Page 44 of Played
My earlier thought about her being dangerous isn’t an exaggeration. Those other women—they weren’t threats. But Adina? She wouldn’t be faceless, nameless. She wouldn’t be forgettable.
And that was a betrayal.
“Daddy!” I blink, so lost in my thoughts I didn’t notice Khalil and Adina climbing down from the engine and approaching me. Malcolm and the older fireman, Jared, who I learned is a lieutenant here, join them. Khalil throws his arms around my knees and tips his fire-helmet-covered head back, a grin so wide I can count all thirty-two. “Daddy, Fireman Jared said he’s coming to your game! Can he sit with me?”
Adina scoffs, shaking her head. “Did you put him up to that?”
Jared holds up his hands, the smirk quirking his mouth contradicting his wide eyes.
“I’m innocent, I swear. Besides, I have tickets.” Lowering his arms, he nods at me. “Thanks again for that, Solomon.”
I swallow a snort. “Yeah. No problem.”
The man basically extorted game tickets from me in exchange for her parents’ address.
“Daddy, can Ms. Dina come with us to the ’seum?” Khalil asks.
I glance at her, and I’m not proud of the sudden bottoming-out of my stomach or the rapid thud of my heart slamming against my ribs.
Or the fierce, deafeningFuck yesthat roars in my head.
There’s little I’m afraid of; other than harm coming to Khalil, I’m numb to that shit. That tends to happen when the worst has already happened. But this sensation crip-walking down my spine?
Fear.
Fear of how loud that voice is and the lust that streams through my veins on the heels of it.
“Li’l man, Ms. Adina is still working. She has to be here just in case there are any fires.”
“Oh.” He frowns as if he’s thinking hard on my excuse. Then his expression clears, and he’s smiling up at me again. “Can she come over to our house later? Can we have pizza when she comes? You like pizza, Ms. Dina?”
Holy shit. My head spins from the barrage of questions and switching of topics from my son. I can’t even blame anyone else. He inheritedthat bulldozer of a personality from me. It doesn’t feel great being on the receiving end of it. And it feels even worse to have to tell him no. But fuck me, am I finding it difficult to come up with a reason. Well, other thanSorry, son. But if I have her over to the house, your dad might end up deep in the guts of your new buddy.
Yeah, not appropriate.
“Khalil—”
“Hey.” Adina hunkers down in front of us, and Khalil turns around to face her. “Your dad’s right. Me and Jared have to be here all night just in case someone needs our help. But anytime you want to come by and see us, we’ll be here, okay? Promise.” She holds up her fist, and after a moment, Khalil bumps it. Adina smiles and stands, cupping his shoulder. “I had fun with you today.”
“Me too,” Khalil says, but his voice has lost some of its enthusiasm, and Adina’s expression softens, her gaze flicking to me. The glance is too quick for me to catch what she hides in those brown eyes, but damn if I don’t want to grab her chin and force her head back toward me so I can read her, decipher her secrets. “Bye, Ms. Dina.”
“Notbye, Khalil. See you later.”
His voice is slightly lighter when he replies, “See you later, Ms. Dina.”
She shouldn’t be making promises to my kid. Especially ones neither one of us can keep. Intend to keep.
“Thanks for letting me bring him by. This was cool of you.”
“Of course. You have a great boy. Anytime.”
Our gazes lock, and for a long beat, there’s silence between us that even the honks and dull roar of traffic or Jared’s conversation with Khalil can’t penetrate.
“I’m going to take Khalil in to say bye to the rest of the guys,” Jared says, and I jerk my attention away from her in time to catch the unsubtle smirk riding his mouth.
“Uh-uh! Notbye. It’ssee you later, Fireman Jared!” my son loudly corrects him.
Chuckling, Jared dips his chin. “My bad, li’l man. You’re right. Let’s go tell everyonesee you later.” Hiking an eyebrow at me, he asks, “That okay?”
