nine

Rory

Cole

Fisher

Rory

Pierce

Cole

Got any plans tonight?

Rory

I’ve got Sage tonight

Lane’s got something to do tomorrow morning, so I get a sleepover with Sagie

Cole

Want some help with that?

Rory

Do I want some help with the little girl that it’s my job to take care of by myself?

Just say you wanna see me, Cole

Cole

Don’t flatter yourself

I just want to see my niece

Rory

Uh-huh

I’m sure

We’re okay with some company, though

Cole

See you soon then, Rory

Sage squeals in delight as Cole lays on his back in front of my sofa, using his feet to prop up her body and his hands to hold onto hers. He’s moving her all about, Sage lighting up in laughter each time he dips her.

The dear little girl I nanny hasn’t wanted anything to do with me since Uncle “Coe” showed up. And Cole is, of course, loving all the attention.

I’ve always known Cole likes kids. I’ve seen him with Sage so many times now.

He’s so good with kids.

Why does he have to be so good with kids?!

I’m trying to get past this damn crush, but watching him with Sage has my ovaries on overdrive.

“You’re staring at me,” Cole says matter-of-factly as I come back to reality.

“I’m watching Sage,” I lie, trying to save face.

His smile in response is mischievous. “That’s interesting because Sage is down by my feet now, playing with her blocks.”

Goddammit.

“Fuck off,” I say, fire blazing over my cheeks.

“Duck!”

“I have to get better about that,” I grumble.

Cole laughs as he gets up, coming to sit by me on the sofa. He doesn’t say anything; he just looks at me smugly.

“What?” I ask even though I already know the answer.

“You can just admit you were looking at me, Rory. I know I’m hot.”

“Wow,” I laugh. “Can your ego even fit in my apartment, Pierce?”

“You still haven’t denied it, you know,” he smirks.

“Can you shut up, please?” I toss a throw pillow at him as he laughs like my embarrassment is hysterical.

“You’re cute when you’re all flustered.”

I groan, throwing my head back as it rests on the back of the sofa. “I hate you.” Sage comes to my rescue, finally climbing up in my lap and rubbing her eyes. “Are you sleepy, Lovebug?” She doesn’t reply, just snuggles into my chest.

“Uncle Cole isn’t good enough now, I see,” he says in faux offense.

“Nope,” I reply, popping the p in amusement. “Aunt Rory is her favorite person, possibly even above Lane.”

“Can’t say I blame her,” he smiles. “You’re one of my favorite people, too, Starlight.”

I can feel myself blushing as I say, “Starlight?”

“Yeah,” he says surely, like it’s an obvious nickname.

“How the hell did you come up with Starlight?”

“Rory Aurora Night Sky Stars Starlight. Not that hard.”

I can’t help but smile. “I like that. It’s cute.” My only response is the wide grin Cole is now sporting. Sage lets out a little yawn as she nuzzles deeper into my chest. “I should get her down for the night.”

“I’ll help,” he says, standing with me.

“Hear that, Lovebug?” I say, pressing a kiss to the top of Sage’s head. “Uncle Cole is going to help get you in bed tonight.”

“Coe,” she says sleepily before we pad down the hall into her room.

I may not be her mother, but I love this little girl to bits. Since I have her with me often, I set up a room for her at my apartment when she was still a baby. I want her to be as comfortable here with me as she is at home with Lane.

With her current obsession with dinosaurs, her room with me is now decked out with all the T-rexes, triceratops, and velociraptors you could dream of.

“Dinos!” Sage says excitedly, lighting up when she takes in her new room decor.

“Mhmm,” I say, tickling her side. “You’re a big girl now, so you need a big girl room.”

Sage gives us a lazy smile, too tired to enjoy everything around her.

Cole and I work together in tandem to get Sage ready for bed. He helps her brush her teeth as I grab her new pink dinosaur footie pajamas from her dresser drawer. Now, with a fresh diaper and cozy jammies, I walk to her bed, ready to lay her down.

Sage looks down as I do. “No bed!” She clings to me, refusing to be put down.

“That bed looks really comfy, though, Sagie,” Cole says, ruffling her hair.

“No,” she replies, shaking her head.

I sigh. “Lane just started transitioning her into a toddler bed instead of her crib. This bed is brand new. He’s also had some trouble getting her down the past few nights.”

“Well,” he smiles, “this is where Uncle Cole can shine. Come here, Lovebug.” He opens his arms, and Sage all but leaps to him. “What we’re going to do, Sagie,” he says, falling to his knees beside the bed, “is sit you on the bed. Is that okay with you?”

Sage looks apprehensive still before he sits her on the edge, letting her legs hang over the side.

“Good job!” He sounds like a proud dad. It’s so fucking cute. “Now, I want you to do what I do.” Cole stretches out on the ground, lying beside the bed, willing Sage to do the same. She hesitates. “Sagie, you can’t leave me hanging like this.”

She giggles as I come to sit beside her on the bed. “You’ve got this, Sage,” I encourage. “Just do what Uncle Cole is doing.”

After glancing between us both, Sage slowly crawls up her bed, laying her head on her pillow as I pull the blankets over her tiny body.

“Thanks, Sagie,” Cole says, smiling widely. “I was going to look silly like this all by myself.”

I love that he thinks Sage lying down on her bed beside where he is on the floor makes him look less ridiculous. The man is six feet tall—his legs fall at least two feet past her bed frame.

He looks completely ridiculous, but in a way that can melt your heart and dampen your panties.

Speaking from experience.

“Are you ready to sleep now, Lovebug?” I ask, rubbing the top of her head. That’s soothed her since she was a newborn, and I always find myself doing it with her when she needs to calm down.

Sage shakes her head, signaling to me that this is going to be a long night trying to get her to sleep.

“This might be a while, Cole,” I say. “I’ll spare you and tell you to just head back home.”

“I have a better idea,” he replies, slipping his hand through the safety bar on the bed and grabbing Sage’s hand. “You like music, Sage?”

“Yes,” she says before yawning again.

“Perfect. I happen to know a lot of music. Prepare to be serenaded into slumber, Sagie.”

I stifle a laugh as Cole eyes me suspiciously. Once I compose myself, he breaks out into song.

And I laugh again.

He’s singing Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol.

He’s literally singing to Sage about laying down as he goes through the chorus. The song is so on-the-nose that it seems almost too perfect.

When I get past the irony of the song choice, I take note of something else.

Cole can sing?

Yes, Cole can sing because he’s here now, singing a song and sounding way too damn good doing it.

He’s cute. He’s funny. He’s good with kids.

And he can fucking sing.

God must hate me to put this man in front of me when I can’t do a fucking thing about it.

By the time Cole finishes the song, Sage is out like a light.

After a couple minutes of quiet to make sure she isn’t going to stir awake again, we both quietly make our way out of her bedroom and shut the door behind us.

When we get to the end of the hallway, he turns to face me as I speak.

“Sparrow.”

“What?” he asks curiously.

“You’re a fucking sparrow,” I laugh.

“I’m gonna need you to elaborate here, Rory. How am I a bird?”

“Not just a bird,” I shrug. “A songbird . Sparrows sing, and apparently, so do you.”

Cole chuckles with a wide smile. “I guess so. But I usually only sing in the car or the shower, never with an audience.”

“Well,” I say, leaning back against the wall, “you can sing around me anytime. You’re actually really damn good. What made you pick that song, though?”

“It’s my favorite song,” he says, leaning against the wall opposite me, pushing his sleeves up and showing off his forearms covered in ink.

God, I love tattoos.

“How have we been friends for so long, and I’m just now figuring out your musical tastes? You don’t strike me as someone who listens to Snow Patrol.”

Cole cocks his eyebrow at me. “How is that?”

“You have long hair and a scruffy beard, and you’re literally covered in tattoos. You don’t really look like a mellow pop guy.”

His smile is teasing. “Haven’t you ever been taught to never judge a book by its cover, Starlight?”

I blush again at the nickname. “We all do it, though,” I say.

Cole laughs lightly before slipping his hands into the pockets of his joggers.

Gray joggers.

Because, of fucking course, they are.

And true to what he said last week, he sure as hell isn’t tiny.

When we make our way out of the hallway, Cole’s eyes catch on the papers scattered across my dining room table.

“What are these?” he asks, walking over and picking up the one I finished this morning—a drawing of the brownstone home I grew up in, just miles from where Harlow and Cole also grew up in Brooklyn.

“That’s my house. Well, my dad’s house. In Cobble Hill.”

“Did you draw this?” he questions, never once taking his eyes off the drawing in front of him, staring at it in a look of awe.

“Yeah,” I reply sheepishly. “Drawing has always been my emotional outlet. I hadn’t done it in a while, but I brought my art supplies back out recently. I haven’t been able to stop.”

“These are incredible, Rory.”

Cole starts sifting through the mess of papers.

The brownstone house.

The Brooklyn Bridge.

Central Park.

A group of friends, arms slung around each other with their backs turned.

And one I forgot I still had lying there.

“Rory,” he says as the understanding of what he’s looking at dawns on him.

“Um, yes, it is…” I reply because there’s clearly no denying it.

Cole turns around to face me. “You drew me?”

“Yes,” I say softly. “I’m going to draw all of our friends.”

A bald-faced lie, but I can’t let him know that all of this started again because of him. Because I can’t get him out of my fucking head.

“And you drew me first.”

His words come out strained, almost emotional. Like the small act of someone drawing him is meaningful.

“I did.”

Without another word, Cole wraps his arms around me, the top of my head not far above his shoulder. “This is so fucking cool. Can I have it?”

I look up at him. “You want to keep my drawing?”

“Hell yeah, I do. This is fucking incredible, Ror. I had no idea you could draw like this.”

“And I had no idea you could sing.”

Cole’s smile is so bright it’s almost blinding, and I just take it in. “Guess we still have a lot to learn, don’t we, Starlight?”

“It seems we do, Sparrow.”

Cole laughs before releasing me from his hug, staring at his portrait again.

I never meant for him to see that.

But seeing how happy he is that it even exists makes it worth it.

Even if it makes my heart beat erratically. Makes my stomach do somersaults. Makes my head spin.

These feelings aren’t going anywhere, are they?