Page 61 of Play Fake
CHAPTER 24: Dex Bradley
I Missed You
I set Ainsley in the back of the car and motion for Ivy to get in next, and then I take off my shoes and toss them into the nearest garbage can before I get into the car. No need to carry the reminder of what just happened.
Or the smell.
We get back to my place, and I thank Milton for helping me out in a pinch while the ladies head to their rooms.
He lets me know that Jack slept through it all, for which I’m grateful. I get Jack upstairs into his own bed again, and I make myself a drink and head over to my favorite thinking spot in front of the windows.
I figure the girls are both passed out by the time I’m a third of the way through my whiskey, and that’s why I’m surprised when Ainsley sidles up beside me. Her hair is wet, and she’s wearing a bathrobe, so I assume she took a shower.
“Thanks for coming tonight,” she says softly once she’s standing beside me. She doesn’t turn to look at me, and I study her in the reflection of the glass.
“I thought something was wrong,” I admit.
Her eyes meet mine in the glass. “I’m sorry.” She clears her throat. “I should go lay down. I still feel drunk.”
I nod, and before she turns to go, I ask, “Why’d you text me?”
“I missed you,” she whispers.
She leaves, and once I hear her door click shut, I whisper, “I missed you, too.”
I decide I’ll handle Jack when he wakes up for his feeding at three in the morning, but he sleeps through it.
I’m up at six just in case he wakes up. He must’ve known it was my night because he didn’t wake at all. In fact, when six rolls around, he’s been asleep for eleven hours.
It’s one of the first nights he didn’t wake for a middle of the night bottle, and I’m wondering if some of that had to do with him adjusting to his new environment and these people who were strangers to him while the mother he knew walked away.
I hear him starting to rustle over the baby monitor about a half hour later, and I’ve already finished a cup of coffee and my protein shake.
I set his bottle on a warmer and head into his room before he starts to cry, and I change his diaper first. I’ve changed a handful of diapers now, and they’re not perfect, but I’m starting to get the hang of it.
I take him out to the couch, and I feed him.
And since I missed my morning run on the treadmill, I leave a note for the girls letting them know I took Jack for a run, strap him into his jogger, and head down to run outside with my kid. We run to the nearest park, and I take him out of the stroller to put him into the swing while I catch my breath.
By the time we get back to my place, I’m a sweaty mess, and it’s a little after ten. Both my sister and Ainsley are awake, and they’re sprawled on the couch in a way that looks like they don’t plan to leave anytime soon.
“Oh my God, is this my nephew?” Ivy asks, getting up gingerly from the couch as Ainsley sits up.
I park the stroller by the door and get Jack out, and I hand him to Ivy.
“Ivy, meet Jack. Jack, this is your Aunt Ivy.”
“He has your eyes,” Ivy says, staring down at my son.
My son.
It still sounds so weird.
She coos over him for a bit while I head toward the kitchen to refill my water.
“I’m gonna go shower,” Ivy announces, and Ainsley helps set the baby into his bouncer as Ivy takes off toward her room.
Ainsley follows me into the kitchen, already showered and not looking any worse for the wear considering the shape she was in last night when I found her at the club.
