Page 34 of Game On

She put a gentle hand on my arm. “You’re doing fine. Lily told me about his nightmares and the co-sleeping. I can help with stopping that.”

“She told you that?”

She nodded. “Yes…and…other things.”

I groaned. “Like how I was an as—” I caught myself before I swore in front of Liam, “jerkface.”

She smiled. “Yeah.”

“I owe her dinner or something. She wouldn’t take payment when she babysat him.”

Mari shook her head. “That’s her pride showing. She likes roses and authentic Mexican food.”

I cocked my head at her. “Are you trying to get me together with your sister?”

She grinned. “Maybe. Look, you’re hot, and my sister’s been through it. She needs to relax for once.”

I shook my head. “I can’t give her something serious.”

“That’s not what I was trying to say. She’s not looking for something serious either. But you could have some fun together.”

“Why are you encouraging this?”

“Because…” She looked at Liam to see if he was paying attention. “She needs to get L-A-I-D. Think about it. Roses.”

“Roses?”

She nodded. “Yeah, that’s why she named her daughter Rose.”

“I thought it was Rosie.”

She nodded. “Yeah, but it’s tradition in my family for the women to have flower names. I’m Marigold, she’s Lily, Mom’s Violet, our grandmother’s name was Rose, so Lily used that as her excuse.”

I rubbed the arm where I had the tattoo of a rose in honor of my sister. “Rose was my sister’s name.”

Mari smiled. “Too funny.”

She knelt on the floor with Liam again, and I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. I was so glad I found Mari. She seemed perfect. Except for the part she was encouraging me to get with her sister. That was a bad idea. I wasn’t doing that at all. But I would take her to dinner to say thanks and send her flowers to apologize for being a dick. I owed her that at least.

Chapter Twelve

LILY

“Hey, you have a delivery,” Veronica told me as she came into the office.

I looked up at her and gave her a funny look when she brought over a bouquet of red and white roses. “For me?”

She nodded.

I pulled out the card, my brow furrowing in thought about who could have sent them. I didn’t have a regular schedule. I was back and forth between the tattoo shop and the bar. When I wasn’t doing that, I was going to interview after interview. So who could have known where to find me here today? And why?

I found the card and opened it.

Lil,

Sorry for being a dick. I still owe you dinner. Name the time and place.

-Logan