Page 143 of Rule Breakers Fall Hardest

I’m still wrapping my head around the idea that this thing between us is real.

He’s my best friend again, the person I’m most excited to see, the person I want to spill my secrets to. He’s the love of my life.

Being with him is effortless, and to think, if it weren’t for Sammy, we probably would have continued to be too stubborn to forgive each other for our teenage stupidity.

Standing carefully with Sammy in my arms, I say, “Let’s get this little guy his bath and go to bed.”

“Bed?” Daire asks, hopping to his feet. “Orbed?”

I swat him, my cheeks flaming. “Just sleep. I’m tired.”

Stepping in close, he grips my hips and places a gentle kiss to the crook of my neck. “I know you weren’t gone that long, but I missed you.”

I sigh, melting into his touch. “I missed you too.”

It’s strange, to miss him so acutely afteronly a few hours. But I suppose that’s a sign that this connection is real.

“Come on, we need to get this little guy in the bath.”

“And then bed?” He winks.

I pat his chest, my stomach dipping. “We’ll see.”

He grins back, his expression making it clear he knows he’s going to get what he wants, because I want it too.

I’ve never been able to resist Daire. I certainly don’t expect things to change now.

Starting up the stairs, I hold my hand out behind me. An instant later, his fingers entwine with mine.

This is the life I always wanted—always hoped for.

It doesn’t feel real that I finally have it.

33

DAIRE

Rosieand I haven’t found a nanny for Sammy yet, but we’re making it work. With graduation on the horizon, I’m beginning to think we shouldn’t even bother. The real world awaits us, sure, but we have time. We have money. So why not spend time with Sammy, at least for a little while? Maybe that’s selfish, but I don’t like being away from my son. He and Rosie have become my two favorite things in the entire world.

We’re still jumping through ridiculous hoops to get permanent legal custody of him. Since I wasn’t listed as his biological father on his birth certificate, the process is a complicated one. Regardless of DNA, things have to be handled in a certain way. Nina says I have nothing to worry about and to be patient. That’s hard, though.

After practice, I shower and change, then head out of the locker room to find Sammy. It’s become an after-practice tradition to hang out with him in the game tape room with the team.

When I step into the room, Sammy is babbling nonsense to Luke.

The big guy grins and mimics him.

“Hey.” Cree elbows my arm. “I’m mad at you.”

I arch a brow. “What for?” I rack my brain for a reason but come up empty. I’ve been on the straight and narrow for months. I’m adadnow. I have to set a good example for my kid.

“You asked Jude and Millie to babysit. What’s wrong with Ophelia and me?”

I wince, because yeah, I asked them. Rosie and I spent Valentine’s Day at home with Sammy, but I planned a little surprise for her for this weekend, which meant needing a sitter. Honestly, I considered asking Luke. The guy and I might not be best friends, but he’s a cool guy and really great with Sammy. In the end, though. I decided Jude and Millie were my best bet. Now that Jude’s with Millie, he’s about as mellow as they come—and fully obsessed with that girl—and Millie has experience babysitting, so it was a no-brainer to me.

I didn’t even entertain the idea of Cree and Ophelia, and that’s probably even worse.

“Millie has babysitting experience.” It’s a plausible enough excuse, right?

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