Page 14 of Rock the Cradle of Love
“It’s fine.” Turning to S’more, he says, “Puck Baby is Emma. I’m adopting a little girl, three months old.” No one needs to know any other details. That would be inviting way too much speculation.
“Congrats, Thirsty. That’s awesome, but sudden?” S’more says, eyebrows rising in surprise. The seats around them fill up.
Noah shrugs. “Not really. I’ve always wanted a big family. The stars aligned and I got lucky.”
S’more waggles his eyebrows and chuckles. “Is that so?”
“Not like that,” says Noah, smiling too, but ugh. He forgets about innuendo most of the time. Not having a sex drive means sex isn’t usually a consideration in the things he thinks, says, or does. Which is surprising considering he’s been surrounded by hormone-driven boys and men for the last ten years of his life. It’s surprising he hasn’t been more influenced by the rampant sexuality of the locker room.
“Oh, by the way,” says S’more. “Linda and I are planning our end-of-season barbecue in the next couple of weeks. We’ll text you the date and time.”
Noah and Taylor both nod, but the coaches arrive and the chatter dies away. They rehash their last several losses and the room feels weighted with regret and anger. The mistakes were stupid and are nothing that training drills can fix—not that they won’t skate their blades dull come pre-season. Everyone could have done better, but there’s nothing for it now. The season’s over.
Noah’s gotten random texts from Daphne throughout the day on Emma’s mood or activity, and he can hardly wait to hold her in his arms. She seems to be doing better today and that reduces his own anxiety.
Emma’s delight at seeing Noah that afternoon rivals his at seeing her.
“She’s been good-natured most of the day,” says Daphne. “Only about thirty minutes of outright crying.”
“That’s good news, sweet pea,” Noah says to Emma, holding her airborne and jiggling her a tiny bit. She grins widely and reaches for his face. “Wait till Uncle Taylor hears. He’ll be so excited.” Once she’s secure in his arms again, he says, “I can’t thank you enough, Daphne. I know a crying baby can wear on your nerves.”
“I’ve had plenty of experience, hon, don’t worry about it. See you tomorrow morning?”
* * *
The evening passes much like the previous one, although with much less crying. With a normal amount of crying, Noah thinks, but she’s still fussy.Ish.They eat and walk around the complex again, although Noah leaves the sheet in the house and just carries her. It’s a gorgeous spring evening, and a few more people wave this time.
Back in the condo, Noah lies on the sofa flipping through channels and Emma snuffles quietly on his chest. Nothing looks interesting. Eventually, he puts Emma to bed, but he’s not tired yet. He’s gotten a decent amount of sleep the past few nights and he and Emma have gotten into a routine, so he no longer feels exhausted. During the season, he’s usually up until midnight or later since games rarely start before seven and end around ten. By the time they’ve done press and showered and gotten home or to the hotel, it’s usually closer to midnight. It’s just after ten now.
He plays Xbox for a little while, but it’s not nearly as much fun playing by himself as it is playing against Taylor. He turns off the console without saving his game and switches over to Netflix. All of his “Continue Watching for Noah” titles are actually all Taylor’s selections and things they’d watched together. Even though it’s his account, he doesn’t want to watch anything without Taylor. That’s an odd feeling to have, though.
Noah sinks into the couch and closes his eyes. He actually misses Taylor. Which is crazy because they’d spent most of the day together at the barn. Sitting together, having lunch, watching game tape, cooing over the pictures Daphne’d sent of Emma.
But last week, with Taylor around, his condo seemed so much more like a home and less like a place he just hung his hat. He hadn’t known there was something missing until it had made an appearance. And Taylor. Well…Noah likes him a lot. Likes him more than he realized apparently. But Taylor has his eye on someone, and even if he didn’t, there’s no way he’d want to be with Noah. Taylor’s never made a secret of his hookups or his love of sex. Considering Noah has no libido, he and Taylor are about as compatible as an elephant and a fly.
Well, just because they aren’t the next Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, doesn’t mean they can’t keep being friends and hanging out.
Noah pulls out his phone and opens the messaging app.Hey…you still up?
Folding laundry, Taylor replies followed by a frowning face emoji.What’s up?
Emma’s asleep and I’m bored. Although, I suppose I should do laundry… I think Emma misses you. She was kinda fussy tonight. Dinner tomorrow?
Noah doesn’t mention his own desire to see Taylor. There’s no point and it might make things awkward, so he doesn’t.
Yeah, sure. I’m missing her too. Is that weird?
Noah smiles.Not at all. See you tomorrow.
He gets a smiley emoji in return.
Chapter Six
Taylor knocks at half past six. Emma’s screams penetrate the door and he knocks again.
Noah looks frazzled when he yanks the door open, bouncing Emma on one arm, and Taylor is reminded of just last week. Noah’s hair resembles a bird’s nest and there’s an orange stain on his tee shirt. Emma’s face is splotchy pink.
“What the hell?” Taylor asks.
