“Hey, Sheriff. I’m calling about that break-in at Baylee’s. Do you have any leads?”
“Sorry to say I don’t. One of her neighbors spotted a strange car parked in front earlier, but they couldn’t describe it.”
Damn.
“Have you considered her ex-boyfriend?” I give him the rundown on Sean and how he wants to share custody.
“Hmm. Interesting. I’ll do a little digging.”
“Thank you, sir.”
After we hang up, I grab some ice, wrap it in one of my new dishcloths, and crash in front of the TV for a few hours. I vow to myself that I’m going to be more serious about conditioning, starting tomorrow. I’ll hit the pool, which is one of the few things I’m allowed to do.
It’s getting dark when the front door opens.
“Mav?” Baylee calls out.
“On the couch.” I struggle to get up and end up rolling off the damn thing. I look up to find Baylee covering her mouth, trying not to laugh.
“You okay down there?”
I pat the ground. “Just making sure I like the area rug.”
She smirks. “Okay. Need a hand?”
I hold up my arm but pull it back when she reaches for me. “Don’t hurt me.” I’m kinda teasing, but also not.
“Don’t be a baby.” She helps me off the floor.
“Speaking of the baby, where’s Leo?”
She reaches back and puts his basket on the couch. I peer down at his little face. His big brown eyes stare back at me. “Hey, bro. How was your day?” I grab his hand, and he squeezes my finger. “He has a good grip. Gotta get a football in his hands while he’s young.” Leaning closer to him, I whisper, “Don’t worry. I’ll have you throwing like a champ in no time.”
Baylee rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling. Damn, she’s a beautiful woman. I stare at her and try to memorize this moment. The reality that she might not take me up on my offer to go toNew York with me is finally starting to sink in. If football is even an option, that is.
“So Bay, I called the sheriff to find out what’s going on with the investigation, and I mentioned that maybe he should look into Sean, since he’s not happy about the custody arrangements.” She freezes, and I instantly realize my mistake. “Sorry, I should’ve run that by you first. I just didn’t want you to have any more problems with people messing with you.”
She blinks at me, and I can almost see her counting to ten. “I wish you would’ve talked to me before you did that. I don’t want to make things worse with him.”
“You’re right. I promise not to do that again.” I hold up my hands. “Does this mean you’ll never make me puppy chow again?”
She bites her bottom lip as she tries to hold back a smile. “I don’t know. You’re skating on thin ice. I usually like to do things for myself.”
“I know this about you, butmaybe, if you let your friends help, life doesn’t have to be so hard.”
She glances down at the floor. Then shrugs. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Color me shocked.
“I’m not completely unreasonable.”
I hook her with my arm and give her a noogie. “You’re perfectly sensible. Most of the time.”
“Most of the time?” She wiggles her fingers against my ribs, and I laugh and push her away.
As I stare at the playfulness in her eyes, I wish I could throw her down and tickle her for real, but I just fell on my ass. I’m probably not ready to wrestle with Baylee, though, damn, I really want to. “I seem to recall you nearly getting kicked out of class for challenging our history teacher.”
She huffs. “I got an eighty-nine point nine. All the other teachers rounded that up to an A-minus, but oh no, not him.”
