Page 55 of Forever Player

“What did you guys do today?” I ask in a friendly way.

“We went to visit an old friend of mine from high school,” she says. I realize her answers are very on point and she seems tense.

“Is everything okay?” I ask. I’ve never been in a relationship before or had to answer to anyone, so I am walking on uncharted territory.

She shrugs.

“Did I do something wrong?” I ask. “I thought it made sense that I help your brothers out since I’m staying here.”

“It’s fine that you helped my brothers,” she replies and then she stands. “Do you mind giving Maylee a bath and putting her to bed?” Her tone is terse and her body is rigid.

“Sure. Are you going somewhere?” I ask.

She nods. “I’m going out with Bonnie.”

My eyes pop. “The woman you don’t like?”

“Yes,” she hisses. Damn. I really fucked up somehow and I don’t know what I did.

“I’m happy to take care of Maylee,” I say.

Willow walks away, leaving me confused. I replay the last twenty-four hours in my mind. I don’t know where this attitude is suddenly coming from. I take Maylee in my arms.

“Do you want to go play in the water, baby girl?” I kiss the top of her head.

We head upstairs. I place her in her crib with the mobile on while I prepare her bath. With everything prepared I head back to Maylee’s nursery and bump into Willow. She’s wearing a skintight pair of leather-looking leggings with those sexy cowboy boots, and a loose off-white sweater that dips low in the front. She’s put makeup on and looks stunning but when she looks me in the eyes, I feel the need to take a step back.

“You look gorgeous,” I say to her.

Willow’s blue-green eyes are narrowed, watching me with a wrath I don’t understand.

“Don’t wait up,” she says, walking past me into the nursery. She picks up Maylee and kisses her cheek. “You be good for Daddy.”

My stomach sinks. I am at a loss. Do I go after her? Do I ask her to tell me what has made her so angry? She’s clearly going out to that pickup joint with Bonnie, and the thought of another man having his hands on her is driving me crazy. I can’t exactly tell her she can’t go. We aren’t in a committed relationship.

I take Maylee from her.

“Have a good night?” I say and it comes out like a question.

Willow’s brows furrow and she blows out a breath and walks away.

“Bye,” I call after her.

She doesn’t answer and I watch as she descends the staircase.

“Well, it’s just me and you, baby girl,” I say to Maylee. “Do you want to tell your daddy what happened today?”

I take off her sleeper and place her on the chair in the small bathtub. She kicks her feet in the water, making little splashes and smiling. I use a washcloth to wash her. She loves her bath time and being with her relaxes me, but I still feel unsettled about Willow. I thought I made headway last night. I’ve been thinking about being with her for a damn long time and being with her that night we went out to the bar meant something to me. It showed me I still want her like I remembered I did. It also showed me my feelings for her are real because it was all about me wanting to please her. I’ve never been in this kind of situation where I don’t even care about my own needs. I just want to make Willow feel good and I thought I achieved that goal, but there must have been some sort of miscommunication.

We finish up bath time and I take Maylee to the nursery and lay her flat on her changing table so I can get a diaper on her and put a new sleeper on. Once she is dressed, we head downstairs. I see Willow left us a bottle ready with a note.

Just warm it a little.

There are only four words on the note but they tell me she is pulling away from me, and for the life of me I can’t understand why.

I warm up Maylee’s bottle and give it to her, sitting on the couch. I realize Jacob, Lev, Finn, and Willow’s mom are barely ever home, which means Willow and Maylee have been alone most of the time, and I know Willow wasn’t getting out much before I came along. I want to think that she is using this time while I am still here to go out and relax. I don’t believe my own arguments because she was angry this evening, or maybe hurt.

Maylee falls asleep as she drinks the end of her bottle. I take her up to the crib and get her settled. I take the baby monitor with me and grab my cell phone from my bag in the nursery, since I have tried to stay off social media since the blow up at the arena.

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