Page 1 of Our Broken Pieces
Chapter One
Marcus
“He was clearly fucking safe. That umpire is shit.” Gigi is on her feet, yelling at the TV.
“Language, Gigi.” I shield six-month-old Millie’s little ear as I hold her in my arms.
She lowers the volume of her voice. “Shit, sorry. Or sorry. Ugh, I need to get better about that.”
Gigi sits back down on the couch beside us and rubs Millie’s foot through her onesie, leaning over her. She’s close enough that I can smell her jasmine perfume. “Aunt G should be more ladylike around you, love bug. I’ll do better.” She makes a couple of absurd faces at the poor child.
Millie keeps a straight face as her blue eyes peer at her over her bottle. It’s 7:30, and she should be falling asleep soon. It’sFriday night and our best friends Linc and Melonie are out on a date night, so Gigi and I volunteered to babysit. I’ve never really connected with kids before, but Millie has made it known that I’m her favorite out of our friends and I don’t mind it. She’s a quiet, happy baby, and she’s a good listener. She doesn’t see me as standoffish; she doesn’t think I’m introverted. I’m just uncle Marcus, which is nice, so I’m happy to spend time with her.
Over the past six months, Linc has given me a crash course on baby care and now my guest room is filled with stuff for when she’s here. Small humans still make me nervous, so Gigi usually helps when I have her.
I met Gigi almost two years ago when my other best friend, Jax, introduced us to his then girlfriend, Audrey, and her two friends. We became quick friends, and we had a good time that night watching the aftermath of Melonie laying into Linc because they had hooked up a few months prior and Linc left in the middle of the night, creating a one-night stand. Linc was a bit notorious for those back in the day, and when he did it to Melonie, it came back to bite him in the ass. Long story short, after they slept together again the night of Jax and Audrey’s wedding, Millie came into the picture. Linc worked hard to win Melonie over and now they’re a family. I still don’t think he realizes how lucky he is.
Millie’s eyes are slowly closing, eyelids growing heavy, as she finishes her bottle. I set it down on the end table beside me and move her to my shoulder.
“I’m going to go lay her down.”
Before I stand up, Gigi places a kiss on her blonde hair. “Goodnight, love bug.”
I walk down the hall to her room and gently lay her in the portable crib I keep set up in her room. I lay her down, gently put her in her sleep sack, and pause for a moment to make sure she stays asleep before I leave the room.
“Sleep tight, Mills.”
I grab the baby monitor and return to the living room to retrieve the bottle to rinse out. “Do you want a beer?”
Gigi nods, her wild red curls bouncing. “Yes, please.”
I walk into my kitchen and clean the bottle, returning it to Millie’s diaper bag. I open the fridge and grab a couple beers, then I lock the patio door and turn off the exterior lights. I’m the only one of our crew that lives outside of downtown. I’m only about a twenty-five minute drive from Jax and Audrey, in a house I bought a couple years ago. After living in downtown Boston for years, I needed space. I was sick of sharing walls with strangers and wanted to be able to make a home my own. I have an open floor plan on the first floor, with Millie’s room and a guest bath to the side. I knocked down the walls on the smaller second floor and created a large master suite that takes up the entire space. My family owns a contracting company, so I got materials for cheap and had help with electrical and plumbing from some of the guys on the team.
I walk back to the couch and hand Gigi her drink. “Thanks, prince.”
Gigi gives everyone nicknames. Millie is “love bug”, Linc is “pretty boy”, and she insists on calling me “prince”. I hated it at first, but every time I protested, she just did it more, so I gave up and it stuck.
“You’re welcome,princess.”
The corner of her mouth turns up in a grin. “Princess?”
“If I can’t get you to stop calling me that ridiculous name, then it’s high time you get paybacks.” I take a drink of my beer, sitting down on the couch.
“What if I like it?” I turn my head to look at her and her green eyes are bright and she’s smiling.
Well, that plan backfired.
“Damn it. I’m not calling you princess now.”
“Oh, come on. You call Millie ‘Mills’. Now I can be ‘princess’. I think there’s a secret nicknamer hiding inside you.” She smugly nods.
“Maybe I’ve just been spending too much time with you,” I joke.
“Never! You love spending time with me!” Her hand slaps her chest like I physically hurt her with my words.
I shake my head and try to hide my smile. I bring my beer to my mouth so I don’t admit that I actually do love spending time with her. Always have.
It’s 9:30 a.m. on Monday morning, and I just sat down for my meeting with my father. It’s the weekly thirty-minute window for him to tell me what I’m doing wrong or give me a new assignment. It makes me dread Mondays even more than the average individual does.
