Page 128 of Fighting Chance

“What? I’m curious if he’s a big softie behind closed doors.”

A round of laughter behind me has me waving off the girls. “We’ll talk about it later, when there aren’t so many ears close by.”

Cindy’s eyes flick past my shoulder, her nose wrinkling at another obnoxious burst of laughter. I’m all for a good time but we all know when someone’s putting on a fake show.

Her gaze swings back my way. “How’s Emmy? Did she like the toys I dropped off?”

A gasp rings out beside me. “You dropped off toys and didn’t visit me?” Bella interjects.

“You were at the studio.”

“Oh, Emmy’s obsessed.” Playing with one of the coasters on the booth, I explain, “Cindy got her these little golden retriever figurines. She put them on her bedside table.”

Bella mirrors my smile. “God, she’s adorable.”

“Literally the cutest little girl.”

“Identical to Kieran.”

Cindy’s voice drops. “Has she said anything else?”

Bella chokes a little on her drink as she turns in the booth, her full attention on me. “My heart all but melted at Sunday lunch, I can’t believe sausages of all things made her talk!”

“I know, right? Kieran already ordered a sausage Jellycat.”

“How does he even know what a—” Bella stops abruptly, a knowing smile on her lips. “Allie,” she says, as way of explanation.

Cindy smacks a hand over her chest. “My uterus just exploded.”

“Oh trust me, being around him with her…” I whistle. “He wears this backwards black hat majority of the time and it’s just…”

“Gets you going.” Cindy wags her brows.

“Subtle, Cin,” Bella deadpans.

Her shoulders lift in a halfhearted shrug. “Clearly it does, look at her cheeks!”

Before Cindy can go down that rabbit hole again, I jump in. “Sadly, no more words after Sunday.”

“She’ll be running around yapping to everyone in no time.”

“I hope so,” I whisper.

I can tell it’s weighing heavily on Kieran. He’s talking toEmmy even more, giving her open-ended questions, his eyes always holding a hint of hope when he looks at her.

During the times he’s away at practice, I’m making sure I do everything the speech therapist suggested but I’ve not gotten far. She listens though, practically hangs on every word.

“We need another girls’ night at Totti’s. I want to prove I can handle their liquor. Even Asher was asking what I drank when I came home.” She snorts derisively to herself. “I swear, it put me on another planet.”

Bella and I double over with laughter at that when cheers erupt in the bar, and I know the team has arrived. Before long, Kieran is sliding in beside me, his scent invading my senses as he slides an arm over my shoulder. “Hey, sunshine.”

I’m grateful the girls are distracted as Cindy slides out to throw herself into Asher’s arms and Grayson and Bella stare at one another, Grayson looking like he wants to devour her whole.

I try to shrug Kieran’s arm off my shoulder but fail miserably, his arm not budging. He smacks his free hand against his chest in mock hurt. “No celebratory hug? I got two of the winning slapshots.”

Patting his chest, I pull back with a flat smile. “There, there, winner.” Ignoring the tingle of energy that races down my hand is as impossible as ignoring the hard muscle I’m met with.

Kieran laughs. “You really suck at feeding my ego.”