Chapter 12
Jake
“Then cancel your plans” Tucker says on the other end of the phone as I race around my room trying to find the right shirt to wear.
“I’m not cancelling my plans.”
He groans. “What’s more important than the Yankees?”
“I can give you a list.” I put him on speaker and throw my phone on my bed then take off my dark-blue T-shirt and toss it onto the growing pile of discarded shirts. What do you wear when you want to impress a girl? Everything I put on looks like I’m trying too hard, which I am, but she’s not supposed to know that. I pull a light-gray one on instead, shaking my head at how wound up I am about tonight.
Normally I’d be all over beers and a game at Tuck and Holden’s place. But tonight, I’m having dinner with Everly and Birdie. And I’m fucking excited about it. And nervous. “I gotta go. Have a beer for me tonight.”
“Hold up, Jakey,” Tuck gets in before I hang up the call. “What’s going on tonight? You gotta date with beach girl? Please tell me you finally found your balls.”
“Not exactly a date, but close enough. I’m having dinner at her house with her and her daughter.”
“Shit, man,” Tucker says. “That’s a big fucking deal. You ready to hang with her kid?”
“Birdie is cool, I like hanging out with them. It’s not a big deal,” I say, not sure if I’m trying to convince Tuck or myself.
“So, it doesn’t scare you… that she has a kid?”
It’s a fair question. Not long ago, it probably would have scared me. But after the night at the hospital and breakfast the next morning, I can confidently answer it without hesitation.
“Not for a second.”
I do realize that Everly having a kid makes things much more complicated. If things between us didn’t work out, we’d have to be very careful with Birdie’s feelings. But I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, Everly is still keeping me firmly in the friend’s zone. If she would just let me in, I think we’d have a shot at something good.
“All right then,” Tuck says. “I’m here for ya. Always will be.”
“Thanks, man. I gotta run,” I tell him, then end the call.
I swipe some molding clay through my hair and brush my teeth. After one last check in the mirror, I grab my keys from the hook by the door and head out to my truck. Ten minutes later, I’m standing outside of Everly’s door with a small bouquet of flowers and a stuffed cat for Birdie that I found in a bin of stuffed animals near the till at the flower shop. I’m about to knock on their door when the door flies open. Birdie greets me with a smile as wide as a four-lane highway, her left arm in her hot-pink cast.
“He’s here!”
“Birdie Marie. What have I told you about opening the door without me?” Everly appears in the hallway, wiping her hands on a tea towel. She smiles when she notices the flowers in my hand.
“These are for you. I hope you like daisies,” I say to Everly, handing her the bouquet before turning to Birdie. “And this is for you, the bravest patient I know.”
“A cat stuffy, Mommy! Jake brought me a cat stuffy!” Birdie says, holding the stuffed animal out for Everly to see. Then she pulls the cat into her chest and squeezes it. “Thank you, Jake. I love it.”
Everly’s eyes are on me. Weeks of seeing those light hazel eyes and nothing has changed… they still do crazy things to my pulse. A wave of heat creeps up my spine. I normally don’t really feel things, but Everly is proving to be the exception to that rule.
My eyes trail down Everly’s body as she walks towards the door, taking in her toned legs and slim waist. She’s wearing a short, floral-printed skirt with a cropped, fitted T-shirt that reveals the smooth skin of her abdomen. Her chest looks fucking perfect too. My cock twitches in my shorts.
“Come inside.” Birdie grabs my hand, pulling me inside as Everly smiles and closes the door behind us. I follow her to the kitchen, where she carefully places the stuffed cat I gave her on a stool.
“These are beautiful, thank you,” Everly says, setting the flowers I gave her on the counter. “I’ll just put them in a vase.” She opens the cupboard above the fridge, standing on her tiptoes.
“Here, let me help you with that,” I offer, rounding the bar. Everly steps out of the way, but the kitchen is so small she can’t go far. I pull a vase from the cupboard, handing it to her, and a pretty pink flush creeps over her cheeks when our eyes meet. She startles when the oven timer goes off, then slips by me to grab an oven mitt from the counter. She lifts a pan of chicken and potatoes out of the oven, the scent filling the room.
“Why don’t I put these in water for you?” I tell her, grabbing the bouquet.
“Birdie, do you wanna help me?” I ask, placing the vase under the tap. I turn the faucet, then jump when a jet of cold water shoots straight at me. “What the…!” Thankfully, I recall that Birdie is in the room and stop myself from finishing that sentence. Putting one hand out to shield myself, I reach for the tap again, turning it off. Beside me, Birdie is squealing with laughter. Everly hands me a towel, trying and failing to stifle a laugh as well.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think to mention that the tap is wonky. It’s been like that since we moved in, I’ve just been too busy to ask my landlord to fix it. We’ve kind of learned to work around it. Duck and take cover, right Birdie?” Everly says to her daughter, who is still cracking up.
I do my best to dry off, then toss the tea towel on the counter. “Let me fix it. Do you have a wrench?”
Everly peeks up at me with an amused look in her eyes. Fuck, she’s cute when she’s having fun. Hot too, but I need to behave.
“Um... no?” She shrugs.
“Do you have a tool of any kind?”
“Why would I have tools? I wouldn’t know what to do with them.”
Good point. “I’m coming over tomorrow to fix this for you. You can’t live like this.”
“No, Jake, it’s fine. I can call my landlord. You don’t need—”
“I’m coming over tomorrow. It will take me 10 minutes. Now, Birdie are you going to help me with the flowers?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Yes!” She hops on a kitchen stool next to her cat stuffy.
“Great. We’re gonna need a pair of scissors.”
I wrap my hand around the tap before turning it back on slowly to fill the vase. I unwrap the flowers while Birdie skips to a kitchen drawer to find the scissors. Then she does as I show her, taking each flower and carefully clipping the stem and then adding them to the vase.
“They’re looking great,” I tell her, tugging on the end of her blonde ponytail gently before looking at Everly. “Her broken arm hasn’t slowed her down.”
Everly chuckles, shaking her head. “Not one bit.”
“I’m really good at putting flowers in a vase. Mommy loves having flowers in the house. Says they make people happy because they trigger our happy brain,” Birdie says confidently, and I can’t help but smile. I love hanging around this kid, she’s hilarious.
I catch Everly watching us, and I wink at her, making the blush of her cheeks pinken even deeper. She looks away, busying herself with dinner. I love that I can make her flustered. The flirting has been pretty one-sided, but every time I’m with Everly her walls seem to come down a little more.
“Okay, now where should we put them?” I ask Birdie.
“I think the coffee table is a good idea. Mommy likes her flowers there,” she says hopping off the stool. “I can do it.”
“Are you sure? Even with your arm in a cast?”
“I’m sure.”
I hand her the vase and watch the way she catches her bottom lip under her front teeth like her mom often does. She walks carefully towards the coffee table, then sets the flowers down.
“Ta da!” she exclaims, then turns and runs back towards me. Thankfully I anticipate what she’s going to do next and catch her when she jumps into my arms.
She squeals, wrapping her tiny arms around my neck while I tickle her sides making her giggle like crazy. “Jake!” She laughs and I tickle her a little more before I set her down to the floor. This kid. She is too cute for her own good. “I’m not really ticklish!”
I turn my gaze to Everly, who is laughing, watching Birdie and me from the kitchen. My heart tightens. My eyes drop to her mouth, drawn to her smile, and a warmth spreads through my entire body.
“Next time try her feet.” Everly winks before carrying a stack of dinner plates to the table.
“I’ll remember that,” I nod with a smile.
I feel a wave of gratitude that they have let me into their little world. I am in awe at what an incredible mother Everly is, and Birdie is such a great kid. I want more with Everly, but for now this feels pretty damn good.
Birdie comes to stand next to her mom, and Everly bends to kiss the top of her head. “Dinner is almost ready, Birdie. How ‘bout you go wash your hands?”
Everly gently squeezes Birdie’s chin before she skips down the hall to the bathroom. As Everly finishes setting the table I ask her if I can help with anything. “Feel free to put me to work.”
“Everything is ready but thank you. Now, what can I get you to drink?”
“I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
“Two iced teas it is.” She grabs a pitcher from the fridge and pours us each a glass. “Thank you again for the flowers. I love them. You know, you made Birdie’s entire week by being here tonight.”
“Getting the invite made my whole week too,” I say, my eyes glued to hers. Shit. I am in trouble. All I can think about is kissing her perfect pink lips, finally getting to know what they would feel like against mine.
The room suddenly feels too small. I’ve spent the better part of the past three weeks thinking about this girl. Would it be okay if I kissed her? Has she had a change of heart about being friends and nothing more? My pulse starts to pick up, but just then Birdie runs back into the kitchen. Before taking her seat at the table, she reaches for her cat and places him beside her plate.
“Daisy is eating with us too,” she announces.
“Daisy?” I ask. “Is that her name? Good choice, Birdie.”
“Like the flowers you gave Mommy,” she says with a grin.
My eyes find Everly’s, and that feeling, that longing, immediately returns. I’m starting to feel like I’m losing my mind. I need to know what she tastes like, and I need it to happen soon.
Get it together, Jake. It’s just dinner.
But I want more. Yes, I want a lot more with Everly, but how do I get there? We have chemistry, that is undeniable. But we also have a lot standing in our way. Her ex-husband, for one. Then there’s the age gap, which Everly seems hung up on. Oh, and until a few weeks ago I was still imagining Jade coming back from Italy asking for a second chance.
There is also Birdie. The kid is amazing, and she clearly is everything to Everly. I would never want to do anything, even inadvertently, that could somehow hurt her feelings.
Just a few months ago, I wasn’t even sure I wanted kids. After losing my parents, it’s not something I really saw for myself. I’ve always worried that my grief would impact my ability to be a good dad. I still think it will. But being around Birdie has me questioning all of that.
“Let me top you up,” Everly says with the pitcher in her hand. “Then we’ll sit down to eat.”
I am painfully aware of her proximity to me, of the curve of her hips and her smooth skin. I’ve lost count of all the times I’ve jacked off to those images of her or suffered through a cold shower in the last few weeks.
I feel like I’m 17 again. How much longer can I resist her?
“Cheers,” she says with a smile, extending her glass to me.
I clink my glass with hers, locking eyes. The emotion I see in her eyes seems to mirror my own, and I wonder if maybe she feels the same way. She tips her glass to her mouth, her long, slender neck taunting me.
“Thank you for this,” I tell her, taking a sip and then setting my glass on the counter.
“For what? A glass of iced tea?”
“For inviting me tonight.”
She doesn’t say anything in response, but the heat in her eyes is there. She swallows, and I sense the apprehension in her. She’s holding back. Why is she still so nervous? Is it our age gap? Or is it that she’s been burned before?
She has to know I’m nothing like her asshole ex. I wish she would just give me a chance to prove that to her.
Birdie tugs at my sleeve, interrupting my thoughts. “Jake, want to do something fun?”
“Like what?”
“We can play Nintendo.” Birdie looks up at me with pleading eyes. “I have Mario Kart!”
“Right now?”
“Yes!”
Everly shakes her head, bringing dinner to the table. “After dinner, Birdie. We’re going to eat first.”
Everly scoops a serving of chicken, potatoes, and roasted cauliflower on Birdie’s plate, and I try not to laugh when I see her scowl at the vegetables. Her expression speaks for itself.
“Mommy, can me and Jake please play Mario Kart after dinner?”
“If Jake’s up for it, baby.”
“Only if I can be Luigi,” I tell her, spooning the cauliflower onto my plate.
“You can.” Birdie nods. “Eat fast, Jake. Then we can play.”
Everly raises her eyebrows at Birdie. “We will enjoy the meal I cooked and when we are done, and you’ve taken your dish to the sink, you can play.”
“Okay,” Birdie says. Then she leans into her mom’s shoulder and whispers, but I can hear every word. “Mommy, should I warn him that I’m really good?”
Everly leans towards Birdie, but her eyes are still on me, a mischievous smile on her face. “I think you should surprise him. He won’t see you coming.”
Everly winks at me. And in that moment, I am positive that I want more nights like this with these two.
It turnsout Birdie wasn’t kidding. She beat me fair and square the first time, and then we split the next couple of games. Eventually Everly stepped in to point out it was well past Birdie’s bedtime.
After some protesting, Birdie agreed to get ready for bed, but only after I promised I would read her a bedtime story. At first, I was nervous. Playing Mario Kart with her is easy—I’m a dude, I can play video games—but reading her a bedtime story is out of my wheelhouse. But after reading a couple of pages, my nerves eased.
Afterwards, I watched Everly tuck Birdie in beside her new stuffed cat, then she kissed her goodnight. I gave her toes a squeeze and then followed Everly out her door into the hall.
I’ve wanted to get to know Everly ever since that night I first bumped into her at Catch 21. After tonight, I know that I want Birdie in my life too. Part of me wonders if I’m moving too fast. Let’s face it, I don’t know the first thing about taking care of a kid. The crazy thing is… I really want to try.
Back in the kitchen, Everly sets two wine glasses down on the counter then asks me to grab the bottle of wine from the fridge. I crack the screw top then hand her the bottle and she pours us each a glass.
“Thanks for doing the dishes,” she says. “It was nice to have the night off. You seem to be spoiling me a lot lately.”
“Of course,” I tell her. Everly has been through so much. If doing her dishes and tidying up her kitchen after dinner gives her a break, then I’m happy to do it. It’s beginning to feel like I’d do just about anything for this girl and her daughter.
“I’m sorry that took so long. Birdie can drag a bedtime routine out for hours. Believe it or not, tonight was actually a sped-up version. I had to cut a deal with her to move things along.”
“Oh yeah? What did she sweet talk you in to?”
She leans against the counter with a smirk. “An ice cream date… that I may have agreed to invite you to.”
I grin at her. “If this is your way of asking me out on a date, Ev, the answer is yes. I give in, I’m all yours.”
Everly grabs a tea towel from the counter and swats it at my hip. “Don’t be smug, Jake Matthews,” she giggles. “And stop being cute.”
I wink, easily grabbing the tea towel out of her hands. Her eyes grow wide as she watches me wind up the towel. She takes a step back, but I have her boxed in against the wall of the tiny kitchen. “Jake! Don’t you dare. You wouldn’t,” she says through a laugh.
I keep winding the towel and Everly keeps on laughing. “Oh, I definitely would… unless you admit you want to take me on our third date?”
“Third date?” Her back is to the wall now. I have her trapped.
“Yep.”
“How do you figure?”
“First was the diner. Second date is tonight. Third will be our ice cream date.”
She narrows her eyes at me, hands on her hips. It’s fucking adorable. “Jake, you agreed the diner wasn’t a date.”
“I lied.” Then I gently smack the side of her hip with the tea towel.
“Jake!” She squeals, her hand shooting towards the polka dot tea towel as she tries to steal it from me. As she grabs hold of the fabric, my hands slip around her waist, pulling her back into my chest. We’re both laughing as she struggles to get loose. I must have close to 100 pounds on her, so she can wiggle all she wants, but she’s not going anywhere.
Our hushed laughs fill the kitchen. We’re trying not to wake up Birdie but we’re having too much fun. I squeeze her a little tighter. She laughs a little harder and squirms a little more, but it’s a half-assed attempt.
Everly’s laughter is like a song. I feel like I could listen to it for the rest of my life on repeat, volume on high in the car with the windows rolled down.
“Say it, Ev…” I hold her a little tighter.
“What do you want me to say?”
“You know what I want you to say.” This is the closest I’ve ever been to her. Her back pressed against my chest, the top of her head under my chin. I’m probably too close, hyperaware of her slender body rubbing against me and my eager cock. I wonder if she can feel that I’m sporting a semi in my shorts.
“Fine, fine… it’s a date, Jake.” She says through a laugh as I release the hold I have on her, my skin buzzing from the feel of her against me. “A date between friends. Birdie isn’t ready for anything more.”
I wish she didn’t tack on the word friends to the end of that sentence, but how can I argue? Birdie is always Everly’s main concern, and I admire that about her. She’s a good mom.
“We’ll go on a friend-date then,” I say, voice as steady as it can be. If it means I get another minute with Everly, then that’s what we’ll call it.
“Thank you, Jake. And thank you for everything this week.” Everly’s eyes meet mine. “It made all the difference that Birdie had tonight to look forward to. It’s so hard to see her upset. She’s my baby, you know? She doesn’t deserve to be put on the back burner, where her dad puts her. Then she breaks her arm.”
I clench my jaw before I say something about her ex and risk sounding like a total asshole. “She’s a good kid. She’s a handful sometimes, but she’s sweet and kind and she deserves to feel like she’s a priority.”
I can tell she’s upset by the way her shoulders tighten as she talks. My throat burns when I swallow down the anger I feel toward the man who somehow shares the same DNA as Birdie. How could any man neglect a kid like her? “Ev.” I tip her chin up, so she’s forced to look at me. “She’s amazing. And she has you. Everything is going to be okay.”
Her smile returns. “I may be slightly biased, but she is the best kid I know.”
I love the way she lights up when she talks about her. I think back to what I witnessed between Everly and her ex at The Dockside. The way he spoke to her, the terrible things he said. The way Birdie’s face crumpled when her dad left. I didn’t want to bring it up when Birdie might be able to overhear, but I feel like we can’t avoid talking about it forever.
“Do you want to talk about what happened at The Dockside?”
She flinches at my question. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“You’re sorry?” My tone turns gruff. “He should be sorry. Is he always that much of an asshole? Sorry, I don’t want to overstep. But I hated the way he was talking to you.”
She looks away and nods. I want so badly to pull her to me, to take her in my arms. But I don’t.
Instead, I hold out my hand to her and wait for her to take it. She makes eye contact for a moment, like she’s weighing something in her mind, then takes my hand. I tug her into the living room and we both sink down onto the couch, angling our bodies so that we’re facing each other.
“Will you talk to me?” I ask, her hand still in mine. “If it makes you uncomfortable you don’t have to. No pressure, but I’d like to be there for you.”
Everly swallows hard, her expression pained. I give her a hand a squeeze, my thumb rubbing over the tops of her knuckles. I sit and wait for her to tell me her story. We’re both silent for a moment, before she finally starts to talk.
“I married a monster.”