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7

Hendrix

R aven smiles up at me with so much hope in her eyes, it’s like I’m some kind of white knight riding in to save the day.

On the one hand, it’s kind of cool to be a hero. On the other hand, I feel like I’ve been shoved down the scrubby hill outside my LA mansion with no padding.

Or crushed under a pile of 300-pound linebackers.

I’m getting married.

I have a baby, and I’m getting married.

Which undoubtedly means at some point I’ll be faced with poop.

Two nights ago, I was standing on the balcony of my mansion in the hills, overlooking the city of LA spread out before me like a king overlooking his domain.

The only thing on my mind was football and having the best year of my career.

I had no freaking idea.

“Ready to run the gauntlet?” A tease is in her voice, and I almost groan .

My family is out there waiting for a verdict, and I just know what the guys are going to say.

“Let me take the lead, and stay close.”

We go through the double doors, back to where my entire family is crowded around two tables, introducing my daughter to Garrett’s baby Gigi. They’re the same age, because apparently we weren’t the only ones who got lucky after my sister’s wedding.

Of course, I gave him shit for that. The twinkle in his eye tells me he hasn’t forgotten about it either.

“We’ll call them the Dylan twins!” My little sister announces, bouncing my daughter on her hip. “They’re like my very special wedding present from my two big brothers.”

“Hey, us ladies had something to do with it,” Liv cries, joining us and taking Raven’s hand. “I wish you’d texted me. We could’ve gone through it together.”

“I was either in bed nauseated or hanging on the toilet the whole time.” Raven follows Liv to where the girls are standing, and Haddy reaches for her.

She pulls the baby onto her hip, and I stop in my tracks, thinking how really beautiful they are. Haddy is a cute little brunette with a button nose like her mom’s. Then her head turns, and she hits me with my blue eyes.

“It’s kind of uncanny.” Zane’s voice is quiet at my side. “She’s got your face.”

“Yeah…” I huff a laugh.

There’s no denying whose kid she is.

“You’re going to make this right.” Garrett still has that grin on his face, walking over in his sheriff’s uniform.

“Of course, I am.” I hold back an eye-roll. As if I wouldn’t. “We talked about it, and Rave and Haddy are going to move out to LA for a little while to live with me.”

“Oh, no!” Dylan cries, giving me her sad-puppy face. “We just got her! Don’t go to LA, Raven. Make Hendrix come here.”

“I’ve got training camp starting next week.” When I get closer to Rave, I put my hand on Haddy’s little back. “Then the season starts, and I’ll be slammed. It’s the only way that makes sense for me to spend time with my daughter.”

“Garrett and Liv did long distance,” Dylan pouts. “So did Logan and me.”

“So you know how much it sucked,” Garrett calls, supporting me for once.

“Would you like to hold her again?” Raven’s voice is quiet, and I study the baby girl sitting on her hip.

“Will she cry?”

Garrett glances at the large clock behind the bar. “I bet you’ve got about ten minutes before she starts crying.”

“Ten minutes?” I cut him a look like he knows anything.

“He’s right, actually.” Raven passes our daughter to me, helping me situate her against my chest in a way that puts her little face closer to mine. “For some reason five o’clock is the witching hour. She always gets fussy around that time.”

“Haddy?” Raven’s voice is gentle. “This is your daddy.”

Haddy wobbles on my arm, and I bend my knees, trying to balance her.

“Here.” Garrett lifts my hand, putting it on her back. “You have to hold her.”

“I know that.” I didn’t.

I don’t know shit about babies.

She seems more secure, though. Sitting on my arm, she looks at me several moments before patting her chubby hand against my cheek. It’s damp and a little sticky, but I know better than to say gross .

Her other finger is still in her mouth, but she emits a squeal-like noise like she’s trying to tell me something. It’s kind of cute.

I glance at Raven, unsure, and she gives me an encouraging smile. “She likes you.”

“Just look at you two.” Liv walks over, putting a hand on Haddy’s back. “Where’s my phone? Dylan, take a picture of them.”

“Oh my goodness!” Dylan coos, pulling her phone out and taking several pictures .

I study the little girl on my arm, wondering what she’s thinking. I wonder if she’s as startled by all of this as I am. She has no idea the gang of family surrounding her, and how they’re all ready to steal her away and spoil her rotten.

But I do.

“We’ve switched to feeding Gina at five,” Liv continues. “I figure we can all eat together when she’s older.”

“That’s so smart!” Raven’s brown eyes are wide. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”

“It sounds like you’ve had a lot to think about all by yourself.” Liv’s smile is sympathetic.

“It wasn’t so bad. My little sister Amelia helped me, and my dad was there—disapproving and asking a ton of questions.”

“Call me anytime.” Liv takes her hand, and they drift over to where Dylan is talking to Rachel. “You have my number.”

“Looks like you’re getting the hang of it.” Jack gives my shoulder a pat.

“You could’ve warned me.” I cut my eyes up at him. “I could’ve had a whole twelve hours to prepare for this.”

“Raven wanted to tell you herself.”

“Dylan told me.”

Jack’s face scrunches with a grimace. “Dylan’s always been a wildcard. You know your sister.”

“She almost killed me the first time we met.” Logan walks up, and I turn, reaching out to shake his hand.

“One of you could’ve warned me.”

“Are you kidding? And miss that look on your face?” Garrett’s voice is loud and laughing, and his daughter sits in the crook of his arm. She’s pretty much doing the same thing as mine, patting his shoulder and blowing raspberries through her lips. “Let me know if you need me to draw you a diagram. Those poopy diapers are tricky til you get the hang of it.”

The last thing I intend to do is let my oversized brother think he’s got one on me. “I can handle a poopy diaper.”

I can not handle a poopy diaper .

“I’ll ask Rave to take a video of you handling it.” Garrett’s on my case. “I can always use a good laugh.”

“You got this, Hen.” Jack is being team captain as always, keeping me motivated. “If I did it, you can do it. Call me if you need help. Don’t call this guy.”

“Like I’d ask Sasquatch for help,” I growl.

“That’s Daddy Bear to you,” Garrett replies.

“When are you retiring?” Logan puts his hands in his back pockets. “You’d be a great addition to the show. Our ratings always spike when you drop in for a chat.”

My chest tenses, and I guess my grip on Haddy does as well. Her little eyes blink faster.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself.” I try to keep it light, but my body is tight and a hint of defensiveness enters my tone. “I’m not like you guys. I don’t have any plans to retire any time soon.”

Jack’s voice is a low calm. “There’s plenty to do around here if you change your mind.”

“I won’t change my mind.” My voice rises, and Garrett’s brow does, too.

He has that look on his face like he’s holding a goldfish in his mouth, and by goldfish I mean some kind of dunk on me he’s ready to spew. Probably something about making me another pillow with these new words cross-stitched on it.

He never gets the chance to say it, though, because Haddy scrunches up her little face and starts crying. Loud .

“Shit…” I hiss under my breath.

Her little face is red, and I’m looking all over the place for Raven.

“It’s okay… It’s okay…” I’m using the same high-pitched voice I’ve seen people use when babies start screaming. I even bounce as I walk. “Don’t cry…”

“Real smooth, bro.” Garrett shakes his head. “You scared her.”

I leave my brothers standing around, having a good laugh at my expense, but I’ve got to find Raven. Haddy lets out another, louder yell, and she even has a little round tear caught on her bottom eyelashes.

My stomach twists. Where the fuck did Raven go? She was just standing over here with Dylan and Liv and Rachel…

I’m about to give up and ask my annoying giant brother for help when Raven bursts through the double doors leading to the kitchen.

“Oh, no!” She has an aqua-colored rubber pacifier in her hand, and the first thing she does is pop it in our daughter’s mouth. “Sorry, I lost track of time.”

She takes her from me, and I follow her into the kitchen, where Dylan has one of those small, vanilla ice cream cups she uses on her spicy dare nights. It’s the kind with the paper top and the small wooden paddle for a spoon.

“Did Daddy pinch you?” Dylan dips a tiny bite of ice cream and slips it into her mouth.

My daughter stops crying right away, and my shoulders drop. “I could’ve given her ice cream.”

“Oh,” Liv makes a worried face. “I’m not sure she should have ice cream yet…”

“It’s okay,” Raven jumps in quickly. “She can eat whatever she wants. I’m not one of those moms.”

“No, I just mean… You’re supposed to wait until she’s a year old for cow’s milk.” Liv’s nose wrinkles like she’s sorry for telling us this.

“Right. I didn’t think of that…” Raven’s eyes widen, and I grab my phone, doing a quick Google search.

“It says here, ice cream is safe for babies at six months, but you should really wait until she’s a year…”

“It’s Aunt Dylan’s fault!” Dylan takes the ice cream cup from Raven. “Sorry, I’m the worst.”

“It’s okay. She’s had a lot of stimulation today.” Raven turns to me. “I should take her to the house. Want to walk me back?”

“Of course.” I take the purple canvas bag she’s holding that has all the baby stuff in it .

Thomas gives me a nod as I pass him. “You remind me a lot of your daddy right now.”

“Really?”

“He loved his kids.” Our old friend’s lips part in a smile as he pats my shoulder. “He just didn’t always know what to do with them—but he learned.”

“Thanks, T.” I grumble as he chuckles, like my ignorance is so hilarious.

I had a really good dad, and if he learned, I can learn. Sometimes life throws you curveballs. Maybe I don’t play baseball, but I can do this.

I follow Raven out the back screen door. A flight of three steps leads down to a wide, pea-gravel path lined with small black lights.

My family’s home is on the bluffs, up the hill from the restaurant. Haddy has a pacifier in her mouth, and as we walk, she emits little humming noises.

Raven is pretty as ever walking beside me in the growing twilight. Her body hasn’t changed, and her eyes, her hair, her full lips, her breasts, all of it has me wondering if our arrangement might include benefits .

She’s the only woman I’ve thought about for more than a few weeks. For a while, I wondered what might’ve happened if we lived closer. Would I have tried dating her? Would it have been a mistake?

I think about that morning when we said goodbye after our wild night. I’d risk it for you … Am I about to find out?

When we step inside the back door, she takes the diaper bag, digging through it and taking out a pale blue, crocheted stuffed animal with what looks like purple fans on each side of its head.

The minute Haddy sees it, she leans forward with a little squeal, reaching for it and hugging it tightly to her neck.

“I take it that’s someone important.”

“That’s Axel the Axolotl,” Raven explains. “My sister crocheted him for her. We never go anywhere without Axel. ”

“Got it.”

“The good news is Amelia’s working on a backup Axel in case something happens to this one.”

“Smart,” I nod, and she takes our daughter from my arms.

“She just needs her dinner and a bath. Then she’ll probably go right to sleep.”

“I’ve got my room at the hotel if you’d like to stay with me.” As I’m saying the words, her expression changes.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Her lips tighten, and she doesn’t meet my eyes. “I appreciate what you’re doing for Haddy and me, but I think we’d better keep things strictly platonic while we’re together.”

“Really?” I sense all my fantasies from our walk to the house going up in smoke.

“Really.” She nods quickly. “I can’t do your two-dates thing. It doesn’t work for me. I tend to get attached.”

“That’s okay,” I give her a grin. “But what if we want to blow off a little steam?”

“Nope.” Her tone is emphatic. “No dating. No sleepovers. We’re just friends, who happen to be parents.”

Her eyes flash, and I hold up my hands. “Understood. I respect your boundaries.”

“Thank you.” Her chin drops, and she almost seems apologetic. “I think it’s for the best. Blurring the lines will only make it harder to say goodbye when it’s time to go.”

The pinch in my chest tells me she’s right. Raven might be cool and smart and tempting, but I’ve never had a problem walking away from a woman.

Our time together will be like training camp. We’ll start the clock, and in six months, we’ll shake hands and walk away. No misunderstandings. No complications.

Football is my life. I love it, and I like being single. Three months isn’t going to change anything.