Page 26 of The New York Nighthawks, Vol. 2

AVA

Waking up after a long—and pleasurable—night in Roan’s bed was almost surreal.

If I didn’t ache in places that reminded me of how he’d used my body last night, I would have wondered if it had all been a dream.

Although it would’ve been hard to explain how I’d ended up in his bed in the first place unless I had sleepwalked my way here at some point.

Laughing softly at how he would’ve reacted to that, I rolled over and stretched my hand out. I was surprised to find the other side of the bed was empty until I heard Cassidy’s laughter from downstairs. Roan must have slipped out of bed and corralled the girls so they didn’t wake me.

I definitely needed the sleep, but I was a little sad to have missed the morning routine since I wasn’t sure how long it would be until I got to experience it again.

Plus, I barely got to do anything with Cassidy and Daisy yesterday, between my interview and the adult time I had gotten with Roan before we picked them up from his teammate’s house.

Although Cassidy had been thrilled with the pizzas that Roan had rescued from the SUV while I’d been napping.

It was hard to believe my long weekend with them was already ending. So much had changed in such a short time, and I was kind of regretting not throwing caution to the wind when Roan first mentioned me staying at his house while I figured things out.

Although he’d called me his last night, we hadn’t gotten around to discussing exactly what that meant, and I didn’t want to assume anything.

So while they were occupied downstairs, I tiptoed back into the guest room to take a quick shower, get dressed, and pack my bag.

Since I didn’t want to upset the girls, I left my suitcase on the end of the bed before making my way downstairs.

“Good morning.”

Three faces turned my way at my greeting, and my heart melted at the smiles they beamed at me. Daisy’s high chair was pulled up to the end of the counter, where Cassidy was perched on a step stool with Roan’s hand cupping her back to hold her steady. “I hope you’re hungry.”

“We’s makin’ pancakes!” Cassidy added.

I patted my belly. “Yum, my favorite.”

I got out the butter and syrup and set the table while they finished stacking pancakes on a plate. Then I got a bottle ready for Daisy before we all sat down to eat. Cassidy chatted our ears off like usual, but my mood at breakfast this morning was so different from yesterday.

I wasn’t looking forward to going back home.

Being away from the girls—and Roan—was going to be tough.

I had known that leaving the girls would be hard, but I hadn’t expected that my feelings for Roan would make it even more difficult.

Then again, I never would have guessed that I’d lose my virginity to him while I was here, either.

The past few days hadn’t been anything like I’d thought, in all the best ways.

Except for me needing to head back home while leaving my heart here, in the place that had already come to feel more like home to me than my apartment ever had.

But I had spent most of my life with things not going my way, so I needed to be thankful for how well this weekend had gone instead of focusing on what I was going to miss out on when I was away from the three people who all held a piece of my heart.

After we cleaned up—and there was quite the mess since Cassidy helped cook—we got the girls set up in the den.

I was just about to sit on the floor next to Daisy’s bouncy seat when Roan interlaced our fingers.

“We’ll be back in a sec, sweet cheeks. Just need to double-check to make sure I turned off the stove. ”

“Okay, Daddy.”

My brows drew together as he tugged me out of the room. “The stove is definitely off. It’s gas. We would have noticed the flame while we were eating. Or cleaning up.”

“I know, but it was the first excuse I came up with.”

I tilted my head to the side, and he tugged on the lock of hair that slipped over my shoulder. “What did you need an excuse for?”

“So we could talk without little ears listening in. What’s bothering you, baby? You were quiet during breakfast.” Roan stroked his thumb against my bottom lip, sending shivers down my spine. “Are you hurting from last night? I shouldn’t have taken you that last time…or two.”

I pressed my thighs together, and there was just a slight twinge. “I’m only a teensy bit sore.”

“Then back to my original question…what’s wrong?”

“I’m sad about leaving this afternoon.”

His head reared back at my answer. “Leaving? Where the fuck are you going?”

“Um, back to New Jersey. I have to be at work at six o’clock tomorrow morning, so I can’t get home too late or I’ll never make it through my shift.”

“I have another easy solution for you.” He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to me after unlocking the screen. “Call your boss and tell him you quit. And none of that two-week notice bullshit. You don’t need a reference from him.”

My brows drew together. “I don’t understand. You made it pretty clear yesterday that you didn’t want me to take the job at The End Zone.”

“What I’m saying is you don’t need to worry about a job because you’re going to stay here—with Cassidy, Daisy, and me.

You can take the rest of the summer to settle in, then you can help out with the girls when my season starts.

My sisters will be around to pitch in when they’re not in class, but that won’t be enough with my schedule.

Especially when we have away games. Having two parents living with them is what’s best for the girls. ”

Although I’d given him my virginity last night and had just been thinking that I wanted to stay longer, if he’d worded his offer differently, I probably would have felt as though I needed to say no.

I didn’t want to take advantage of Roan but knowing that I’d help solve a problem for him just by helping out with the girls made my answer easy. “Okay, I can totally do that.”

“Good, that means I don’t need to call and quit for you.”

Laughing at his bossiness, I punched in the number for the restaurant. My grouchy boss finally picked up after it rang six times. “Chuck’s Diner.”

“Hey, Chuck. It’s Ava.”

“You better not be calling off your shift tomorrow,” he warned. “I’m not going to buy that you’re sick when you just took a long weekend.”

“I’m not sick, but you’ll need to cover the rest of the shifts you have me scheduled for.”

“That’s not how it works around here, Ava,” he growled. “You miss a shift without covering it yourself, you run the risk of getting fired.”

“You can’t fire me,” I retorted, rolling my eyes at his reaction. I definitely wouldn’t miss having to work with him every day.

“That’s where you’re wrong. Everybody’s replaceable.”

“What I meant was that you can’t fire me because I quit. I’m moving and won’t even be in the same state to work my shift tomorrow. I’ll email you my new address so you can send me my final check.”

“Fine, but don’t expect it anytime soon. I’m not gonna make a special trip to the post office for you.”

Roan wasn’t messing around about me moving in.

As soon as Chuck hung up on me, he tugged the phone out of my hand to text his friends to ask for the name of a good moving company.

Then he led me back to the den to play with the girls while he arranged to have all my things transferred to my new home without me having to lift a finger.

The best part was Cassidy’s reaction to the news when he ended his call with the movers. “Who was that, Daddy?”

“A moving company.”

Her eyes widened as her bottom lip puffed out. “Are we moving again? I love dis house.”

“You’re not going anywhere, sweet cheeks.” He crouched down in front of her. “But your aunt loves our home so much she decided she should live here, too.”

Cassidy jumped up and grabbed my hands. “You’s going to live with us?”

“Yes, as long as that’s okay with you.”

“Yippee! My dweam of havin’ you as my other mommy came true! Good job, Daddy!”

That was all the confirmation I needed to know that I made the right decision.