I take a quick shower, letting the hot water beat some sense into me, then throw on a pair of athletic shorts that have seen better days and one of the training shirts the Grizzlies’ front office keeps sending me. I finger-comb my hair, because using an actual brush would require giving a shit, and head downstairs.
“She loves blueberries,” Piper says from where she’s sitting with Ellie in her lap at the massive granite island. Light streams through the east-facing windows, turning her hair into spun gold.
I nod but don’t say anything in response, because I might have just swallowed my tongue.
I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than Piper Hartactually smiling at me, like she’s forgotten to hate me for a few seconds. Like taking care of a traumatized two-year-old is the best way she can think of to spend her morning.
Ellie grins and bounces excitedly when she notices me standing there, revealing a mouthful of half-chewed blueberries. The sight hits me like a blindside tackle, and the ginormous ball of tension that’s been lodged in my chest since the day I got the call from Troy’s estate attorney—telling me my friends were gone and I was now responsible for a tiny human—shrinks ever so slightly.
“Thanks for getting up with her. You didn’t have to do that.”
Her smile dims like I just told her Christmas is canceled, and I don’t know what I said wrong, but I’d take it back in a heartbeat if it meant restoring the light to her eyes.
“I was already up,” she tells me, cradling Ellie a little closer. “And I heard her.”
I rub my hand over the back of my neck, guilt shooting up my spine. “She was crying, right? And I slept right through it. Guardian of the year over here.”
Piper’s eyes go gentle again, doing annoying things to my stomach. “She wasn’t crying, just talking to herself. You know the little morning noises babies make. The door was open and…” She pauses, studying me with those bleached-sky eyes that see too much. “You seemed tired last night.”
“Fuc—” The word tries to escape before I can catch it. Ellie stares at me with curious eyes. I clear my throat and try again, this time with the kid filter on. “Fudging exhausted.”
Piper’s eyes sparkle with barely suppressed laughter. “Fudging. That’s a good one, Felix.”
“Yeah, well…I’m trying.” And failing spectacularly. I haven’t slept more than a couple of hours in a row since becoming an instant parent. Even on the rare occasion Ellie manages a full night, I lie awake wondering how the hell Troy thought I was the right choice for this.
“Why don’t you have a nanny?” Piper asks, shifting Ellie so the girl can grab another blueberry.
The question hits a nerve. “I fired my third one a few weeks ago.”
Her eyebrows climb toward her hairline.
“I came home from a meeting with the estate attorney and found the nanny naked in my bed.” I pause for emphasis. “Uninvited, in case that needed to be said.”
“Oh my God.”
“Which is the second time that’s happened, and this round I specifically requested a woman old enough to be my mother. Potentially my grandmother.”
“Are you hiring nannies off Tinder?” Piper asks, and there’s that edge, sharp and teasing.
A surprised laugh escapes me. “That’s not a thing.”
She rolls her eyes, and the ball of tension shifts a little, making room so I can take a deep breath for the first time in weeks.
I like the way Piper dishes it out. She doesn’t treat me as if I’m sports-celebrity special. To be honest, I like a lot of things about her. Way too many things.
I pivot toward the coffee maker like it holds the answers to all the questions I can’t answer on my own. “Mind if I grab a cup?”
“Help yourself. There’s creamer in the fridge.”
“I take mine black. Like my soul.”
“Like your soul,” she says at the exact same time, and when I turn to look at her, she’s fighting a smile.
Edges indeed.
“What happened to the one nanny who managed to keep her clothes on?” She dabs a napkin to Ellie’s chin, which is covered with drool and bits of blueberry peel.
“The one who didn’t attempt to seduce me suggested I give Ellie a little nip of brandy. Said her grandmother swore by it to quiet a crying baby.”
