Chapter 23 Evan
My parents always raised me right. To say please and thank you. To treat others with respect. To not cut in line and wait for my turn. They also taught me not to lie, and until the other night, I thought I’d done them proud.
We’re doing this once. This will get it out of our systems, I’d told myself over and over again.
I knew the second I’d said it that I wasn’t being honest with myself, because doing it once with Flo McKenna has not got it out of my system, nor did I actually believe it would.
Fuck me, all I can think about is seeing her come apart for me.
Maybe it was crossing the line, pushing the boat out just a little too much, but never has a woman made me feel the way she does.
It’s almost as if she has this witchy control over me.
Like, she’ll give me one of her sassy little smirks and I’ll melt into a puddle on the floor by her feet.
It felt like we both needed what happened the other night, though.
There was so much pent-up frustration that only the other could fix.
Only, it hasn’t helped in the slightest because I want her.
All of her. And not just when it comes to sex.
I’m not sure what it means for us, but I know I want her to stick around.
I care about Flo a lot. She makes me feel valued and appreciated.
Sure, I get that from my sister and mother, but it’s different when coming from someone who’s not a family member.
From someone who doesn’t have an obligation to stick by you.
Flo McKenna makes the world feel lighter and brighter. She sees me, and I see her for the loving, brash and independent woman she is. I know that whoever ends up with her in the future will be a very lucky man.
It’s unfortunately just not me.
My cleats bite into the grass as I push myself off the line back in our home stadium during practice, run straight towards Bennett, and do my best to dodge him.
Only, he barges his body into mine, sending us both tumbling to the ground, leaving the ball rolling off in another direction.
All I hear is my heartbeat, like a drum, but Bennett’s smiling face grounds me as he grips my arm and pulls me up along with himself.
“Better luck next time, West.”
I grumble, frustrated with how my head is rolling today. I can’t think straight because my mind is full of thoughts of my firecracker nanny.
Silly me thought I’d make her blush with my comments, and even though I noticed how her eyes hazed over and her ears tinged the tiniest bit, she wasn’t much fazed by my flirting.
In fact, she met me right there.
Then, my eyes were drawn to my son wearing the cheesiest grin I’ve ever seen, sporting a mini jersey that looked just like mine, and I immediately knew Flo had made.
She loves that kid. I see it in the way she looks at him.
When he smiles, so does she, and it’s almost like they have some kind of telepathic connection.
“Alright, gentleman! Let’s call it a night with practice. I’ll see you all bright and early Thursday.” Coach turns to me. “Except for you, Evan. Have a great birthday.”
I throw my coach a glance that silences him because I don’t want to be reminded of how I’m turning thirty-four in two days, but he simply chuckles as he walks away.
“Evan, can I ask you a question without you taking that big stick you keep up your ass out and stabbing me with it?”
I deadpan Sam as he smirks at me. “What?”
“I’m going to ask Flo out tonight. Are you cool with that?”
My tongue twists in my mouth, and I clamp down on it. Did I hear that right? “Why are you asking my permission?” I try my hardest to keep my voice straight, but it comes out in a bite.
“Maybe because of that reaction.” Bennett cocks his head at me with curiosity.
“I… don’t care if you ask Flo out.” What a fucking lie. It’s taking everything in me right now not to wrap my hands around Sam’s neck and choke him until he promises never to look in my nanny’s direction ever again.
“Okay, cool. I was thinking of taking her to this awesome sushi restaurant that just opened up.”
My lips flatten. “Flo doesn’t like fish.”
“What does she like then?”
“As if I’m going to help you seduce my nanny.”
Bennett chortles beside me. “Sounds like someone’s a little bit jealous, West.”
“I’m not jealous.” I glare at him, shaking my head.
“Is that why you’ve got steam coming from your ears?” Sam grins at me. His eyes are encouraging me to speak up now, or he’s going to pounce.
But I can’t. Flo doesn’t usually work in the evenings, so I can’t tell him she’s busy looking after Leo. I've already expressed my eagerness to spend tonight with my son to the guys, and even if I were to tell Sam that I despise the idea of him dating my nanny, what am I supposed to say?
Actually, she walked in on me showering the other night in New York, and we ended up masterbating together, so no, you can’t ask my nanny out?
My sister would be growling at me right now. She’d demand I tell Sam where to go, that I don’t want him touching the woman I’m living in denial about wanting and needing. But the fact of the matter is, I can’t be that selfish.
She has a life to live. She’s wild and free.
The bottom line is that I have no choice but to let her go.
“It’s not my business what Flo does in her spare time. If she wants to date a scrawny little Sid the sloth look-alike such as yourself—” I nudge his shoulder as I force a sideways smirk—”then she can.”
God, I really am not selling it to them. How do actors do this shit?
“I’m going to ignore that subtle little dig just because you’re jealous, but thanks. Do you think she’ll be all good with going to The Salty Dog? They serve pretty good food in the evenings.”
Sam’s understanding of pretty good food is limited to cheese-covered fries and deep-fried mozzarella sticks, but Flo isn’t a snob, and it’s a place she loves to eat.
“She has to say yes first, Sam,” Bennett reminds him, and Sam throws him a middle finger as he wanders through the tunnel towards the locker rooms.
We follow, and Flo appears in the hallway with my son on her shoulders, clinging onto her long locks as if they’re reins and she’s the horse. As soon as she spots me, she beams but blinks as Sam appears in front of her.
Flo and I haven’t discussed what happened between us properly.
Sure, she’s made some jokes that hold truth about having a damn good orgasm with me, and then sends me a wink and gets back to whatever she was doing, but now that I’m looking at her holding my son, wearing that jersey he refuses to take off, I’m positive that this woman isn’t out of my system.
She’s been injected into my veins, and like a heroine addict, I need more.
We’re far enough away that it doesn’t look like Bennett and I are eavesdropping, so I lean against the hallway wall and remain quiet, trying my best to listen in, much to Bennett’s amusement.
“The Salty Dog?” Flo’s eyes slide over to me, but when I don’t make a move, she narrows them, gaze settling back on a beaming Sam, who’s staring at my nanny with heart-shaped eyes.
“They serve killer cocktails. I’ll get you a Sex on the Beach, on me.”
Flo hikes an eyebrow up just as I do, and I have to bite down on the inside of my cheek to stop myself from saying anything I can’t take back. “We don’t really have beaches in Montana.”
“I was talking about the drink.”
“Sure you were, bud.”
Sam’s face drops a little when Flo uses the nickname, but he still wears his cheeky, boyish grin that I’m sure I used to have when I was his age. The kid’s nine years younger than me, but has the confidence of a hundred men.
“I was going to take you out for sushi, but Evan said you don’t like fish.”
Realisation washes over Flo’s features, and she pinches her brows together before flitting her eyes to me again. “Oh, he did, did he?”
Okay, maybe lying about the fact that Flo hated fish was a low blow, but I hadn’t been thinking. I’ve seen her eat salmon a handful of times, and even though I expect her to rat me out, she doesn’t.
“Yeah, I’m not a huge fan.”
A small smile morphs on my face, but I push it away once Bennett bats his eyelashes at me like he’s some kind of cartoon princess. My fist collides with his stomach, and he splutters, choking on his laughter.
Still, I don’t say a word. Do I want Flo to think I’m some jealous prick who now believes I have some possessive claim over her just because of what happened the other night? She’s her own woman. She can do what she wants. We both understood it was a one-time thing.
Flo blows a huff of air out of her nostrils when her eyes return to me, and shakes her head. “You know what? Mae’s working there tonight, so I don’t mind heading down.”
My jealousy is bubbling over to the point where I might drown in it, and Fo lifts Leo from her shoulders, placing her hand on the small of his back to guide him to me.
I greet him with open arms, straightening his jersey and pinching his cheeks, but I watch with envious eyes as Sam grins at the girl I find myself looking at far too often, wishing she were mine.
“You’re definitely okay with Leo for tonight?” Flo’s giving me an out, but I don’t take it, simply ducking my head in a nod. She’s not mine to claim.
I’d called it a one-time thing in my head, trying to force the narrative on myself, but I now see it for what it is: a fast-developing obsession with this woman.
“Okay. I won’t be back too late.” Flo hums. “Or, actually, maybe I will.”
My Adam’s apple bobs. Sam’s a good-looking man, and what happens if one drink turns into five, and she ends up—
“Is that a problem, West?”
“Why would that be a problem?” My chest expands as I take a deep breath.