from what I heard, his was legit. Jack had changed his ways.
Tim still needed an ass kicking.
And he kept talking. “You already fucked her, didn’t you?”
I didn’t answer, and if he knew what was good for him, he’d shut it before I punted his worthless hide out of our fifth-story window.
“I’m going to bed,” I said.
“Dude, get the hell out of that mess. Fuck her once and toss her out. Don’t get mired with a bitch and a baby.”
“Don’t call her a bitch.”
Tim sighed. “She’s your agent. She knows what you make. She’s just looking for a sugar daddy.”
“Shut your mouth.”
“Just sayin’.” He shrugged. “She’s already got one kid. She knows how the game is played. Next thing you know, she’ll be poking holes in a condom and calculating out your child support. You don’t want to be paying a woman off on the DL. Believe me.”
I didn’t answer him, and I didn’t bother flicking the light off. I grabbed the lamp and hurled it against the wall. The room plunged into darkness, and Tim shut up.
Piper wasn’t that kind of woman.
She wasn’t looking for another baby. Rose was her world, and nothing was going to jeopardize their bond. I was just lucky I got as close to her as I had.
I’d never met a woman like her. She faced me without hesitation, without fear, and she gave herself to me in absolute trust.
And I dishonored that gift.
I’d fucked the ever-loving shit out of her. Ruthless. Desperate. I had ached to hear her moan, and my only desire that night had been to make her come harder than she thought possible. I’d wanted to make sure that if she ever wanted to feel that way again, she’d have to find it in my bed.
But the things I did, the way I’d taken her…
She deserved better than a monstrous rutting. Flowers. Candles. Music. I should have worshiped her. Instead I’d treated her like a goddamned whore. I’d wrapped myself in her body, slammed a thumb in her ass, and fucked her until I nearly passed out as she bucked and groaned.
At least she came so hard my sheets were soaked in her desire.
Nothing about women made any sense to me.
I held my phone in my hand. Silent. Should I have called her? It felt like the right thing to do. To…check-in?
I typed out the text. It sounded stupid in my head and I deleted it after only three words.
Did I have to say hi in a text? She knew who the message was from, right?
Christ. I had no idea what I was doing. I rarely sent texts. Never needed to talk to anyone before.
Never had to worry about a damn toddler falling asleep without her favorite toy.
I have the bunny.
Deleted it.
I found Mr. Rumpleass.
Deleted. She hated when I called it by the wrong name.
I have Mr. Bumpybottom.
I deleted that too. Hell if I was leaving a record of the word Bumpybottom on my cell phone bill. Besides, it wasn’t what I wanted to say.
The words flickered onto my screen.
Are you okay? Are you mad? Do you regret fucking me?
I deleted those too, hating myself with every typed character.
You deserve better.
I didn’t delete that one, but I didn’t send it. Instead I added to it.
You and the baby deserve better.
I almost hit send. Almost.
I knew Piper didn’t want to make anything complicated, and a text like that would fuck both of us over. It had just been sex. She’d wanted to get fucked, and I obliged. That was the end of it.
So why did I fall asleep worrying about both of them?
And why did I wake up, dress for the stadium, and carry the damn bunny with me to the locker room?
I rubbed the bunny for luck at halftime when we were down by three.
It worked. No wonder the kid liked the damn animal so much.
After a quarter of stuffing Ashenville’s offense, ours finally showed up. Tim scrambled for a touchdown five minutes before the end of the game, and we held Ashenville after I sacked their quarterback for a huge loss. The clean hit forced a punt, and we regained possession of the ball to run the clock out.
It wasn’t a bad win. Wasn’t a good one either, but I preferred to claw a victory out in the mud. It proved that we deserved it.
But I wasn’t sure what thrilled me more—winning the game…or coming home.
It was the middle of the night when I crawled into the house. The baby’s crying