Chapter 39
THIRTY-NINE
DAISY
The girl—Sarah—grins up at me from the floor while keeping the toddler expertly pinned to her side. “I’m the favorite sister.”
“You’re my only sister.” Connor rolls his eyes at her.
She shrugs. “Same thing.”
“You must be Daisy.” A short woman pops her head out from behind Connor to get a good look at me.
Her smile is wide and warm, her eyes twinkling when she reaches out to pull me in for a hug before I can do anything.
“Connor talks about you all the time,” she tells me, and I feel her laugh against me as Connor scoffs.
“Mom!”
“What?”
“I’ll put your bags in my room,” he tells her before disappearing down the hallway with their bags in tow, leaving me stuck in the living room with his family staring at me like I’m the key to unlocking all of his secrets.
I shift on my feet, trying to figure out if I should retreat back to my room so I’m not imposing, but then his mom turns back to me. “You’re prettier than he described.”
I open my mouth and close it again, not sure what to say to that.
“Stop trying to embarrass me by telling lies,” Connor booms from down the hallway, and I can’t help the laugh that escapes me when he rounds the corner and emerges back into the living room, shooting his mom an exasperated look.
“CeCe!” The little girl on the floor drops the toy she’s been playing with, her attention fully on the hockey player beside me. She stretches her arms out and he heads straight for her, swooping her off the floor in one solid go.
I was not prepared for the sight of Connor with a toddler on his arm, especially not when she starts poking him in the cheek and he goes along with it, holding his breath and blowing out his cheeks until they’re round and bloated. She giggles, squealing with excitement.
“Fine.” His mom sighs, dropping onto the couch, and I instantly blush, horrified at having his mom sitting in the place where he made me straddle him last night.
I glance away to find Connor eyeing me with a wicked grin, and the heat in my cheeks instantly spreads down my neck. I fight the urge to pull at the neckline of my sweatshirt and retract my head back into it like a turtle.
“You’re always spoiling my fun,” she continues, oblivious to the secret glances passing between her son and me. I would die if she ever found out. “For the record, you’re exactly as pretty as he described you.”
“Mom!” he exclaims, and I watch as the petite woman on the couch doubles over with laughter. “Stop trying to embarrass me.”
“You make it too easy.”
He shakes his head, but it’s followed by a soft smile when he drops down on the floor next to his sister and sets his niece in his lap. When no one seems too bothered by my presence, I decide to make myself feel at home, dropping into the armchair, steering clear of the couch.
Connor’s sister grills him for updates on hockey while his niece plays on the floor between them.
He keeps his eyes on the toddler, letting her climb all over him whenever she wants as he answers her questions. But there’s a tense edge to his voice when he talks about hockey that I haven’t heard before.
Connor skips practice to spend time with his family. I disappear to my room after lunch to give them a few hours to catch up, while I curl up on my bed with my laptop trying to finish the chapter I finished last night before he distracted me.
Later that night, Connor lures me out of my room with the promise of food. He cooks for us as his sister interrogates me over a glass of wine at the kitchen island, their mom playing with Ellie on the floor in our living room.
Having his family here is nice. It gives life to this place—makes it feel more like a home. No wonder he wants to graduate early so he can be closer to them.
“You have to give me all of the dirt on my brother,” Sarah insists, bumping her shoulder against mine.
“What makes you think there’s any dirt to dig up on me?”
“Because I know you.” She sticks her tongue out at him, and he does the same to her. I can’t help the laugh bubbling out of me.
He raises his brows at me, looking amused. “Why are you laughing?”
I ignore his question, leaning closer to Sarah instead. “The first time I met him, he walked in on me naked in the shower, dressed in nothing but his boxers,” I whisper conspiratorially.
Sarah’s eyes bulge, wine spilling out of her nose. “You’re kidding.”
“Oh, I wish I was.” I laugh.
Connor points at me with the end of a spatula, his eyes pinched and head slightly tilted. “You’re just as bad as the women in my family.”
“Mm, and you’re a proper nightmare to live with.”
“I’ve never heard you complain before, Tulip,” he teases, rounding the counter to poke me in the side. My mouth falls open in surprise when he grabs my wineglass off the counter, stealing a sip from it before sliding it back in my hands. He grins back at me, knowing exactly what he’s doing.
“I’m not surprised you haven’t, it’s impossible to get a word in with you around.” Sarah snorts beside me, oblivious to the wordless conversation taking place between me and her brother.
Connor turns back to the stove and starts to quiz Sarah about her upcoming college applications. Apparently, she’s applying for one of Southbay’s remote marketing degrees, which will allow her to spend time with Ellie and still live at home.
I sip my wine and watch the muscles in Connor’s back work under his T-shirt as he stirs the saucepan, their conversation quiet background noise to my silent appreciation of him.
I think he knows I’m watching him too because he keeps stealing little glances my way. It’s not enough to make me look away.
Halfway through the bottle of wine, Sarah and I help Connor set up for dinner in the living room. Our small apartment doesn’t fit a dining table, but neither of them seems to mind as we line up plates and cups on the small coffee table.
I set the bowl of pasta down in the middle while Connor pulls up Netflix on the TV, letting Ellie choose a program. Her excited squeal reaches a peak when an image of a cartoon snowman flickers across the screen, and before I know it the opening credits to Frozen are running.
“Not again,” Sarah groans, dropping down on one end of the couch. “You always let her watch that.”
“Because she always wants to watch it.”
“She’s two. She’ll watch whatever you put on. You just want to suck up to her.”
“It’s not my fault I’m her favorite person.” He sweeps up the toddler and places her in his lap again. She nuzzles against his arm, round eyes glued to the TV. I have to force myself to look away from the image of Connor with his niece on his lap.
It’s not fair for a man as hot as Connor to be this good with children.
I should have known he would have been a natural at playing uncle after seeing him coach the little league team through their last game, but there is something about watching him lying on the floor while his niece climbs him like a monkey tree that has my insides doing dangerous flip-flops.
The four of us talk quietly over the movie while we eat, the movie keeping Ellie entertained.
Sometime within the first half of the film, Sarah starts telling me about the time Connor read The Shinning and begged to sleep on her floor for a month after.
“I was trying to protect you,” he says defensively, topping up his mom’s glass. He’s moved to the couch beside her, Ellie now passed out in Sarah’s lap.
Connor’s mom scoffs at his weak defense. “You were scared shitless,” she exclaims, sending both Sarah and I into a fit of laughter.
“Mom!”
“What?” she asks innocently, taking a big swig of her newly filled glass.
“You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“Then stop being such a liar.” She grins, sending us into another fit of laughter.
When I catch Connor watching me it’s with a smile that feels too soft and real for dinner with his family. It makes my heart skip a beat in my chest, and I realize that despite this going against all of my rules, it feels good.