Page 61 of The Way We Collide

“She’s not a free agent. We’re together, so back off.”

He holds up both hands, laughter twinkling in his dark eyes. “I feel you. Just asking.”

My phone buzzes, and I think it might be my brother. Instead it’s a video of Haddy laughing and playing with a squeaky toy followed by a photo of her napping in one of those cribs. The attached text from Sherri says she’s having a great day, and my chest relaxes.

I quickly forward the message to Raven.

Just got this—looks like she’s having fun.

Raven

She’s so happy! I’m so relieved…

Tell me about it. What did you think of KCLA?

Raven

Interesting… I took the internship (thumbs up emoji)

Congrats–can’t wait to hear all about it! Ready for pickup?

Raven

OMW

I watch the video of Haddy laughing and squealing at the squeaky toy one more time, and warmth spreads through my stomach. I’ve only seen her that happy when she found my thinking football and tried to roll over it.

It was a proud moment for me. Then she put her mouth on it and probably got every germ in the world, and Raven fussed at me.

I’ll have to ask Sherri the name of that toy.

“So isinterestinggood or bad?”I’m giving Haddy her dinner while Raven unpacks our just-delivered grocery order and tells me about her day.

As soon as we got home, she changed out of her jeans and sweater into another pair of shorts that showed off her legs and hugged her ass.

She matched them with a beige, long-sleeved sweater that’s loose around her waist and falls off one shoulder. It’s thin, revealing a black jog bra underneath with a zipper down the front. It gives me all kinds of dirty thoughts.

“It’s a really small station.” She rises onto her bare tiptoes to put a box of crackers away, and I stop, mid-bite to watch her calves flex, that shirt rise higher on her back.

“Yeah…”

Dropping down again, she turns, and I quickly resume feeding our daughter. I pop a spoonful of cereal into Haddy’s little bird mouth, and her blue eyes track me like she knows I’m not paying attention to feeding her.

“I mean, you warned me it was small, but I didn’t expect it to bethatsmall right here in the middle of LA.” She walks over to smooth Haddy’s hair back and plant a kiss on the top of her baby head.

Haddy fusses, wiping at her with her hand and opening her mouth for more dinner.

Raven’s wide eyes meet mine, and she laughs. “Excuse me, Miss!”

“She’s tired. We had a busy day, didn’t we, Hads?”

Raven’s expression warms as she trades me the empty bowl of cereal for a jar of baby carrots.

“I really liked Star, though,” she continues. “She seems like a good manager.”

“She’s cool.” I nod, giving Haddy a bite of carrots, whichshe proceeds to spray all over me while motorboating her lips. “Gah… would you hand me a towel?”

Raven snickers before handing me a damp cloth. “She said a lot of nice things about you. How you always talk to their reporters on the field when some of the other guys don’t.”

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