Winning my Best Friend's Girl - Piper Rayne Page 0,76
I undo her diaper. “Was that just for Uncle Kingston? You really are a Bailey if that’s the case.” I tickle her stomach and her mouth opens in a yawn.
After changing her diaper and grabbing the bottle, I head to the couch and cradle her with my arm. She takes to the bottle, sucking away, and I flick on the television.
My bedroom door creeps open and Stella walks out wearing my T-shirt. She leans against the doorframe, watching me.
“That should be illegal.” She points and comes to sit down next to me. “Good afternoon, Palmer.” Her fingers run up my niece’s torso before touching her nose.
“She eats like Allie,” I say and pucker my lips to Stella.
She kisses me way too quickly for my liking. “She’s a growing baby. How is Sedona?”
“Sleeping.”
Stella grabs the remote and stops the channel on soccer. Jamison’s old team is playing. His picture is plastered on the screen, even though he’s no longer on contract with them. The commentators are talking about him and his failed future.
I shake my head and look at Palmer, silently promising I’ll be his fill-in since he’s not deserving of her right now. Not to see her sweet mouth open in a yawn or the small smiles that might just be gas but can still turn your mood from sour to great. “Change the channel.”
Stella’s lips dip, but she turns it to a daytime talk show.
“I’ve been meaning to thank you,” I say to Stella, removing the bottle and propping Palmer up to burp her.
Stella watches me with fascination. “For what?”
“For spending so much time in Lake Starlight. For agreeing to spend some nights here so I can help Sedona. Everyone else has their own lives and I know they’re doing what they can to make room for Sedona and Palmer, but I also know Sedona doesn’t want to ask for help.”
Stella’s hand runs along my back then up to the back of my head. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m happy to help her. I can’t imagine what she’s going through. And watching you with a baby is not a horrible thing.”
Palmer lets out a huge burp and we both laugh.
I reposition her in my arm and feed her the rest of the bottle. “You like me with a baby?”
Stella sighs. “King, I saw the Instagram post-Sedona put up of you holding Palmer and how many women commented. You know as well as I do that you with her makes ovaries explode all over the world.”
I shrug it off. “I only care about making one woman’s ovaries explode.” I lean forward and kiss her.
“Don’t worry, they explode on a regular basis. Just happened two hours ago.” She snuggles into me.
“So you want to have kids?” I ask. I know she’s said she does, but the question feels like it holds more weight now that we’re together. We’ve never talked about what we want our future to look like.
“Yes, I want kids. Not a lot though. Not nine.” She widens her eyes.
I laugh. “Eight?”
“More like two?” She shrugs.
“Twins run in the family, so two pregnancies could equal three, or even four, babies.”
“I could handle that.”
I smile. “What’s your end game when you’re done with your residency?”
She shrugs and puts her head on my shoulder. “I was thinking of maybe having a family practice?”
“Really?”
She nods against my shoulder. “Being your family’s on-call doctor—” She chuckles. “I think family practice might be where I want to concentrate. I’d get to see a lot of different types of cases and patients—from young to old. I think that might be where I fit.”
“And where would you have this family practice?”
She slaps me on the chest. “Ask the real question you want to ask.”
I chuckle and it startles Palmer. The bottle pops out of her mouth. Stella takes the empty bottle from my hand and sets it on the table. I burp Palmer, and once again, she lets out a burp like a college kid who just did a keg stand.
“Are you staying in Alaska?” I ask.
She doesn’t answer right away, and I wait with bated breath. I’ll follow her wherever she goes this time and she needs to know that. “Yeah. I think I’d open a practice in Lake Starlight.”
Her full lips part and perfect white teeth shine as she smiles at me. My fingers thread through the back of her hair, pulling her mouth to mine.
“I fucking love you,” I say.
“I love you too, and you don’t need to say fucking for