Page 48 of Only for Tonight

I wait for his next message, half expecting something that would make me blush even harder, but Alexei’s a gentleman. What comes instead is:

Let’s discuss it tonight – after Ella’s in bed.

I type back deal and set the phone down, grinning like an idiot.

Ella lets out a whimper—not one of her happy sounds. This one’s different. Tired. She’s been awake for a couple of hours, and ever since Alexei mentioned getting her on a real schedule, I’ve been paying more attention to her wake windows.

“Ready for your nap?”

I lift her to my shoulder and rock her gently, patting her back. She nuzzles into my neck, her breathing already slowing, one fist still gripping the pig’s ear.

As I carry her down the hall, I think about Andi.

I didn’t know her well. She was a roommate—respectful, quiet, paid her rent on time. We weren’t friends exactly, more like two people who shared space and occasionally watched the same TV show from opposite ends of the couch. It worked. And then it didn’t. She was late on rent a couple of months, and then one day she was just gone. Moved out without a word.

I didn’t know she was pregnant. Didn’t know why she left. She must have been at least a couple of months along by then.

When she showed back up months later with Ella, she looked thin. Too thin for someone who’d just had a baby. All she said was that they needed a place to crash for the night. I was so surprised to see her—surprised and maybe a little relieved that she was alive—that I said yes without thinking.

By morning, she was gone. Ella was crying, hungry, and there was a note on the kitchen counter. Two words. I’m sorry.

Where are you, Andi?

I can’t shake the feeling that she’s in trouble. Real trouble—the kind you don’t bring a baby into. Part of me is furious with her. Part of me understands, or tries to. And all of me aches for this little girl in my arms whose mother just walked away.

“You’re safe,” I whisper into Ella’s hair. “I promise.”

Ella’s already half-asleep, her body heavy and warm against my chest. I lay her down in the crib, tuck her blanket around her, and make sure the pig is within reach.

The apartment is quiet. Alexei’s room—our room, I guess, which still feels surreal—is dim with the curtains drawn. I lie down on his side of the bed because it smells like him, and I pull the covers up.

For the first time in a long time, I feel something close to peace. Not the loud, confident kind. The quiet kind. The kind that settles in when you stop fighting for five minutes and just let yourself be where you are.

My life is still a mess. Andi is still missing. I still work at a club I hate. Alexei’s teammates think I’m a liability, and maybe they’re right.

But Ella is napping in the next room, warm and fed and safe. And tonight Alexei will come home, and he’ll kiss my forehead, and we’ll eat dinner together, and after Ella’s down, we’ll discuss his technique, which—for the record—does not need any work at all.

I close my eyes and smile into his pillow.

Eight days. It’s not enough to know someone.

But it’s enough to know I want to stay.

Chapter Thirteen

Ryleigh

After breakfast the next morning, Alexei lingers in the kitchen, looking down at the tile. “I, um, forgot I invited my friends Jane and Weston over for dinner tonight. But if you want me to cancel . . .”

I shake my head. “Why would you cancel? Of course it’s fine.” It’s his house, after all. I’m only the houseguest currently crashing here. “I’ll just take Ella, and we’ll get out of your hair for a while so you can entertain.”

His brows pinch together. “That’s not what I meant. I don’t want you to leave. Are you up for meeting some of my friends and hanging out for a while? Weston’s the quarterback on the team. Jane works for the team, and she’s also Weston’s girlfriend.”

I blink at Alexei. He wants me to meet his friends? “Oh. Um, sure. Of course.”

His openness to share his home and his life with me is beyond confusing. Are we friends? Fuck buddies? Something more? Mentally, I shake my head, chasing away those thoughts. It’s best not to get my hopes up for when this all inevitably goes south.

“You don’t have to change your plans for me. I’m more than fine with hanging out. As long as they don’t mind a baby at the party.”