She held up two fingers right as Vanessa finished telling her husband—Zac had confirmed it on the way to the complex, explaining all about how all three of them had lived together for a few months years ago during the end of his time in Dallas—that the other boy needed to pee. “Fi, one more finger,” she corrected the little girl as she turned toward us.
Fiona flashed me three fingers, and I ooh and aahed over them. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Zac walk off with Aiden and the two boys to where I could only imagine was the bathroom.
“Your kids are so cute,” I told her. “The boys are huge.”
Vanessa snickered. “They take after their dad. I told Aiden they’re going to have beards by the time they’re thirteen, and women are going to think they’re full-grown men.”
I laughed. “I told Zac in the car that I thought the oldest one—Sammy?—could have been seven or fifteen, and I wasn’t sure.”
That made her laugh too. “They were both ten-pound babies.”
I didn’t mean to make a face, but I did, and fortunately it only made her crack up more.
“Everyone makes that face. Don’t feel bad.”
It was my turn to laugh, all awkward. “I’m sorry. How big was she?” I asked.
“She was a preemie. She was only about four pounds.” Her hand went to tweak the little girl’s bow.
Zac had explained in the car that they had originally meant to be Fiona’s foster parents, but they’d only made it a few months before deciding to adopt her.
The other woman glanced over her shoulder before turning back to me. “Bianca, before they come back, I wanted to ask… how’s Zac doing? I’ve been really worried about him. I’ve been so busy, and he doesn’t tell Aiden the same things he tells me, so I don’t really know if he’s doing okay mentally.”
Did I want to talk to this woman who I barely knew about Zac?
One look at her face, and thinking back on her brief mentions, and I knew he cared about her a lot.
So yeah, apparently, I did.
“He is now. He’s stressed, you know. During the off-season, I was worried about him too just from some things he was saying.” She frowned like she didn’t know about that. “But he’s really been focusing, and he hasn’t been going out at all that I know of except to do things with me. He’s under a lot of pressure, but he’s still being himself.”
She was already nodding before she finished talking. “I didn’t know about the off-season. Last year, I knew he was really struggling and making some dumbass choices I wanted to kill him over, but I wanted to make sure he wasn’t blowing steam up my ass when he’d tell me he was doing better now.” One corner of her mouth went up a little. “He told me you’d kick his ass if he didn’t keep his shit together.”
I snorted. “Nah, he doesn’t need me. He knows what he needs to do.”
She squinted at me a little, kind of smiled, and then shrugged a shoulder. “He’s got a heart of gold, that one, but I still—”
“What are you two gossipin’ over?”
It was Zac who set his hands on top of my head, fingers slipping through my hair.
“You,” I told him.
He groaned, his fingers still kneading at my scalp. I wanted to moan it felt so good. And of course that was when his phone started ringing. I heard him sigh and knew he pulled it out after he took his hands off my head. He tapped me on the shoulder. “It’s Amari. I’ll be right back.”
I tipped my head back to meet his gaze and nodded.
He smiled at me before he turned around and walked off a little bit. When I turned back toward the table, five faces were looking at me. Three small ones and two big ones. Vanessa was the only one smiling. I hadn’t even heard the other three come around.
They stared at me. They stared at me expectantly. I didn’t think a child had ever made me want to squirm more. Because I knew what they were doing. What they were asking themselves.
“I’d never do anything to hurt him or take advantage of him. He’s been my best friend since I was Fiona’s age, give or take,” I explained, so hopefully they wouldn’t keep looking at me like I was the bad guy.