Page 44 of Vegas Daddies

Peter fucking Dyson.

“Al, oh my god.” He barges past me and Match to wrap his arms around her. “Baby.” He pats her down. “I heard what happened. Are you hurt? Did they touch you?”

How the hell does Peter know…?

Fuck.

The four white walls close in on me, and a football-sized lump forms in my throat, rendering me speechless. My eyes can’t help but scan them for similarities. Father and fucking daughter. That would explain the excruciating panic on Alice’s face when she shot up.

They look alike. Both sport the same Amazon-Rainforest green eyes. Peter, like Alice, has a slim build, and they share the same petite, straight nose.Al. Alice.How did my brain never connect the two?

I catch Match side-eyeing me, amused.

Brander looks scared for my life.

And he should be, because as Peter envelops Alice in a hug using the continued nickname “baby,” all I can think about is the time I fucked his daughter.

Never mind being buried my first week into retirement.

I’m six feet under now.

11

MATCH

Life isall about the positives, and Lifesaver should be grateful that his childhood best friend is still fucking alive.

But it’s not Peter’s death Lifesaver should be concerned about now.

It’s his own.

I stifle a laugh. Lifesaver and I go back six years, and I’ve never seen him in this state. As the extrovert and compulsive joker of the group, bets have been placed at the clubhouse that we’d never see the day where he looks like he wants the ground to swallow him up. Lifesaver is the kind of guy that embraces the world with confidence, swanning in with no care in the world because, “Life isn’t that serious at the end of the day.”

I now owe Grizzly three hundred bucks.

“Law,” Peter says.

Quite the birth name.

Ironic too, since he’s very much broken the unspoken law that friends have about moms, exes, sisters, and daughters being off-limits in the dating pool.

“I’m so glad you were here.” Peter stares at him. “How is she?”

“Fine,” Lifesaver manages. “Nothing to be concerned about.”

Nothing? To be concerned about?

I side-eye Lifesaver.

He flashes me the deadliest fucking daggers I’ve ever received.

“Gosh.” Peter sniffs a laugh. “In a hospital of all places. I can’t believe this is the first time the two of you are meeting.” He takes a step back. “Al. This is Law, my friend from junior high. You remember? I’ve mentioned him to you a few times.”

Alice’s lips turn a blue color. Her eyes space out, like she’s disappeared from reality momentarily to relive a distant memory that hasn’t quite connected until now. The alarming look in her eyes suggests that she’s only now coming to realize that Law and Lifesaver are the same fucking people.

Credit to the girl—she hides the shock well.

“Hey.” She stages a smile, looking at Lifesaver. “It’s nice to meet you.”

---