He shrugs. “Haven’t seen her. Probably still sleeping.”
“Should we talk about that kiss last night?” I ask, my voice low just in case she’s up.
His eyes meet mine for a few heated seconds, and just when he opens his mouth to say something, we both hear Ivy’s door open.
His jaw clamps shut, but before she walks into the room, he whispers, “I want to do it again.”
My face is as red as a tomato when Ivy walks in, but I do my best to pretend everything is completely fine as I yell, “Happy birthday!”
I rush over to toss my arms around her, and she laughs.
“Happy birthday, little sis,” Dex says to her, mussing her hair, and she rolls her eyes as she runs her hand over it to smooth it out.
“When do I get to meet my nephew?” Ivy asks.
“Tomorrow, probably.” And then he surprises the hell out of me by saying, “I ordered breakfast about a half hour ago, so it should be here any minute. And for your birthday gift, I booked you two deluxe spa treatments for the day, the salon after, a personal stylist, and reservations at one of the hottest new restaurants in town. Go out, live it up, have some Vegas-style fun.”
My jaw drops. “What?”
“I’ve got Jack,” he says. “All day, and night, too. You two go out. I’ll get him from my coach’s place in a bit, and we’ll have a boys’ day. I only have a few days left until camp, and then I’ll be out of town for two weeks. I have to get in my time while I can.”
I can’t tell if he’s trying to get rid of me, get rid of his sister, or if he genuinely wants to spend time with his son now that he has all the facts.
The hopeful part of me wants it to be option three. The cynical part of me thinks it’s option one.
But there’s something else he said that’s news to me.
“Wait…what?” I ask. “What’s this about two weeks?”
“I didn’t tell you?” he asks.
“Didn’t tell me you’ll be gone for two weeks? Yeah, no. That didn’t make it into our conversation,” I say. “Where are you going?”
“I’m sorry. I thought everyone knew. The entire Aces organization travels to California for the first two weeks of training camp.”
“So you leave Monday?” I ask flatly.
“Yeah. Is that okay?” he asks.
“I mean…do I have a choice other than for it to be okay?” I know I sound a bit whiny, but so far, while I’ve taken on the majority of the work with the baby, I haven’t taken onallof it. Dex is still here to help and give me time off.
But he won’t be around for two entire weeks, and then his season will be underway, and I have no idea what to expect as we head into that.
“Sorry,” he says again. “I really thought you knew.”
I don’t argue because maybe it is common knowledge that just didn’t make its way to me, yet he still glances over at me. In a quiet voice, he says, “Everyone deserves a day off once in a while. And with me heading out for camp, I figured this was a good time to do it.”
I press my lips together. “Thanks, Dex,” I finally say. “That was really nice of you. You and Jack today…you got this.”
He smiles and nods. “I know I do. I’ve been watching you for the last three weeks. And I ordered those peepee teepees, so I’m all set.”
“Peepee teepee?” Ivy repeats.
“Long story,” I say with a giggle.
“Oh, did you two see this?” Ivy asks. She flashes her phone at us and reads the headline aloud as we follow along with her. “Aces DE Dex Bradley No Longer Single.”
Dex raises his brows, and his phone starts to ring before he says anything. “Excuse me.”
