ALEX
Today I was celebratingthe birth of my baby girl but it wasn’t actually her birthday. I was happy that theactualday fell on a Monday this year and we were celebrating on Saturday.
The last two years, the date had fallen on a weekend, so the celebrations were on the day. This would be easier. Today would be all about Lexi and then on Monday, I wouldn’t feel as guilty about remembering AJ and Ash.
As I stood in the renovated church which had become a roller-skating rink, I did my best to be in the moment, not to think about the past or the future so I wasn’t—as Charli so eloquently put it—pissing on the present. But, as often happened when I wasn’t actively thinking of other things, my mind was filled with thoughts of Sadie.
Like a piece of magnet, my eyes drifted toward the table where Sadie was setting up the cupcake tower. Her hair was pulled up in a ponytail. She wore jeans that molded to her ass like a second skin and a pale pink T-shirt with the Sweet Temptations logo on the chest. The color reminded me of the blush that rose on her cheeks whenever I was buried deep inside of her.
I cleared my throat and shifted my weight from my right to left foot. Thinking of being with Sadie was just as dangerous a road to go down as thinking of Ash and AJ. There were different potholes, but potholes all the same.
It had been one week since I’d shown up at her door with the Mickey ears. I still couldn’t believe that I’d actually bought her those. It was one of the cheesiest things I’d ever done. Since it was followed by one of the hottest moments of my life, I supposed it had been worth it.
“Everything is set.” Mia stepped beside me.
“You’re staying, right?” Mia had been at every one of Lexi’s birthdays. Not as an employee, as a guest.
“Of course, I might have to leave a little early, though. I have plans.”
“Really?” I never asked Mia about her personal life. I figured it was none of my business.
Nick, on the other hand, had asked her. A lot. Every time he saw her, when she was off the clock, he flirted relentlessly with her. She never gave him the time of day. I’d noticed that she seemed equally as uninterested in Maddox.
There’d been a lot of discussion, between Maddox and Nick over where her preferences landed and what she identified herself as. I never weighed in. She worked for me and I considered her a friend, her sexual identity or preferences had zero bearing on my relationship with her.
But, if I was being totally honest, I was curious.
“Yeah.” She cringed slightly. “I have a date.”
It wasn’t very often these days that I saw Mia nervous. When she’d first started working for me, her nerves had been apparent most days. But after about two years, I noticed her confidence growing. Now she could run the world and not break a sweat.
“Anyone I know?”
“Nope. He’s a trainer at my gym.” She bit the inside of her mouth as her eyes widened. “He’s very...into fitness. I’m not sure what we’re going to talk about. And I haven’t dated anyone since…well, it’s been a long time. I don’t know why I agreed to go.”
She looked like she either wanted to throw up or cry, or both.
“Anyone who gets to spend time with you is lucky,” I reassured her.
Her head spun toward me. She opened her mouth, but then closed it again. For a moment she just stared at me and I noticed that there was moisture forming in her lower lid. If my comment was going to put her over the edge of one or the other, I was glad it was crying and not puking.
“Thank you, Alex. That…means a lot…”
Fuck.Seeing her getting that emotional over one kind statement made me think I might need to consider giving her affirmation more often.
“Sorry.” She sniffed and wiped beneath her eye before turning and looking out over the rink. “Sadie looks beautiful tonight.”
Yes. She did. She looked beautiful every night. And every day. And every morning. And every evening. Every hour, every minute, and every second.
Mia hadn’t mentioned Sadie since before the Disneyland trip, which had been a No Sadie Talk Zone. I could tell she was testing the waters to see if it was okay to bring her up. Since I didn’t want to encourage that line of conversation, I kept my expression blank.
It worked.
Mia changed the subject.
“It’s too bad Mrs. G couldn’t be here.”
“I know.” She’d tried to beg, borrow, and bribe her way to get to this party but she wasn’t up to leaving the rehab facility and I wasn’t taking any chances with her health. I’d threatened to put a security guard outside her door and she knew I would do it, so she finally agreed to stop slipping the staff hundreds to sneak her out of the building.
