Page 44 of Delayed Penalty

Even if I really fucking want it to.

“Thanks again for watching her,” I say to Hutch as we dig through the remainder of the Chinese takeout container, both of us looking for whatever scraps we can get.

I thought I had ordered enough, but it was clear when Quinn dug into it that I was gravely mistaken. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised given how loudly her stomach growled earlier and the way she ate that slice of pizza like it was the first meal she’d had in days. Looking back now, it could have been.

“Noft a pro em,” my captain says, hismouth full of garlic chicken and brown rice. He chews and swallows. “Sorry. Not a problem, man. She was fun.”

I tip my head to the side. “Really?”

He laughs. “All right, maybefunisn’t the right word, but she was easy. Didn’t throw a fit and wasn’t rude, so that’s a successful outing to me.” He shrugs.

I look over at Flora, who is seated at the dining room table we’ve only used one other time. Quinn is on one side of her, Auden across. They’re debating their favorite Disney princesses, every now and then looking to Flora to chime in, who mostly says she hasn’t seen a movie or doesn’t know who they’re talking about. And here I thought watching Disney movies was a rite of passage. Not for Flora, it seems.

I turn back to Hutch. “You don’t think that’s…unusual?”

He considers me a moment, then shakes his head. “Is she a little quieter than most kids? Sure. But is it unusual? Given that she’s been thrust into this new life out of the blue, I’d say no, not unusual. She’s likely just a little scared and maybe a little sad about not having her father around anymore.”

Oh, I highly fucking doubt that. I bet she breathed the biggest sigh of relief the second she was placed in the care of literally anyone else. There’s no way she misses that hellhole. When I flew out to get her, I took a detour by his house. I only made it three steps insidebefore I had to walk out or I was going to do something I’d majorly regret, like find the motherfucker and wring his neck myself.

But Hutch is likely right about the rest, or at least I hope he is. If not, that means my brother screwed her up worse than I thought, and it’s going to be really hard to kick his ass when he’s behind bars.

“You know,” Hutch starts, setting his Chinese to the side, and I get the feeling this is about to be a serious conversation if he’s putting his food down. “I haven’t talked to you one-on-one much this offseason.”

Oh god. Here it comes.

“How are you doing with everything that’s going on?”

Yup. Knew he was gonna say that.

I sigh, setting my own food to the side. “I’m fine.”

“Good.” He grins. “I’m impressed, you know.”

I shift from one foot to the other. “What do you mean?”

“By you. How you’re handling all this.”

I shrug. “No big deal.”

“But it is,” he argues. “You’ve come a long way. You’re a good guy, and I’m proud of you.”

I bet he wouldn’t be so proud if he knew that not even an hour ago, I had my new nanny pinned to the bed and was kissing the hell out of her.

“You’ve matured over the last few months.Definitely not that same punk-ass kid who came here from the Carolina Comets and caused trouble. You’re older and wiser, and now you’ve got this big responsibility, and you’re handling it.” He glances over the dining table at Auden. “Way better than I handled shit when I had to make big decisions, that’s for damn sure.” He shakes his head like he’s shaking away the memory of how things fell apart with them for a little while, then he looks back at me. “So, yeah, I’m proud. That’s all.”

I swallow down the emotion that claws at my throat. I didn’t realize I needed to hear all that until now. This has been hard with Flora, and it feels good to be recognized for the work I’ve put in.

I nod once. “Thanks, Captain. I appreciate that.”

He rolls his eyes when I call him captain. “Don’t start that shit.”

“Sorry, Captain.” I smirk, then dodge the dish towel he flings my way.

“So,” he says, flicking his head toward Quinn. “How’s that going so far?”

I trail my eyes to the table where the girls are still talking, not paying us any attention at all. Quinn is now resting both elbows on the table, one hand propping her chin up and the other playing with her hippos-in-tutus earrings as she gives Flora all her attention. She’s looking at her like the kid is saying themost important thing in the world, and for all I know, she could be.

As if she can feel my stare, Quinn turns, and our eyes lock for the first time since our kiss. All throughout dinner, we didn’t even so much as glance in the other’s direction. But now…now I feel like I couldn’t look anywhere else even if I tried. I see her swallow, see how her lips part and her breaths grow heavier. I see the way she wiggles in her chair just the slightest.

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