Page 4 of A Little Crush (The Little Things #6)

JAXON

I don’t like him. It’s not personal, but it’s true. Besides, he’s way too old for her.

My gaze falls to Rory at the edge of the pool all over again. Tatum’s on one side, Dodger’s on the other, and Raine completes the Rory-Dodger sandwich as she chats with her brother.

I don’t know much about him. I’ve never bothered to learn.

He’s a rockstar. Likes to travel. Fuck girls.

Never had a serious relationship, or at least, not any I know of.

And Rory? My brows knit as I search my memory for anything I should’ve picked up on over the years, but I come up empty.

I’m not surprised. After our families found out about Rory attempting to kiss me when she was still a kid, everyone walked on eggshells around me when it came to all things Rory.

I’m still not sure if she asked them to keep me in the dark, or if they decided some distance was needed on their own, but I never questioned it.

Never felt like I had any right to. She’s their daughter. Their sister.

I shove the memory aside as Maverick sidles up to me.

“Hey, man,” he says .

Tearing my attention from Rory, I look one of my best friends in the eye. “Hey.”

“Where’s Poppy?”

“She’s with her mom.”

“I thought Lia said you were bringing her?” Mav questions.

“I was planning to, but it’s Iris’s week, so…

” I let my words hang in the air, knowing Mav doesn’t need any further explanation.

Not when he had a front-row seat to the fallout of my marriage.

And it’s strange. How much a person can change.

How little you can know someone despite being married to them for years.

The woman I thought I loved—I thought existed—vanished into a wisp of smoke after Poppy was born.

And when I finally caught her cheating on me and suggested we go our separate ways because of it?

She flipped a switch and never looked back, choosing to paint me as the villain despite my best attempts to keep things civil for Poppy’s benefit.

“Fuck,” Mav grunts. “That sucks.”

I give him a half-assed shrug, my gaze wandering to Rory all over again. “Yeah.”

“How’s all that going, anyway?”

Focus , I remind myself.

Folding my arms, I mutter, “About as good as can be expected.”

“Did Chris move in with her yet?” he prods.

The name alone is enough to make my stomach curdle, but I keep my expression on lockdown. “A few weeks ago, yeah.”

“Jax!” someone calls.

Twisting in the water, I find Reeves with his arm half-cocked and a rubber football in his hand.

It flies through the air, and I open my palms to catch it.

We spend the next twenty minutes tossing the ball across the pool.

Each of us takes turns passing to Reeves’ oldest, Eli.

He’s seven and the cutest little shit I’ve ever met.

Before I know it, everyone slowly trickles out for naptime, a shower, or dinner with the in-laws, leaving me in the fading sun with my dad, Colt, and Maverick’s dad, Uncle Henry.

“You stayin’ for dinner?” Uncle Henry asks.

“Of course,” my dad returns. “You really think Ash is gonna let Rory out of her sight now that she finally gets to see her for a few minutes?” he challenges, mentioning my mom.

He’s not wrong. My mom loves Rory. Everyone loves Rory.

Maybe it’s because she’s the baby of the family.

Maybe it’s because she’s always been sweet as honey.

Actually, that’s a lie. When she was little, she hated everyone but her parents.

Well, her parents and me, but that ship sailed a long time ago.

Uncle Henry smiles. “Yeah, we’ve missed my baby girl, too. How ‘bout you, Jax? You staying for dinner?”

For more reasons than one, I shake my head. “Probably not. Iris needs me to drop off another bottle.”

The same sheen of understanding hits their faces, mirroring Maverick’s from earlier.

My dad scratches his jaw. “Is she, uh, still giving you trouble?”

“Depends on the day,” I return, despite how hard it is to take the high road after all the shit we’ve been through. Long story short? Yeah. She's giving me trouble. Hell, I’m not even sure she knows how to be pleasant anymore. At least, not when I’m around.

“Really wish she’d take Eleanor’s route,” my dad mutters, mentioning my birth mom.

Yeah, I was quite the surprise when my dad found out about me after falling in love with Ashlyn.

By some miracle, Ashlyn took it in stride, accepting a baby boy with his father’s eyes and treating me like her own.

And now that I’m in a similar situation, I’m finally starting to grasp how much of a miracle it really is.

I wonder if Poppy will ever have that. A loving step-mom who treats her as her own.

I wonder if I’ll ever have that, too. Another chance with someone who accepts my past. The good, the bad, and a pretty fucking adorable little girl who will always come first.

“It’s hard enough raising a kid when you’re not together,” my dad continues. “Add in the way Iris handles everything, and I don’t get it. Why she keeps giving you such a hard time. Eleanor was…easy.”

I chuckle dryly. “Yeah, if only Iris would move to another country, right?”

“Eleanor was easy before she married Phillip and moved to England when you were older,” my dad clarifies.

“She accepted Ash with open arms, shared the title of mom, and let us know we were a team. All of us. Considering everything Iris did to bring you two to this point, her behavior is…” He grits his teeth and takes a deep breath.

I don’t bother defending Iris or her decisions that led us here.

She fucked up, but I wasn’t happy, either.

Not really. Doesn’t justify stepping out on me, but it is what it is.

With a sigh, I grasp the lip of the pool, lift myself out of it, and rest my sorry ass on the concrete edge still warm from the afternoon sun.

I appreciate my dad’s restraint. His desire to not bad-mouth my ex no matter how big of a target she likes to paint on herself.

“Any chance she approved the latest list of nannies?” Uncle Henry interjects.

It’s another sore subject, and my head rolls forward as I bite back my groan. “Not yet. It isn’t easy finding someone Poppy doesn’t hate, who’s also willing to travel with the team for away games, then be left twiddling their thumbs with nothing to do anytime Poppy’s with her mom. ”

“You gonna figure something out before training?” he prods.

Uncle Henry is the owner of the NHL Lions and my boss after offering me the position of head coach.

It’s funny. How excited Iris was when I received the offer.

Now, I can’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with all the extra travel I was signing up for and the free nights she knew she’d have to sneak around behind my back.

The thought leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

“The head coach needs to be at training,” Uncle Henry reminds me.

I bite my lip to keep from saying, Yeah, no shit , and mutter, “You know I’ll figure something out.”

My dad scoffs. “I’m still not sure why she has any say in who you hire in the first place, but that’s just me.”

With a groan, I rest my elbows on my knees, giving my dad a pointed look. “If the roles were reversed, I’d want a say in who my baby’s around.”

“Then why is Chris living with her?” he demands.

It’s a good question. One I’ve refused to analyze. “Chris isn’t a bad guy.” Just an asshole who likes fucking married women, I silently add before voicing aloud, “Not to Poppy.”

“I still don’t trust him,” my dad grunts.

Slapping his shoulder, Uncle Henry interjects, “Cut your son some slack. He’s figuring it out.”

Says the man who felt the need to remind me that the head coach should probably be at training camp. To be clear, I love these guys, and I’m grateful for everything they do. But sometimes they make me feel like I’m still a kid instead of a full-grown adult with my own child to worry about.

Sensing how close I am to losing my shit, my dad caves. “I’ll drop it. Just remember we’re here for you, all right? Your mom even offered to fly with you for the first game if it’ll convince Iris to let Poppy travel. All you gotta do is ask. ”

It would help if Iris liked my mom. It’d help if she liked anyone. After the divorce, she decided everyone related to me is of the devil and has no issue reminding me of her stance any time I pick up or drop off our daughter at her place.

“You know the staff will do their best to accommodate whatever you need,” Uncle Henry adds.

If only the Lions’ staff was the issue. If I’m being honest, Iris’s desire for control and compulsive need to fuck with me is more than half the battle when it comes to this upcoming season.

Keeping my concerns to myself, I reply, “I appreciate it. For now, I’ll take it a day at a time.

Enjoy the wedding. Keep searching for a nanny.

One Poppy and Iris don't hate, but one I can trust, and if I have to ask Iris to switch weeks or…something during training, then we’ll be good to go. ”

“Yeah.” My dad nearly chokes on his snort. Placing his hands on the edge of the pool, he pushes himself onto the still-warm concrete surrounding the water and plops down beside me. “Sounds like a walk in the park.”

I chuckle. “Exactly.” Turning to Uncle Henry, I add, “Thanks again for today. This was great.”

“Don’t thank me,” he deflects. “Thank Mia for putting this on and Finley for suggesting a pool party so the kids would be entertained instead of a dinner to celebrate the engagement.”

“I’ll be sure to do that,” I return. “Anything else I need to know for this upcoming week?”

“I think we’re gonna watch some childhood videos tomorrow night so we can choose which ones to play during the reception,” Uncle Henry tells me. “I’m sure Mav would love to have you here.”

“Yeah,” I decide. “I’ll be here.”