“Any idea how long you’re going to have custody of Kyrie?” Ryker asks, not bothering to sign, before grabbing the baby carrier and turning for the family room.
Ashton waits to answer until we’re in the family room, facing Ryker. “According to her lawyer, she’s looking at anywhere from five to ten years, depending on the degree of the charges when she goes to trial and what he can get knocked down.” She sounds broken, even more so than before. And I want to kill her mother for doing this to her and the perfect baby I’m holding while her big sister freaks the fuck out. Finn walks back in with a plastic baby bag in hand and stops when Ashton looks like she’s about to cry. “How am I going to do this?”
My brother drops the bag and wraps an arm around Ashton as she tucks her face against his chest and shakes. “I’m aprofessional ballerina. I barely make enough to keep myself alive. I forget to feed myself half the time. I share a two-bedroom apartment with three other ballerinas, and we almost always have one or two people crashing on our couches. I don’t know the first thing about babies. I’ve never even held one before today.”
“It’s okay,” he says gently, running a hand up and down her spine, and the urge to physically remove him from her body is strong.
Not good.
I shut that shit right the fuck down and grab the diaper bag instead of standing here, staring at the woman I’d just been inside last night. Time to get this little lady changed before I drop-kick Uncle Finn out of my house.
“Have you talked to your dad?”Ryker asks, and man, I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of the look this woman throws his way.“Got it. Coach Carmichael is off-limits.”
“Stay here,” Finn tells her as he guides her to the couch and pretty much forces her to sit. “We can help.”
“But my job?—”
“Ash... How are you going to work right now? Who’s going to take care of Kyrie? You can’t even leave the state.”
Shit. Does my brother have a thing for Ashton?
“I can’t invade your bachelor pad,” she tells him, and I laugh as I finish changing Kyrie.
“It’s not his. It’s mine, and there’s plenty of room for you both.” Words I never thought I’d say to Ashton. “It’s the offseason, so Ryker and I are around a lot more now than we will be in a few months.”
“Yeah. We can help,”Ryker agrees.
She sits silently, thinking about the offer for a minute. Her eyes going to Finn, and yup, that bothers me too. Fuck. I have no business being possessive over this woman. Not when she’s notmine. Christ, we can’t stand each other on a good day. But the feeling is there anyway.
“What about my job?” Ashton closes her eyes, and Gus picks that moment to acknowledge her existence. He jumps up onto the couch and drops his big, fat head in her lap. “Umm... Who’s this?”
“Ashton, meet Gus,” I grin. “He’s our guard dog.”
“Like Gus, Gus?” She digs her finger in the fur behind his ears, and he purrs like a damn cat before closing his eyes. “FromCinderella?”
I close my eyes, and Ryker and Finn laugh their asses off.
“Whatever, assholes,” I grumble.
“Wait.” She smiles. “I’m right? You named your dog afterCinderella?”
“No,” I groan. “I let Maverick’s daughter, Rosie, name him.”
“Sucker,” Finn laughs, and for a minute, so does Ashton before she catches herself and stops.
“For a pretty lady.” I look at Ashton, and we lock eyes for a half a second before she looks away. Fuck, this is going to be hard. “Always.”
“We’ll figure out your job, Ash. You need help. You can’t do this alone.” Finn’s trying to help, but if he was sitting there, telling me what to do, I’d probably knock his ass out. I love him, but I can see how his need to fix everything for everyone can be suffocating. He’d never try that with me. Smart man.
“You guys really want me and a baby here, throwing your entire house into chaos?” She’s asking all of us, but she’s looking at me. “We’ll probably kill each other by the end of the first week.”
I adjust a sleeping Kyrie in my arm and hold her like a football. “I can behave if you can, Ace.”
And just like I thought, with a challenge thrown, Ashton straightens her spine and crosses her legs as she holds my stare. “I’ll believe it when I see it, Murphy.”
“So you’re staying?” Finn asks, relief flooding his voice.
“I guess I am... for now. I’ve got to figure a ton of things out though. Like what exactly a three-month-old needs.”
