Page 50 of A Match Made In Evan
Yeah…she wasn’t actually staying at Rose’s place all those nights she said she was. A sixteen-year-old with her daddy’s complete trust —even one as career-focused as Mia— is going to use that to her advantage. Who knew?
And the thing is, Jay and I have been too wrapped up in the excitement of our own relationship to notice.
God, I hope he doesn’t feel as guilty about it as I do, but I have the feeling he will.
By two o’clock, I give up all pretence of working. I tell my boss I need to head off, and she waves me away blithely, and then I shoot off a quick text. If I don’t talk about the thoughts eating me up inside, I’m going to scream.
Thankfully, a reply comes through within minutes, and I smile, tapping out my ETA of approximately twenty minutes.
***
“Come on in,” Will Bradford says genially as he opens the front door of his apartment. He steps back and waves an arm, gesturing for me to accept the invitation. “Please ignore the mess. The boys were here and they like to wreak a bit of havoc wherever they go.”
Despite his words, Will’s smile stretches out his silvery stubble. It’s obvious that he loves his grandsons —Jack’s sons— and is more than happy to deal with the trail of blocks, legos and other toys that they leave behind in their wake.
I smile back at him and step carefully over the scattered toys, “Pretty sure your girl will be joining them soon, won’t she?”
His and Connor’s daughter, Victoria, is somewhere between one and two, from memory. I remember when Mia was that age; a little toddler terror. It’s scary to think she may have one of her own soon enough, too.
“She already is,” he answers, bending to pick up some of the mess. “Con’s just changing her at the moment. He’ll be out in a sec.”
“Thanks,” I bend to help him, ignoring his protests. “Sorry for just springing this on you guys.” Technically, I sprung it on Connor, but his husband is a package deal, I guess, seeing as they live together and all. Jack lives in the apartment above them, actually, and again I wonder why I reached out to Con and not Jack, seeing as I’ve known Jack for longer.
“It’s fine,” Will responds, dropping his collection of blocks and stuff into the toy hamper in the middle of the room. I toss my handful in, too. He straightens up, rubbing at his back. “We’re always happy to have friends drop by.” Like Jack, Will has an American accent, and it’s always a bit jarring to hear it when I’ve been surrounded by other Australians all day. He points at thecouch. “Take a seat. Want anything to drink? Coffee? Tea? We might have a bottle of Coke in there…”
“Coffee would be great, actually.” I sit on the grey couch and watch as he crosses the living room and then potters around in the adjoining kitchen.
“—and there’s Daddy,” Connor sing-songs as he leads a toddling little girl, dressed in pink overalls, through the living room and into the kitchen. The kid squeals and wobble-walks speedily to her other dad, pudgy fingers curling into the denim of his jeans once she slams into his legs.
Will scoops her up and settles her against his hip in a fluid, one-armed motion, wrapping up his coffee making efforts with his free arm. He smiles and chatters to his daughter as he goes about his business, explaining every step of what he’s doing. “Let’s press this button,” he points to a button on Connor’s fancy coffee machine, “and it will make your other daddy’s coffeejustthe way he likes it.” She smacks at the machine. Will presses the button for her, and she squeals and applauds clumsily as it whirrs to life, grinding beans and steaming milk. “Good job, princess!”
Connor kisses both his daughter and his husband on the cheek before taking the mug out from under the machine, replacing it with the next in line.
“Do you take sugar?” he asks, and it takes a second to realise that he’s talking to me. I was too lost in their sweet domestic scene, wondering if Jay and I could have had something like that with Mia if we’d realised our feelings sooner.
If we could have something like that in a couple of years…
I clear my throat and give my head a shake, before smiling and accepting the outstretched mug. “Nah, just the milk’s fine, thanks.” Taking a moment to inhale the scent, I bring it to my mouth for a tentative sip, then sigh happily. Nothing beats a good coffee. “Perfect.”
Connor chuckles and, after grabbing his own mug from the machine, folds himself into the chair across from me gracefully. “Now, I’m sure you didn’t want to catch up just because you know I make the best coffees.”
“Ahem,” Will jokes as he wanders past us, Vicky still propped on his hip. “Whomakes the best coffees?”
Connor rolls his eyes affectionately. “Our machine.”
Will flips him off and I laugh at the exchange. It reminds me a little of me and Jay and the way we interact. Easy and sweet, with a little bit of banter.
“You don’t mind if I take her over to visit with Toby and Vi?” Will asks after a beat. “I figured I’d put her in the pram and go for a walk. He’ll be home from school by the time I get there.” He looks over at me to explain, “He’s a teacher. The walk from here is about half an hour, give or take. All downhill.”
Connor grins. “I’ll come pick you both up later. Plus, it will be nice to see Leo again. I miss having him upstairs.”
“It won’t be long before Jack begs him to move in again,” Will answers, heading into the hallway which leads to the bedrooms and bathroom. I can hear cupboard doors opening and shutting as he continues with a raised voice, “only this time it’ll be as his live-in boyfriend instead of his nanny.”
“Yeah, I know,” Connor agrees, then turns to me with a smirk, “we’re taking bets on how long that takes. Want in?”
“Nah. I’ve got enough of that kind of melodrama in my life right now. I don’t need to bet on someone else’s.”
Connor sits up straighter in his seat. “Oh? Does this have something to do with the gaudy ring you won’t talk about?”
