Page 50 of The Nanny is Off Limits

“Do you want your chair?” I call after her and she turns around and nods and waves me toward her.

“Yes please!” We continue walking toward them and just when I approach them, Sabrina’s mother, Daphne looks at me like she’s seen a ghost.

“Well well well, look who it is!” Daphne and I have the best kind of relationship one can have with someone who was best friends with your ex who eventually died. After the divorce, she wasn’t my biggest fan,but after Bianca passed, she put her grievances aside for Isla and Sabrina’s friendship. When Bianca and I were married, we went out with her and her husband often, and while her husband—Rob—isn’t who I would call a close friend, he is tolerable when he isn’t being a total dick. I spot him next to the coach with a few of the other dads probably trying to tell the coach how to do his job.

“Always nice to see you, Daph.” I nod at her with a hint of sarcasm.

“I was not expecting you. The office must be on fire without you.” She gives me a fake smile before giving a real one to Ellie and raising her sunglasses back over her eyes. “Hey, Ellie.”

I look at Elianna who responds with a wave and a smile before I roll my eyes and nod my head away from them. She follows me until we are out of earshot of her and most of the parents.

“You guys are friendly,” she observes.

“I think I mentioned that she was their mother’s best friend, so…she has a lot of thoughts abouteverythingwhen it comes to me.” I pause but Elianna doesn’t say anything so I continue. “She thinks I work too much.” I chuckle. “Like I haven’t heard that before,” I add sardonically.

She hesitates for a moment before she speaks. “I know Sawyer is really glad you’re here and that’s all that matters.”

“I should be here more…” I shake my head.

“You’ve been doing the best you can,” she says and when I look down at her, she’s staring at the field watching the teams warm up. If there weren’t so many people around, I’d slide an arm around her waist or over her shoulder. She looks up at me, “I’m glad you’re here too.”

She bumps her shoulder against my arm playfully before we both turn our gazes back to the field where I see them getting in formation to start the game. Sawyer looks over at the sidelines and I watch him scan it, probably looking for me and when he sees me, he nods before turning back toward the ball. I suddenly feel a pang of guilt as I think about all the times he probably looked for me when I wasn’t here.

“I can’t stop thinking about last night,” she whispers, and I watch as her eyes look around to make sure no one is paying us any attention.

I turn to her, surprised that she’s choosing to bring this up now. “You want to talk about that now?”

She looks up at me and her mouth falls open slightly and I watch as her tongue darts out to lick her bottom lip before her teeth scrape over it. “We’re alone.”

A smirk pulls at my lips and I slide my hands into the pockets of my jacket. “I haven’t stopped thinking about it either, but I haven’t stopped thinking aboutyouall week.”

She looks up at me with those innocent eyes that I’m beginning to think may not be so innocent just as the whistle blows and I watch as all of the kids scatter.

I’m about to tell her my plans for the next time we’re alone when I feel a hand on my shoulder and a squeeze followed by, “I know SJ has to be hyped that you’re here.” River appears next to me, dressed in jeans and a Bulldogs football hooded sweatshirt under a denim jacket. “Let’s go fourteen!” He cheers and Sawyer’s head immediately looks toward us and smiles. River comes to Sawyer’s games more than I do, but he’s missed the last few due to the football team he coaches having afternoon games, so I know Sawyer is excited to see him too.

Isla’s head snaps toward us when she hears my brother from where she’s sitting and she jumps up to run to us. “Uncle River!”

“Isles!” He drops to his knee before he picks her up. “I’ve missed you, pipsqueak.”

“Me too. Ellie doesn’t always let us get donuts after school,” she whispers loudly and River looks over at her with a grin.

“She doesn’t? Well, maybe I was giving you a little too much sugar.” He kisses her cheek and squeezes her.

“A little?!” Ellie chimes in.

“Oh, what was that?! Ref! That was out!” He shouts before shaking his head. “Pay attention!”

“Yeah!” Isla yells with a giggle before River sets her back on her feet and she goes back to where she was sitting with Sabrina.

“Ignore him. He takes every sport way too seriously, even when they’re children,” I tell Ellie with a groan. “What are you doing here anyway? You didn’t tell me you were coming, I figured you had a game today?”

“The game was last night and we crushed them. My quarterback is insane, I think he has a chance to be All-American if he would just focus and stop trying to fuck every girl in a three-mile radius.”

“Sounds like someone else I know,” I say with a knowing look thinking about how my younger brother was in high school when it came to girls and focusing on anything else but them.

“Jealous?” he jokes and I roll my eyes just as a man I don’t recognize approaches the three of us.

“River, what’s up man.” He nods, shaking his hand, before looking at me. “Sawyer’s father, right?”

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