Page 18 of Rush

Dylan shakes her head, her little eyes widening in her small face. “No talk. I want chickies."

I bite back a laugh and keep my face as serious as hers. The exact same look her mom gets when she’s about to cross that line of being hangry. “Later.” I tilt my chin at my brother, who is barely containing his grin as he bends back over the car.

Quickly, I walk over to my truck and fasten Dylan into her car seat in the back. After starting up the engine, I flip on her favorite songs from the playlist on my phone, not even caring that I’m listening to “Zoo” from the Zootopia 2 soundtrack again. Dylan sings along during the drive until we get to Josie’s café, where I asked Sam to meet us. It has the chicken strips Dylan loves and they will have the salmon and rice with veggies that Sam will need to fuel up. I know this week will be hectic for her with her game schedule. Something else to talk to her about.

We grab a table near the back, where it's warmer than by the windows, and two minutes later Sam arrives. Her cheeks are rosy, and I admire the way her leggings hug her body while she dotes over our daughter. What I didn't expect to see was the old Crimson Bay Pirates hoodie she’s wearing from high school. My hoodie. The one that I left with her one night after she watched me race, and she never gave back. Fuck. My heart expands in my chest until it feels like it may suffocate me. I wonder if she even realizes it.

“Sorry I’m late,” she says to me, pulling my attention off her sweatshirt, and our eyes connect. “It took me longer to clean up after girls' night than I thought it would so I started my paper later than expected.”

I already knew she had been working on her paper when we left. Again, something I can’t share. Instead, I smile at her, reassuring her it's fine. I’d wait two minutes, two hours, or two lifetimes for this woman. “No worries. We only ordered drinks. I got you the strawberry lemonade you like.”

Her lips turn up in a genuine smile, and she tilts her head toward me. “Thank you for remembering.” Sam sits and gets comfortable before turning to Dylan. “What did you and daddy do last night, baby girl?”

“Watch Punzel!” Dylan tells her with a huge smile.

“Oh Rapunzel again,” Sam says, her eyes widening on me with a hint of a teasing smile on her lips. I fight to keep the grimace off my face. Dylan would not be happy if she saw my reaction to her favorite movie. There’s nothing wrong with the movie, but when it's been played over and over, it gets to be too much.

“Whatever my little Pretty Girl wants,” I end up answering with a shrug, seemingly appeasing both of them.

We order dinner and then I fill Sam in on everything Dylan did over the weekend. She colored me, Gramps and Johnny new pictures, no glitter this time. She watched her movie, played with her dolls, and we made homemade pizza for dinner one night. Sam watches us with a smile on her lips the entire time and asks Dylan questions throughout. The longer we sit and talk the more I start to realize how much I love this. We’ve never had a family dinner until the other week and we’ve never sat down, just the three of us, to talk. Those thoughts alone could bring me to my knees if I was standing.

“Are you okay?” Sam asks, her eyes thoughtful.

I nod and lean toward her, my arms folding on the table. “I just realized we’ve never had many meals together with Dylan. I like it.”

Her gaze drops to the table, and when she glances at me again, her shoulders are stiff and she bites her lip nervously. “I do too. Would this be something you’d want to do more often?”

My lips part in shock, and it takes everything inside me to hold back from reaching across the table to show her how much. “I want this more than anything, Sam.”

Her cheeks pinken, and she looks everywhere but at me while her mind whirls with a comeback. I know I’m making her unsure. After her revelation with her friends, I can tell she thinks she’s on shaky ground, even though she isn't. With me, she never has been. Wanting to give her a break, I change the subject.

“I was thinking I could take Dylan to your home game again next week. She really liked it and it gives us the opportunity to get out of the house. Would that be okay?”

Her eyes glisten and she looks at our girl before smiling softly at me. “I liked having her there. Both of you.”

“It's a plan then.” I nod my head. “I’ll pick her up beforehand just like last time and get her dinner then we’ll go to your game.”

Our food arrives then and we all dig in, enjoying every bite. I watch my girls eat and feel whole. I catch Sam watching me a few times, and every time our eyes meet, it's like a jolt to my gut. Dylan keeps us busy during the meal, and by the end of it, she has a ketchup stain on her shirt. When it's time to leave, my whole body protests against it. I’m not ready to say goodbye to my girls.

“Bye daddy,” Dylan says to me, her lips pressing a smacking kiss on my cheek.

“Bye Dyl. Be good for mommy, okay,” I tell her, and she nods her head. She looks sleepy already, so hopefully she’ll go to bed good for Sam.

“Thanks for dinner, Kane,” Sam says when I turn to her. I really should move. I should step back, but I don’t. I hand Dylan to her, and before Sam can move out of my hold, I press a kiss to her cheek.

“I’ll see you both soon, Sammy.” She’s stunned as she stares at me. With one last look at my whole world, I leave the cafe and force myself to walk to the truck. I watch through the windshield while Sam straps Dylan into the car seat in her Jeep. I don’t leave until I see them drive out of the parking lot. Only then do I drive to my night class. The whole time I keep the app up on my phone that lets me see inside Sam’s apartment. I watch as they get home and start their nighttime routine. I like knowing they made it home safely. I’m beyond ecstatic that Sam agreed for us to see her next game. And even more so that she is open to more family dinners. It’s time to put the next phase of my plan into action.

jameson

. . .

All week I’ve been keeping my interactions with Sam close to my chest, private and dissecting each new interaction carefully. The last thing I want to do is spook her into backing off and putting her walls back up. I can tell she isn’t sure about what is happening, but she also isn’t pulling away; instead, I’m reeling her in closer. She hasn't brought up the discussion she had with her friends yet, but I’m a patient man. I’m also enjoying the hell out of time with both of my pretty girls. We’ve had another dinner, breakfast and even a lunch together, the three of us, like it was always meant to be.

Today is Sam’s home game, and I’m still planning to bring Dylan. The drive to Sam’s college campus is quick, just a ten-minute jaunt from the shop to there. Parking outside of the arena, I get out of my truck the second I spot Sam walking down the sidewalk. She has her bag over one shoulder, her stick in hand and she’s holding Dylan’s hand on her other side. I’m in awe of her and her strength; she looks like a walking supermom, juggling everything. I get out of my truck, ready to head over to her and help alleviate her load, when I see him walking toward them. My body tenses, and my jaw clenches tightly. Fucking ‘Gym Bro.’ The only guy to sneak past my defense in the past two years, and only because I believed he was just her gym partner. A mistake I’ll never make again.

I know for a fact that they haven’t hung out since the failed date. Still, he's standing way too close to what's mine. My feet eat up the distance between us, and thankfully, my little girl saves me from doing something that could potentially piss her mom off.

“Daddy!” Dylan squeals, her arms waving at me excitedly, and there’s a bright smile on her little face. My heart squeezes in my chest, filled to the brim with the love I have for that little girl. My own lips tip up in a smile as I approach them, some of the hardness from before sliding away.