Page 23 of Mind Pucked

She nods, some kind of knowing look in her eyes. “I have trouble sleeping sometimes too.”

The empathy in her voice nearly kills me. She’s so pretty, young, and fun—I keep forgetting she faced something that sent her running to another country to get over it. I’m tempted to ask her about it, but I wouldn’t want her asking about my issues. So, I leave it alone. I can’t let myself get too close to her anyway.

As the coffee kicks in, I loosen myself up and pull them to the side, swooping Hayden into my arms from atop Amelia’s shoulders. She squeals with laughter as I whoosh her around in the air and then hold her, propping her up against my strong arm.

I look at Amelia for the first time and nearly growl. This is her first time at one of our events. It’s a photo shoot with our new jerseys. Coach booked us a feature in a sports magazine. We’ll all get a pretty penny from it to put away for our kids or whatever. But Amelia is in these cute little jean shorts that accentuate her tight ass. She’s wearing a purple top tucked in and a studded belt. Her hair is in a braid except for these two face-framing tendrils that are begging to be touched.

What the hell was she thinking?

Hayden’s playing with my face, and Amelia squints at me. “You okay?”

I avert my gaze and I’m about to answer when a couple of the guys walk over. Vaughn has his son Gabe with him, the only reason I don’t immediately throttle him. Hayden and Gabe love to play with each other. Vaughn’s soon-to-be ex-wife waves from a few feet away, and I give her mental kudos for being such a good co-parent after Vaughn cheated with my last nanny.

Oliver and Felix are coming our way too, and then I spot Teresa, Stephen’s wife, trying to run after their son Max who’s on his way over to see Hayden and Gabe.

I put Hayden down, and the kids immediately start chasing each other in a game of tag only they know the rules to.

They start to wander toward the pond, and Amelia follows to watch over them, leaving me and the guys alone.

“So, that’s the new nanny, huh?” Felix asks, pointing toward Amelia and the kids.

I tighten my jaw and nod, hoping he isn’t about to say anything about her. Felix is a friend, and I’d hate to lose him over this, but I’d deck him if he went for her. I can’t have that shit happening again.

But it’s Vaughn who says, “She’s a cute one.”

I turn on him, my fists clenched at my sides. “She’s off-limits.”

Vaughn puts his hands up in surrender and backs away slowly, leaving me digging my nails into my palms. This rage just won’t go away. The thought of Vaughn touching Amelia has me feelinglike I could turn over all the cars in the parking lot like some kind of wild animal.

Dean comes up behind me—Quinn is dragging their kids off to play with Hayden and the others—and he places his hand on my shoulder. He leans over and says, “It’s okay. Vaughn’s not going to be dumb enough to do that again.”

I unclench and turn back to find Felix and now Oliver staring at me.

“What?” I ask, a little harshly.

Felix winks. “A little possessive for this one, aren’t you?”

Dean still has his hand on my shoulder, and I feel him shaking his head behind me. But Felix never knows when to stop.

“Hey, I’d be on edge with that around too if I hadn’t gotten laid in a while. My cousin is still available. I can set the two of you up. She’s not clingy, and she’s six months out of things with her fiancé. I’m sure you’d hit it off.”

I shake my head, ready to let him have it. I’m sick of him trying to set me up. Sick of all of them doing it. I was married. They just don’t get what that means to me. I know I should move on one day, but Hayden is still young, and I made a commitment to Lyla. How can I forget about that like it didn’t happen?

I’m about to tell him exactly that, and make it clear what I’ll do if he doesn’t knock it off, when Oliver reads the tension in the air and offers, “You know, I’d like to meet this cousin of yours. Why are you never trying to set me up, Felix?”

The two of them go off on their own to talk about it, leaving me watching the kids from afar with Dean at my side.

“You okay, buddy?”

I sigh, turning to him. “Yeah, I just didn’t get much sleep last night. I started having dreams about the crash again.”

“We’ll all understand if you can’t stick around for the movie. Your nanny can stay. I know she and Quinn seem to get along. You can take a nap and pick them up after.”

I shake my head. I promised Hayden I’d bring her to this. The team members with families specifically asked to do the shoot today so we could have a picnic afterward and watch the showing ofFrozenin the park. It’s Hayden’s favorite Disney movie. “Nah, I can’t do that to Hayden. I had some coffee. I’ll be fine as long as Vaughn stays off of it.”

“We’ll all watch him for you.”

“One more photo, guys!” Coach calls to us, bringing us back to formation. Both Dean and I groan as we get back into position and plaster on our million-dollar smiles for the photographer. A couple more snaps, and they start packing up as the sun starts going down.

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