Page 18 of Rolling with the Single Daddies

“Let it go unless you’re prepared to be all in.”

Who the fuck is she so pissed at?

“Right. We both know you want me to do the hard work.”

Diego’s voice catches me off guard. “I’m gonna run to the store. Need anything?”

“I’m fine,” Avery answers loudly, then more quietly ends the call and moves toward the door.

Shit. She rounds the doorway. The shock in her expression makes it clear. She hopes I didn’t hear anything.

“Bane?” Diego waits for me to respond.

“I’m good.”

Avery’s quick to say, “The girls are down. I was justgoing to bed.”

I have so many questions, but she backs into her room, closes the door, and flips the lock.

“I have the baby monitor on,” she adds through the door, clearly shutting down any conversation.

Nine

Avery

Waving bye to Beatrix and my brothers as they take the kids for a few hours, I’m eager to take a long bath and sort my thoughts after a sleepless night. I’m grateful Bane knows Beatrix’s brothers through the MC and trusts them with Evie.

Diego calls from the kitchen, “Family meeting!”

His tone is light, but my nerves are on edge after the call with Roman last night. How much did Bane overhear and what did he tell Diego?

And the hardest thought of all… calling us a family. If only. But even though I live with both of them, we don’t have the relationship so many of my teammates have been lucky enough to find.

Bane’s confusion mirrors my own as he steps away from the door.

“A family meeting?” I echo, downplaying my nerves as Bane motions for me to enter the kitchen before him. “What are we, the Brady Bunch?”

Diego grins back, dimples flashing. “Just hear me out, okay?”

I stand across the wooden kitchen island from Diego, bracing myself for whatever bomb he’s about to drop.

“So, I’ve been thinking…” Diego taps his fingers on the island. “About us. All three of us.”

My smile fades. I drop my gaze and search for an answer spelled out in the woodgrain. As much as dating Diego has done wonders for my psyche, if I had to pick dating or working, I’d choose Bane. I have to choose Bane, at least until I get this mess with Roman settled.

Diego leans forward, his eyes intense. “I see how you look at him, Avery. And how he looks at you.”

His pause gives me a second to playback what he just said. He wants me to choose Bane? And not just for a job? Bane shifts uncomfortably in my periphery.

Diego continues, “There’s something there, and it’s ridiculous to tell yourselves those little slips won’t happen again.”

An uneasy feeling washes over me. Is this Diego’s way of saying he had his fun with me and he’s ready to move on? Did he just get me the job as Bane’s nanny so he could have playtime whenever he wanted it? I feel used.

Maybe it’s for the best. They don’t know about my baby daddy yet. I can look for a different live-in nanny job.

My thoughtspiral feels like tornado alley.

“Look, Bane,” Diego continues, “I know you’re scared, and don’t want to, as you call it, betray your wife, but it’s been over a year, man. It’s okay to move on.”

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