick by the time we finished in the shower and dried off. There was little time to rejoice in the fact that we’d picked up almost where we’d left off last night before Lottie joined us downstairs while I was on my first coffee.
Bleary-eyed and holding her side more than she had done the past few days, she looked pretty rotten.
Eddie saw her at the same time. A frown dipped his brow low, worry etched on his face. “You feeling okay?” He led her to the large couch set just off the kitchen, a place of comfort where my grandfolks would usually rest up on their twice-yearly visit while I cooked.
“I’m okay.” As she sat, a wince wrinkled her forehead.
“Uh-huh. Let’s just check your wound.”
Her exasperated sigh made me smile. While this kid could play her dad well and had us both wrapped around her little finger, she wasn’t one for fuss. But dutifully, she lifted her sleep shirt a little and lowered the waist of her pj’s.
“Pancakes?” I asked, drawing her attention my way.
It won me a smile. “Yes, please.”
“You got it, kiddo.” I got to work while Eddie checked her over, giving them a semblance of privacy and trying to downplay the crackle of nerves I could feel radiating off Eddie.
Sure, we’d been distracted this morning in the best possible way while Lottie was sleeping, but in the bright morning sun, reality came knocking.
“It looks a bit red this morning.”
Concerned, I peered over as I whisked the eggs. Eddie glanced over at me, and I paused.
“I think I need to get this checked out.” As he spoke, clear-as-day worry settled in his gaze.
“Does that mean I have to go back to the hospital?” Despite her frustrated tone, her voice trembled a little, reminding me Lottie was only ten.
It was so easy to treat this kid as older with her wise-ass sass and confidence.
Next to her dad, peering up at him with glassy eyes, just how young she was hit me in the solar plexus.
“Hey, it’s just to get you checked over. Nothing to worry about.” The reassurance rushed out of Eddie. “We’ll make a call first, so you don’t need to do anything beyond eating your pancakes, okay?”
“Okay.” She bobbed her head.
“Do you want to get her settled in front of the big screen, and I’ll get the number for you?
” I reached for my phone as I spoke, trying to figure out if I just called my own doctor or if I needed someone else since Lottie was a kid.
Shit, maybe she just needed to go to urgent care. I had no clue the best person to call.
“That’d be great, thanks.” Eddie offered me a smile, apparently completely unaware that I was freaking the fuck out not knowing who to actually call.
I shot him the most reassuring smile possible and angled away, focusing on my phone. When I heard him leave the room, I hit my mom’s number and headed to my walk-in pantry so Eddie wouldn’t figure out how out of my depth I was.
“Hey, beautiful boy. You were so amazing last night.”
The sound of my mom’s voice relaxed my shoulders and had me releasing a steadying breath. “Hey, Mom.”
“What’s wrong?”
I huffed out a laugh and shook my head, not for the first time wondering how she did that.
“I think Lottie has an infection maybe, and I don’t know who I’m meant to call.
Like, do I just take her to the hospital, call Doc Mathius, find a pediatrician, what?
” As I spoke, my words became gradually faster, anxiety pitching them higher than usual.
Fuck, just this morning Eddie said he fell for me because I was all cool and collected or some shit, yet here I was beginning to freak the fuck out. If he saw me, would he change his mind, figure out I wasn’t the man he thought I—
“Hey, Pearce, take a deep breath for me.”
I did so, only wincing slightly that I had to call my mom to get me to sort my shit out. So much for fucking adulting.
“Why do you think she has an infection?”
“Eddie said her wound from surgery is all red. Plus she’s sore and was in pain last night. She had a nightmare, and from the state of her bedsheets, I think she’d been wrestling an alligator or something.”
“Does she have a temperature?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t checked.”
“Okay, well before doing anything, check that first. You have a thermometer, right?”
She knew I did since when I left home, she and dad had hooked me up with a mammoth-sized first aid kit. Not that I blamed them from the years of mischief and minor scrapes I’d been getting myself into. “Yeah.”
“Okay, get that first, then call your doctor’s office. But if she has a fever and is in pain, more than her normal soreness, perhaps skip all that and take her to urgent care.”
Releasing a breath, I rubbed a hand over my face. “Okay. I can do that.”
“I know you can, Pearce. Do you have training today?”
“Yeah. In a couple of hours.”
Silence filled the line for a few long moments. “It’s important you go to training. You have your next game coming up.”
My jaw locked, hating she was right and wanting to argue. If Lottie had to go to the hospital, then how could I just train and behave like everything was okay?
“I can hear your brain thinking overtime there, but Pearce, this is your job. Lottie has her dad, which means she’s going to be just fine.”
But what about Eddie? The question swirled around my brain. Who’d be there to make sure he was okay?
I sighed heavily, pissed that I was getting way ahead of myself. Lottie may not even have a temperature, let alone an infection. “I know, Mom. It’s just hard.”
Mom’s voice gentled—she’d pretty much figured out how I felt about Eddie and Lottie, without her ever asking or me ever confirming.
“It is, but trust him to do his job, and you focus on yours, okay? Eddie is the last person who’d want you not to be ready.
Actually,” she said with a quiet chuckle, “make that Lottie. If you don’t play your absolute best game, she’ll make her feelings known. ”
The truth of her words tugged a smile from me. Mom was a big Lottie fan, having met her a handful of times over the past few years.
“Thanks, Mom.”
“Anytime, honey. Just call if you need me or your dad, okay?”
“Okay.”
“And let me know how she gets on.”
“Will do.”
We said our goodbyes and ended the call. Feeling calmer, I found the contact number for my doctor and went in search of Eddie, thermometer in hand.
I found them in Lottie’s room, Eddie listening to an animated Lottie. The sight shot warmth and relief to my chest. To be so talkative meant she’d be fine, right?
“Hey,” I greeted, drawing their attention to me. Lottie smiled, as did Eddie. I passed him my cell. “The number to my doctor’s office is right there. You want to take her temperature first?”
His gaze dropped to the digital thermometer in my hand before moving back to my face. The tenderness in that one look was enough to have a shaky breath escaping. “Thanks. Can you do that while I make the call?”
I bobbed my head before turning my attention to Lottie. “Hey, kiddo. Let’s see what’s going on with this temperature of yours.”
“Okay, but haven’t you got a practice to get to?”
I chuckled. “That I have. I’ve got time to do this, though, and a little bit extra before I have to leave.”
Setting about taking her temperature, I chatted to her about last night’s game, or rather she didn’t stop describing the game. As she spoke, I grinned, relieved this kid was on my side. She could give one hell of an ego boost while tearing strips off the other team and some of their poor choices.
“You sure you don’t want to go into management?” I eyed the thermometer as I spoke, pleased with the 98.5 it registered but wanting a second reading just to be sure.
“Nope.” She angled her head again so I could reach her ear. “Managers and coaches have to shout and be grumpy all the time.”
I snorted. “You’re not wrong. I’ll be sure to tell my coach you said that.”
She gasped. “You wouldn’t.”
Easing away to check the reading, I winked. “You’re right. I wouldn’t.” The reading was the same. “Let me just speak to your dad.”
I found Eddie in the hallway and showed him the reading. He smiled his thanks, clearly listening to someone at the other end of the call. Before I could turn to go back to Lottie, he held on to my wrist and mouthed, “Go run.”
I frowned and shook my head. Sure, I ran most mornings, but today was different.
Not only did I get killer orgasms, making the late start so worth it, but I needed to know Lottie was okay.
Plus, after yesterday’s hard-won game, I deserved a break.
I’d still be heading to training in a short while.
Mom in all her wisdom was right about that.
The narrowing of his eyes did nothing to change my mind.
Instead, I stepped into his space and gave him the briefest of kisses before walking backward with a grin and a follow-up wink.
Teasing Eddie was too much fun. With his concern for Lottie, it was only right that I got him to smile, and maybe a little hot under the collar too.
Half an hour later, Lottie had managed to eat something and said she was feeling a little better. Her temperature was the same too, making it easier to step away and go and get changed before heading to training.
As I tied my laces, my bedroom door opened.
Eddie entered, gaze on me and an intent on his face that made my heart speed up.
Hoping he was here to kiss me stupid, I dropped my foot and leaned back on my palms from my position on my bed.
He stopped before me between my open thighs, but rather than lean into me like I hoped, he peered down at me.
There was a beat of quiet, our breaths the only sound filling the space between us. But there was also a crackle of energy too, something that I’d always felt when with Eddie, and something about his features told me he felt it too. The knowledge had my pulse spiking.