Page 63 of Game Changer

“My fucking heart breaks for her, but?—”

She sniffs. “No butts. You love her.”

“The day I was coming back from the Combine, I’d met both Links men, Tessa and London, Trucker and Mitch, José … I was on cloud nine. Nah, higher than that—cloud ten. And I decided to call; wanted to share in that joy and what that meant for us if that dream came true. She was halfway to Georgia, and I had no idea she was even unhappy. She had giving up on school and giving up on our little family. I thought I was doing it all right. Lindsey and I weren’t fucking around anymore, and I wasn’t fucking around with anyone else. Me, Beau Boone, the biggest player at Jersey U, reformed. I was acing my classes in case football didn’t come through and working my ass off. Hell, I was selling blood so we didn’t have to depend on anyone else, and she left.”

“Beau, I am so sorry.”

I roll to my side, prop my head up on my hand, and look across my sleeping little girl to Sydney. “I told her I loved her, and I’d never told a girl that in my life. She told me I loved Lily’s mom and the idea of us. She told me she wanted Lily to see real love and we would never have it.”

“That had to hurt.”

“Hurt? Cupcake, it tore me up. I never wanted to be anything except not my father, and I thought it was ripped away from me. My heart broke for this little one, knowing what it would be like to have parents who fought and disappeared.”

“And now you think there’s a chance they can take them from you?”

“I can’t let that happen. I have to show the courts I have a solid foundation here, which I clearly do, but Syd, they’d look a hell of a lot more favorably on this if she had not just a stepmom but the one all others will aspire to be like.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“You adore my girl and me, admit it.”

“I do.”

“Will you say those two words before a minister of your choice?”

“How about a judge? That way, when you have Lily securely in your custody, and we get divorced, I won’t feel like I’ve broken a vow.”

I reach across Lily, push a perfect wave behind her ear, then immediately sit up.

“What are you doing?” she asks as I turn and grab the thermometer she had on the nightstand of the room that’s vibe is Sydney Sparks.

“Let’s take that temp.”

Chapter 14

Fever Confessions

Sydney

Beau Boone,#21, is in my fucking bedroom, for real, and just asked me to marry him … sort of. And now he’s prowling around my bed like a man on a mission.

He leans over me and brushes my hair from my face. “But first, I need to kiss the future Mrs. Boone, our kind of handshake. Are you with me?”

It is against my better judgment, but I agree with a nod, regardless.

He slides the thermometer into his pocket and cups the side of my face. His intense gaze never wavers as he moves in, and his lips, those plump, soft lips, brush against mine.

Our kiss becomes more urgent, and I can’t help but moan against his lips that taste like sweet nectar, a flavor that I can’t get enough of.

His hands begin to move from my face, down my neck and shoulders, and his kiss remains gentle yet possessive.

“Daddy, you kissing my Sydney on the lips?” She giggles.

“You were supposed to be asleep.” He laughs then leans fully over me to tickle her.

I deal with kids better than so many people I know who are actual parents, yet I wish my bed would swallow me up right now.

“You can’t kiss a girl unless she’s your girlfriend. My Syd’s gotta be your girlfriend now, Daddy.”

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