Page 32 of Verdict

See. I can do this.

Ava was just the mother of my daughter. I was not at all fixated on her, and she was definitely not the reason for my dry spell.

The date was going well, or at least I thought it was.

Evelyn looked beautiful. She had her blonde hair slightly curled into waves and wore a dress that showed a whole lot of leg and an impressive amount of cleavage.

I’m not complaining.

The conversation flowed easily enough. She didn’t know much about baseball—which was actually refreshing—and she was an elementary school teacher. On paper, she was a great option… for a guy who wanted a relationship. I didn't do serious. I didn't do love. But she was good company for now.

By the time we got our first course, I was feeling pretty proud of myself for not checking my phone—not at all looking for texts from Ava. She had only entered my brain twice, and only because Evelyn had mentioned her father was a lawyer and that her family owned a ranch with horses. So, could you really blame me?

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. The grip on my fork tightened, trying to resist the urge to grab it. It vibrated again.

Evelyn noticed my discomfort. "Cohen, I can hear your phone vibrating. You can check it. You have a daughter, after all," she laughed softly.

I flashed her an apologetic smile. "Sorry. Thanks," I quickly grabbed my phone and saw a text from Ava—the sight of her name definitely not sending a little thrill straight through my body.

Trouble: I had to send you this video. Ellie giggled!

Completely forgetting Evelyn was in front of me, I clicked on the video and nearly died from the cuteness. I melted into a puddle at the image of my daughter giggling as Ava tickled her chubby neck rolls. I laughed to myself.

Pulling my attention from the video, Evelyn cleared her throat. "Cute video of your daughter? I can hear her giggling." She smiled.

I nodded and turned the phone to show her.

Her brown eyes softened at the sight of my daughter. "Oh my goodness, she is so cute, Cohen!"

I looked down at my phone again and started flipping through several of the pictures Ava had sent. "I know. She's the best." I couldn't wipe the smile from my face.

Evelyn began to talk about—actually, I wasn’t sure what, because I was still completely focused on my phone and the text conversation Ava and I were in the middle of.

She tapped the table in front of me. "Hello? Cohen? Did you hear me?"

"W-what? Oh. Sorry. What did you say?" I still didn't look up from my phone.

"Cohen. I've been talking for ten minutes." There was now a slight edge to her voice.

I put my phone down. "I'm sorry. I'm done. Go on."

She was about to start talking again, until my phone vibrated—causing me to immediately pick it up again and read the text from Ava. I began typing out a reply when Evelyn placed her hand over my phone.

Okay, rude.

"Hey. I think I'm going to head out." She began to push out of her chair.

I looked up, confused. "What? Wait. Why? We haven't even gotten our entrées yet."

She sighed. "I don't think you really want to be here, and I don't think you're ready to date. You can take my entrée home to whoever you’re texting." Evelyn flashed me a sad smile before turning and heading out the door.

And the sad part was—I didn’t even care.

Chapter 9

Ava

"Ican't decide if she looks more like you or Coh." Aria tickled Ellie's belly, pulling the most adorable giggle from her.