Page 36 of Play For Keeps

“These are beautiful, thank you,” Everly says, setting the flowers I gave her on the counter. “I’ll just put them in a vase.” She opens the cupboard above the fridge, standing on her tiptoes.

“Here, let me help you with that,” I offer, rounding the bar. Everly steps out of the way, but the kitchen is so small she can’t go far. I pull a vase from the cupboard, handing it to her, and a pretty pink flush creeps over her cheeks when our eyes meet. She startles when the oven timer goes off, then slips by me to grab an oven mitt from the counter. She lifts a pan of chicken and potatoes out of the oven, the scent filling the room.

“Why don’t I put these in water for you?” I tell her, grabbing the bouquet.

“Birdie, do you wanna help me?” I ask, placing the vase under the tap. I turn the faucet, then jump when a jet of cold water shoots straight at me. “What the…!” Thankfully, I recall that Birdie is in the room and stop myself from finishing that sentence. Putting one hand out to shield myself, I reach for the tap again, turning it off. Beside me, Birdie is squealing with laughter. Everly hands me a towel, trying and failing to stifle a laugh as well.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think to mention that the tap is wonky. It’s been like that since we moved in, I’ve just been too busy to ask my landlord to fix it. We’ve kind of learned to work around it. Duck and take cover, right Birdie?” Everly says to her daughter, who is still cracking up.

I do my best to dry off, then toss the tea towel on the counter. “Let me fix it. Do you have a wrench?”

Everly peeks up at me with an amused look in her eyes. Fuck, she’s cute when she’s having fun. Hot too, but I need to behave.

“Um... no?” She shrugs.

“Do you have a tool of any kind?”

“Why would I have tools? I wouldn’t know what to do with them.”

Good point. “I’m coming over tomorrow to fix this for you. You can’t live like this.”

“No, Jake, it’s fine. I can call my landlord. You don’t need—”

“I’m coming over tomorrow. It will take me 10 minutes. Now, Birdie are you going to help me with the flowers?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Yes!” She hops on a kitchen stool next to her cat stuffy.

“Great. We’re gonna need a pair of scissors.”

I wrap my hand around the tap before turning it back on slowly to fill the vase. I unwrap the flowers while Birdie skips to a kitchen drawer to find the scissors. Then she does as I show her, taking each flower and carefully clipping the stem and then adding them to the vase.

“They’re looking great,” I tell her, tugging on the end of her blonde ponytail gently before looking at Everly. “Her broken arm hasn’t slowed her down.”

Everly chuckles, shaking her head. “Not one bit.”

“I’m really good at putting flowers in a vase. Mommy loves having flowers in the house. Says they make people happy because they trigger our happy brain,” Birdie says confidently, and I can’t help but smile. I love hanging around this kid, she’s hilarious.

I catch Everly watching us, and I wink at her, making the blush of her cheeks pinken even deeper. She looks away, busying herself with dinner. I love that I can make her flustered. The flirting has been pretty one-sided, but every time I’m with Everly her walls seem to come down a little more.

“Okay, now where should we put them?” I ask Birdie.

“I think the coffee table is a good idea. Mommy likes her flowers there,” she says hopping off the stool. “I can do it.”

“Are you sure? Even with your arm in a cast?”

“I’m sure.”

I hand her the vase and watch the way she catches her bottom lip under her front teeth like her mom often does. She walks carefully towards the coffee table, then sets the flowers down.

“Ta da!” she exclaims, then turns and runs back towards me. Thankfully I anticipate what she’s going to do next and catch her when she jumps into my arms.

She squeals, wrapping her tiny arms around my neck while I tickle her sides making her giggle like crazy. “Jake!” She laughs and I tickle her a little more before I set her down to the floor. This kid. She is too cute for her own good. “I’m not really ticklish!”

I turn my gaze to Everly, who is laughing, watching Birdie and me from the kitchen. My heart tightens. My eyes drop to her mouth, drawn to her smile, and a warmth spreads through my entire body.

“Next time try her feet.” Everly winks before carrying a stack of dinner plates to the table.

“I’ll remember that,” I nod with a smile.

---