Page 42

I head toward the school when I finish up at the mall, and I’m ten minutes early for pick up. But after talking to my buddy and stopping at the grocery store, where I bought myself a Reese’s candy bar and wolfed it down then washed my hands, I’m in a better mood than I have been the last couple days.

I decide to walk in and see how the tutoring session is going.

As it turns out, I can hear how it’s going the second I turn down the hallway.

Music is blaring, and I hear two voices screaming the lyrics along with the tune of “Radioactive” by Imagine Dragons.

I pause outside the door as I listen to the two of them.

I may think Victoria Hartley is awful to me, but she’s sure not awful to my kid. They’re singing with abandon, with happiness and glee.

I don’t know if I’ve ever heard Harper sing at the top of her lungs with so much joy.

It warms my heart.

And my heart gets even warmer when I peek around the doorway into the small office.

There are two books open on the table and a whole bunch of worksheets, and Harper’s hair is braided. I wonder if Victoria did that or if Trudy did it this morning. Victoria has two braids that aren’t very neat sticking out at strange angles, and somehow she looks even more gorgeous as she closes her eyes and sings into the top of a hairbrush as if it’s her microphone.

A small smile plays at my lips as I watch them, and it’s Harper who spots me first.

She stops singing, her eyes wide like she’s about to get in trouble, but Victoria doesn’t stop for a second, belting out the words into her hairbrush microphone, and I can’t help a small laugh as I watch her.

She even looks happy. The usual pinch of her brows as she’s snarling at me seems to be missing, and it’s actually quite refreshing to see her just having some fun.

She opens her eyes to see why Harper stopped singing, and then she whips her head toward the doorway when she sees Harper’s wide eyes.

Her eyes grow wide, too, and she stares at me for a beat before she scrambles to turn off the music. “Oh, uh, sorry, but—uh…Harper read this whole book all by herself while I braided her hair, and then we celebrated with a victory song.”

She clears her throat as her cheeks redden, and I can’t help but find the whole situation incredibly…endearing.

It’s a shock even to me.

“I’m sorry. We have one more book to read before our time is up today. Sit down, Harper,” she says.

I hold up a hand. “Don’t stop rocking out on my account,” I say.

“It’s just…well, Imagine Dragons is Harper’s favorite band,” Victoria says.

“It’s Ms. Hartley’s favorite, too,” Harper says.

“I like them, too,” I say. “In fact, that song you were just singing is on my pregame playlist.”

“It is?” they both ask at the same time in the exact same doubtful tone.

“Hell yeah it is. I can rock out with the Dragons,” I say with just a touch of defensiveness.

“What else is on your pregame playlist?” Victoria asks, quirking a brow at me.

“Oh, you know. ‘Closer’ by Nine Inch Nails, ‘Pony’ by Ginuwine, that sort of thing.”

She clears her throat as she glances at Harper, who’s completely oblivious to my innuendos. But when her eyes land back on mine, they’re definitely heated. I knew I wasn’t the only one who felt it, and maybe just flipping the switch to flirting instead of fighting will be a game changer for the two of us.

I’m not sure why I want to change the game, but maybe it’s because I want her naked. Or maybe it’s because she’s better for my daughter than I first realized.

“What incredibly strange choices for a pregame playlist,” she says. “Unless, of course, you’re pregaming for something aside from football.”

I laugh. “I’ll leave that up to your imagination. Now show me what you’ve been learning, ladybug.”

Hartley glances at me when I call Harper ladybug , and I’m pretty sure I see the same smile tugging at her lips that was just playing at mine.

I might even be tempted to call this a breakthrough.

She has Harper read a book to me, and while she struggles with some of the words, overall she does a great job. It’s not fluent reading, but it’s reading, and it’s a definite win.

“That was awesome,” I say to my girl when she’s done. “And I have a surprise for you. Because you’ve been working so dang hard the last couple weeks, I got you something.”

Her brows knit together. “What is it?”

I pull the hot pink dinosaur phone out of my pocket and hand it over.

“A phone!?” she squeals. “You got me a phone ?”

“That I did, kid. And I’m going to put the entire Imagine Dragons catalog on it when we get home.”

“This is awesome ! My mom and dad said I had to be twelve before—” she cuts herself off as her excitement fades a little. “Oh. Uh, I mean...”

“Hey,” Victoria says, tossing an arm around her shoulders. I should be the one comforting my kid, but she’s closer and she just does it like it’s second nature. “It’s okay to talk about them, you know.”

Harper looks down at the table. “I know. It just feels weird.”

“Of course it does,” Victoria says. “But no matter what, they will always be important to you.” She glances over at me for just a beat before returning her gaze to Harper, and as much as I tried to read what was in her eyes during that little glance, I missed it. “But you got pretty darn lucky that he came along, too.” She jerks her head toward me, and I’m not sure if she’s just saying that for Harper’s benefit or if she actually believes it.

I tend to think it’s the former considering what she said to me about feeling sorry for my girl, but maybe she’s starting to thaw out a little toward me.

“Yeah,” Harper says softly. She nods. “He’s a pretty cool guy.”

I offer a shrug and a modest chuckle. “I’m just doing my best. You ready to go home, Harper?”

She glances over at Hartley and twists her lips. “I wish you could come over for dinner. I’ll miss you this weekend.”

“I’ll miss you, too, Harps. But I’m sure your dad has big plans for you.” She says it lightly and taps Harper’s nose to let her down easy.

I don’t really have plans. Like at all. I don’t know what we’re doing this weekend. I figured I’d let her fuck around on her phone and maybe take her to the park or do a shopping spree like Tristan suggested. Try to come up with shit for us to do to get through to Monday. Maybe start interviewing some of the nannies from the list Ellie sent me, maybe get a couple workouts in to rid my body of the beer toxins from last night.

I don’t want to invite Hartley over into my space. But I do want to make my kid happy. And so, to that end, I open my big fat mouth and say, “If you don’t have plans, you’re welcome to come for dinner tonight.”

“Oh, uh,” Victoria says, her hand moving to her chest. “I couldn’t possibly impose like that.”

“It’s not an imposition. It’s an invitation,” I say. “But I should mention that we’re just ordering in from somewhere. I have exactly zero cooking skills.”

“That’s not true,” Harper protests. “He made decent macaroni and hot dogs the other day. It wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but it was all right.”

I laugh. “Gee, thanks, kid.”

“He’s feeding you mac and dogs?” Victoria asks, her nose wrinkled with a bit of disgust.

Harper twists her lips and shrugs. “It’s literally the only thing he can make besides cereal.”

“What time do you usually eat dinner?” Victoria asks.

I shrug. “Six or seven. Whenever we get around to ordering it.”

“Do you have pots and pans and spatulas and stuff?” she asks.

I nod. “I have a fully stocked kitchen. I’ve just never had a reason to use any of it since my trainer prescribes my nutrition plan and I have someone who makes my meals for me in season, and I just order in during the off-season.”

“Okay. Text me your address and I’ll be over at five-thirty with a cooking lesson for you both,” she says.

I shake my head. “Oh, no. We’ll just order something. I didn’t invite you to come cook for us.”

“You both need to know how to cook, so I’m going to make something super simple and super delicious,” she says.

“At least let me cover the groceries, then.”

She shakes her head. “I’ve got it covered. I’ll see you both in two hours.”

The way she takes charge is kind of sexy, but there’s something more to it.

She cares about my kid—not just as a student, but she’s taken an actual interest in her. I guess I knew that before, but I actually witnessed it today when I walked in and the two of them were singing Imagine Dragons together.

I want to give Harper the world…but what if in her perfect world, Victoria and I end up together?

I just don’t know if it’s possible to give her that. I hope it’s enough for her to settle for the phone and the other shit I got her today.

And as soon as we get home and clean the place a little for our guest, I’ll surprise her with all of it.