Page 53

53

Dempsey

D inner last night was wonderful. It’s been a while since I’ve been out with people I can enjoy myself with. While I never let my guard fully down, I was much more relaxed knowing Spencer and Katy were surrounded by men who could take care of them.

The rain outside this morning is torrential. I wasn’t surprised when Tucker called to ask if I could come in early. Typically, I’ve been coming over around ten so he could go to the club and work. Lincoln would be long gone to the high school, and Spencer, Miller, and Axel would be home sleeping.

Because of the terrible weather, they’re all stuck at work, and Tucker has to leave earlier than usual to meet a supplier.

When I arrive, I walk in using my door code, and Tucker anxiously waits to leave.

“Thank you so much, Dem—Vik. I’m so sorry to bother you, but I can’t miss this delivery. They’ve been stiffing my manager, and I need to be there.”

I shake his hand and clap his back. “No problem. Be careful out there. The roads are slick.” He nods and passes me out the door, pulling up the collar of his jacket and hunching his shoulders under his cowboy hat.

Katy is sitting at the kitchen counter eating breakfast when I walk in. They’ve slowly been updating the outdated house. The kitchen cabinets have been painted navy blue on the bottom and white on the top to open the space. Katy sits on a fancy metal chair at the new gray counter top.

“Are you planning to share?” I give her a half smile and try not to notice how she lights up when I do.

“Your plate is in the microwave. Just hit the start button to warn it up.”

“I was joking.”

“I’m not. Tucker makes the best pancakes, and this is maple-flavored bacon.” She picks up a piece and bites off a chunk. “I think food is Tucker’s love language. Before you protest, that plate is specifically for you. There are already leftovers for the others in the refrigerator.”

I don’t have any more reason to argue, so I hit the start button as instructed. The timer on the microwave starts at thirty seconds and counts down. My back is to her, but I can feel the holes she’s boring into me with her eyes.

I’m not blind to the way she looks at me. Most women do, and in any other situation, I’d welcome it. Katy is young. Too young. I may only be five years older than her, but she’s still a baby at seventeen, and I need to make sure I thwart any possible advances.

“I know we had plans to go shopping today after I finished my school work, but we can take a raincheck…” She snorts, and I turn to see her laughing silently. When I arch a brow, she puts up a finger to compose herself. “Sorry. It’s raining, and I said raincheck. Totally ridiculous, I know. Ignore me. Anyway, if you wanted to go shopping another day, I’d understand.”

Spencer asked if I’d take her window shopping for nursery ideas. Nights are rough on their bodies, and Katy is a touch-and-feel kind of person. If possible, she’d rather see what her options are than scroll online.

“Why don’t you finish your work? Then we can see how the weather looks. There’s supposed to be a lull in the rain.”

“Deal.”

I sit at the counter but leave an open stool between us. Tucker does, in fact, make delicious pancakes, and the bacon is cooked to perfection.

After we’ve eaten, Katy brings her schoolwork to the living room since no one is home. The weather was bad enough that everyone stayed at work for extra hands. I like that they feel confident enough in my protection of Katy that they don’t rush back.

I hand wash our dishes while she works on her homework because I need something to do and don’t want to feel like a creeper. Once everything is clean and put away, I pull the gun cleaning box out of the front closet and sit at the kitchen table to do more busy work while Katy finishes. My gun could use a good cleaning so it’s not wasted energy.

It’s around lunchtime when she’s done with her work, and the rain has slowed.

“How about that shopping trip, Katy?”

She stretches on the couch, and I turn to see her shirt lift over her belly. “Sure. Let me just change.” As she walks past me, she gives me a friendly smile.

Seventeen. Pregnant. Don’t be a pervert. Seventeen. Seventeen.

I take a deep breath to ground myself and grab Katy’s jacket and umbrella from the front closet.

When she returns, she’s wearing black rain boots with colorful polka dots, black pants, and a light pink hooded top. There’s no baby bump showing, and I’m sure she did that on purpose.

“You shouldn’t be ashamed.”

“What?”

I step closer and hold the jacket up to her. She turns and finds the arm holes, putting it on.

“You shouldn’t be ashamed of your pregnancy. You made an informed decision. You’re making good of a bad situation. I’m proud of you, and everyone in this house is too.”

She startles me when she quickly turns and wraps her arms around my back. I hesitate a moment before I return the embrace because it’s something she needs. She sniffles and pulls back, wiping her face.

“Sorry about that. I’m ready.”

“Stop apologizing, or I’ll forget to drop the Miss, Katy.”

“Oh, that’s just cruel. You wouldn’t?”

“Try me?” She stares me down with fake bravado before relenting with a huff. “Exactly. Now get your butt out of this house.”

As we step outside, she pulls the hood of her rain jacket over her head and refuses the umbrella I offer. I open her door and get her tucked inside before running to the driver’s seat.

“I’m not made of sugar, Viktor. I won’t melt.”

“No, more like cayenne pepper. Good in small doses, but too much will have you choking.” Fuck. That was not meant to be dirty. How did talking about spices become dirty?

“Vik-tor.” Katy giggles my name, and I instantly laugh with her at the absurdity of the situation.

“Let’s just not talk about this, please. If the guys heard what I said, they’d probably fire me. I meant no disrespect, Miss Katy.”

She stops laughing and shifts in her seat to face me. “Don’t do that. Don’t Miss me because you’re embarrassed or feel guilty or whatever negative emotion is going through your head. It was an innocent joke that…Well, maybe I’m not the only child here.”

How she took a potentially bad situation and turned it around is incredible.

“I appreciate you, Katy.”

“Good.” She turns back in her seat to stare out the windshield. “You should. I’m a big deal around here.” She adds a little twang to her words, and I’m laughing again.

“Working on your Tucker impression?” She shrugs and sucks in her bottom lip. “What’s wrong?” Her brows crunch, and she looks at her lap.

“Justin said his lawyers are almost done with the paperwork for the adoption. I’m super excited that it’s Spencer who’s adopting me but…but no one has asked me about my last name. I don’t want to give my little boy the same last name as the woman I want nothing to do with ever again. She threw me away for some money. She doesn’t deserve for her name to be shared. She doesn’t even know I’m pregnant.”

I’m stunned to hear they haven’t discussed this with her. As a group, I’m generally impressed with their communication skills.

“There’s been nothing said at all?” I catch the slightest shake of her head out of the corner of my eye. “Talk to them then. Maybe it slipped their minds.” Katy shrugs, and I can tell by her body language she’s done talking.

Her attitude perks up when we get to the baby store Annie recommended. I’ve never seen so many tiny things in one store. I pick up a bodysuit and compare it to the size of my hand. They match. Katy starts hysterically laughing next to me.

“What’s so funny?”

“I can’t decide if that’s tiny or your hand is giant.”

“Both.” She takes the pink scrap of fabric from me and puts it back on the rack, picking up a blue one instead. Lifting her hoodie, she reveals a tight, white shirt underneath with a small round belly. She usually wears loose-fitting clothes, so I didn’t realize she had much of a baby belly.

Katy lays the blue outfit over her belly and proudly smiles.

“You picked the wrong one. He can choose to wear pink when he can see in color.”

“That’s very progressive thinking, Katy.”

“Viktor, I live in a house where I basically have four dads and their best friends are a throuple. If I thought any other way, I’d be homeless.” Just then, her stomach growls, and we both look at her belly and laugh.

“Either he doesn’t like the blue, or he’s trying to tell you he’s hungry.”

“I can always eat.” She rubs her belly and puts the outfit back on the rack. “I have a good idea of what I like. I can look online now. Let’s go get something greasy from the food court. Please.” She bats her eyelashes at me like a doll, as if I would say no.

“Keep your flirting to yourself little girl. Let’s feed that baby.” I instantly realize I’ve said the wrong thing. Calling her a little girl and, even worse, calling her out on her flirting clearly pisses her off.

In all fairness, she probably wasn’t flirting. She was just Katy being Katy and having fun. But I’m a giant asshole who keeps needing to remind myself that not only is she only seventeen, but she’s also my job. A job, who right now is storming away from me because I made an asshole comment.

“Katy.” I should apologize, but that could also give her the wrong impression. I need to keep a clear boundary in my head regarding her. “Katy, please wait, the food court is in the other direction.”

“I’m not hungry. Let’s go home.” She picks up her pace, and for a small person, she walks really fast when she’s angry. When I catch up to her, I reach out and touch her shoulder, and she spins around, glaring at me.

“Look, I get it okay. I’m sorry. You’re just so easy to be around. Sometimes I forget you’re just my babysitter.” She walks past me back in the direction we came. “Let’s just get some food and then we can go home.” She sounds defeated, and I hate that I made her feel that way.

The food court is surprisingly crowded for the middle of a workday, but Katy decides she wants pizza, and while she waits, I need to use the bathroom.

“I’ll be right back. Wait here for the pizza. Don’t move.”

“I have enough male figures in my life telling me what to do. I don’t need another one. Go take your potty break. I’ll wait for the pizza.”

She’s angry with me, and I understand it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. I also wish I hadn’t drank that extra coffee, needing me to leave her alone, even if it is only for two minutes.

I’m in and out of the bathroom in record time, thankful the restrooms are next to the food court. When I come out, I hear the employee calling my name, searching for someone to pick up the food. When I don’t immediately spot Katy, I panic. I told her not to move. The kid behind the counter recognizes me and tries to get my attention, but I ignore him to look for her.

I’m trained to be good under pressure, and I don’t like the feeling I have right now. I’m sure Katy’s here and is just mad at me and walked off out of spite, but until I have eyes on her, that knowledge is not enough.

My thoughts are confirmed when I see her standing in the line for the cinnamon sugar pretzels. She’s just pulling out her wallet, having placed her order, when I approach her with more anger than I know is needed.

She doesn’t understand what’s been going on because they haven’t told her. We can’t figure out why Shane’s pictures and notes have become more focused on her. They didn’t start that way. We noticed the pictures started coming with more of Spencer and Katy together, but slowly, Spencer began disappearing, and it was just Katy.

“I told you not to move.”

She whips her head around and glares at me with all the hatred she can muster. “And I told you I didn’t need another Daddy. ”

The cashier awkwardly passes Katy her pretzels, and she stalks past me again.

“Where are you going now?” Without turning, she throws her angry response over her shoulder.

“Apparently, to get the pizza you couldn’t even get despite them calling your name.”

How could so much aggression and frustration be wrapped up into one little package?

“I’ve got it, Katy,” I try demanding, but she continues to ignore me.

She stops at the pizza counter, and the teenage boy smiles when she approaches. She glances at me with a glower, but her face transforms when she turns her head. Her eyes soften, and a smile brightens her face.

“Hi, I’m picking up a pizza for,”—she side-eyes me and leans over the counter—“my dad and me. The name is Dempsey.” Her voice is high-pitched and over-the-top flirty.

The growl escapes me without my permission, and when the pimply-faced idiot hears it, he practically falls backward, fumbling to grab our pizza.

“Thank you,” I say through gritted teeth as I grab the box from him before he can hand it to Katy.

“Thank you so much…Joseph.” She leans in even farther to read his name tag, making him blush when she says his name. She gives him a saccharine smile that he returns, and I have to fist my free hand to stop myself from throttling this poor, unsuspecting teenage boy.

Closing my eyes, I count backward from ten, despite knowing I could start at one hundred, and it wouldn’t be enough to combat the brattiness she’s exuding.

“Let’s. Go. Katy.” It takes every ounce of willpower I have left to get those three words out. She’s intentionally taunting me all because I called her a little girl. It was an honest mistake, and I should have known better. There’s nothing about Katy that’s a little girl.

“Sure thing, Daddy. I’ll drive since I know your eyes aren’t the greatest.”

I’m at my breaking point, and if she doesn’t stop, I might just snap. I lean close enough to her ear so only she can hear me. “I’m only five years older than you, and the only people that call me Daddy are thanking me the next morning for rocking their fucking world. I suggest you put your big girl panties on and put away the sass so we can go home and eat our pizza.”

As crude as my statement is, it does what I intended it to do. After a moment of staring at me with her mouth open, she turns on her heels, and I follow behind her with a smug smile.

When we reach the exit doors it’s pouring again. If we hadn’t just gone through what we did, I’d let Katy wait in the vestibule while I get the car, but she lost the privilege of being dry.

“Could you—”

“Not a chance, sweetheart. You made your bed, and now you have to lie in it. Pull your hood on and avoid the big puddles.”