DROP THE GLOVES
BRIAR
After what might’ve beenthe best nap of my entire life, I’m awakened by the quick and familiar sound of Remi's feet racing down the hall. There’s a second of hesitation, giving me just enough time to fully ensure maximum blanket coverage, before she crashes through Koen’s door.
Koen rockets out of the bed, and I’m instantly grateful that, at some point, he slid on a pair of shorts.
However, Remi is staring at me with eyes wide open in surprise. “Mommy, are you sick?”
I run my hands down my face, once again checking the blanket and tucking it tighter under my arms. “No, baby, Mommy’s not sick.”
She tilts her head to the side, her clever little eyes studying me. “Then why are you in bed?”
“Mommy…Mommy was just so tired and cranky she needed to take a little nap.” I smile, careful not to make eye contact with Koen.
Remi’s eyes slide to him. “AndKoenwas helping you sleep?”
“Mhmm.” My tone goes up in inflection, and I’m hoping my face is not as red as it feels. “Listen, baby, why don’t you go pickout something to wear to the game tonight, and I’ll come help you in two quick minutes, okay?”
Remi’s eyes narrow for another long moment of silence before she shrugs, spinning on her heel so fast it almost knocks her over. “Okay!” she yells, disappearing back out into the hall.
“Ohmygod,” I breathe, looking over to find Koen hiding a laugh behind his hand, the onenothiding a gun behind his back. Annoyed, I throw a pillow at him. He lets it hit him straight in the chest, arching one brow as if shocked at my audacity. “You don’t lock the door?” I grumble, shoving out of the bed while attempting to keep the sheet over me, half tripping over it in the process.
“Why would I lock the door in my own house?”
“Umm, for reasons similar to what just fucking happened.”
He smirks, sliding the gun back into the drawer in his nightstand, before frowning and taking it back out again. “I guess I have some childproofing to do…”
I stare at the drawer in open horror. “Yeah, I say you do.” I quickly retrieve my clothes from the floor and pull them on. Shaking my head, I move to follow Remi back out the door, stopping at the sound of Koen’s throat clearing behind me.
“Er—that chest of drawers there is yours.”
I freeze, following the direction of his finger, to a dresser tucked up against the door to the bathroom.
Koen runs a hand back through his hair, and I can tell he’s uncomfortable. “It — uh—it’s got some clothes in there.” He stares at me. “For you,” he clarifies.
“Oh.” I stare at the drawers before cracking a smile. “Awfully presumptuous of you, wouldn’t you say?” I turn back with a grin, only to be hit square in the face with the same pillow I’d thrown at him earlier.
“Get dressed, Briar Rose. We’ve got a hockey game to get to.”
Remi spends nearly the entire car ride to the game telling me all about the Breakers’ arena, what the locker rooms look like, the bench, how to work the scoreboard, how good the burgers are at the Chill Zone…everything.
“Wow, it sounds like you really got the full tour!” I say, finally getting a word in after she’s forced to take a sip of water after almost thirty minutes of non-stop banter.
“Mommy, I have a question?”
I open my bottle of water and take a drink. “Yes, baby?”
“Is Koen driving us to the game because he’s my dad?”
I choke, falling forward in my seat to recover. Koen might as well have crashed the car for how my heart stops in my chest.
“What?” I croak out. “Where did you—why do you think that, Rem?”
I shoot a look at Koen, who shockingly looks just as rattled as me.What do I do?I mouth at him from behind my water bottle so Remi can’t see.
Koen just shrugs, tightening his grip on the steering wheel until his knuckles are white.
