Page 87 of A Major Puck Up

With a smile on my face, I keep my gaze on her and ask, “How old is she?”

Gavin still hasn’t answered my first question, and if he doesn’t stop acting like a complete asshole, my father is going to question why he hasn’t even said hello to me.

When Lake pushes a whiskey glass into his hand, he takes a long, slow sip. Then he clears his throat. “About six months.”

Six months. So she was born in the fall. I count back nine months and quickly determine that Gavin must have hooked up with her mother during the year we didn’t speak.

It shouldn’t bother me. We aren’t together now, and we certainly weren’t together then, but my stomach sours just the same.

Then again, the idea of Gavin with anyone but me makes my stomach roll.

“Ford, can you help me find the good tequila?” Lake interrupts.

My father spins Vivi in his arms and pushes her toward me. “Want to hold her?”

I reach for her before Gavin can object, swallowing down the painful thoughts. I’m the reason we’re not together. I’m the reason we weren’t together back then too. My immaturity. My problems.

I seduced the man and then left the country. I can’t fault him for any of it. And now there’s this sweet little girl…

In awe, I coo at her, brushing a hand over her soft hair. “Well, hello, beautiful.”

Lake practically drags my father to the bar, yammering on about the ingredients she needs like she’s doing her best to keep him distracted.

The sweet little girl in my arms tips her head back, studying me.

“Did you steal this baby?” I whisper.

Gavin’s eyes bulge and he chokes on his drink. “Excuse me?”

I scoff and hold her close to my chest. “Come on, Gavin. Where’s her mother?”

His gaze sharpens. “That’s hardly your business.”

I smile. I can’t help but rile him up. This isn’t the way I wanted to go about it, but if I can get under his skin, maybe we can get somewhere. “Gavin Langfield, where did you get this baby?”

A sound that could almost be categorized as a laugh comes from his throat. But then he clears it again. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Me? You have a baby?” I whisper. “Last time I saw you, which was only four months ago, if you remember, you said you wanted to have kids. Now listen, I know I didn’t handle the conversation well, but this is…” I hold up Vivi and smile at her. “Well, I mean, it’s certainly one way to go about it.”

Gavin’s brown eyes narrow on me, his annoyance palpable.

I lean in closer to him, my voice a teasing whisper. “You can be honest. I won’t tell anyone that you stole her.”

“Are you high?” He grunts and holds his arms out. “Give me back my daughter.”

Oh my god, the way he says my daughter has parts of me tingling that have no business being affected. Why is that so hot? I know I should be all sorts of things right now—upset that he had a child with someone else, annoyed that he isn’t at least a little happy to see me, worried that he’ll never forgive me—but I can be nothing but happy right now, because Vivi is a baby. Not his girlfriend. She’s the daughter who now lives with him, not a woman he moved into his apartment.

“No. She likes me.” I spin her away from him and rest my cheek on the top of her head. “Don’t you, Viv? We’re going to be best friends.”

“You’re delusional.” He sets his whiskey glass on the counter and steps up to me, holding his arms out again.

I pull Vivi back. “Now, now. I’m spending time with my new bestie. Give us time to bond.” I press my lips to her cheek and blow a raspberry, causing the sweetest giggle to escape her.

“You are not bonding with my baby,” Gavin practically growls.

I hold her up so we’re cheek to cheek and smile, hoping she’s doing the same. “Come on now. Tell me this wasn’t your plan all along.”

“I have no idea what the?—”

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