Page 68 of The Forever Play

I couldn’t admit to the way they melted my heart when Zoey got bowled over by those kids. The way Zander told them off, and his teammates formed an intimidating line in front of that poor boy. He only looked to be around fourteen or so, and as pissed off as I was with him for knocking my daughter down, he looked pretty damn scared by the time Zander finally let him go.

Zoey was safe.

I smile yet again, reliving the scene and then thinking about the daily text messages I’ve been getting from Zander.

He checks in on Zoey each morning, and I’ve been sending him pics. He posts back funny photos of him andhis teammates. They seem to love putting on a show for my little girl, and I adore them for it.

She’s falling hard and fast for these football players, and I’m helpless to stop it.

I mean, I don’t need to, right?

Except for the fact that three of them will be graduating at the end of this year, and who knows where they’ll end up.

Is Zander hoping to go pro?

What will that mean for Zoey and me?

Shit… am I setting her up for disaster?

She’s going to be completely in love with her daddy, and then he’s going to take off, not be around while he travels the country playing football and I’m left at home with her. We’ll miss him like crazy, and?—

Stop it. You’re spiraling. Just don’t think about it.

It’s not like Zander and I are getting back together. He’s made it clear that he wants to be a part of Zoey’s life, and he’s proving himself worthy of being a part of it.

But that has nothing to do with romance.

He wants to be a good father.

That’s it.

I swallow, flicking on the TV as a way to distract myself. Zoey fell asleep about an hour ago. Russell’s at an away game, and it’s just me tonight.

It’s the first time Russell’s had an away game this season, and he was nervous traveling with his team and leaving me all alone.

I assured him I’m totally fine. If anything, I was looking forward to an evening to myself.

But now that I’ve got it, I kind of hate being at home all alone with Zoey. It’s a lot of responsibility. I can handleit, but this is actually the first time I’ve spent an entire night with just me and her. All I can hope and pray is that nothing goes wrong.

My mind jumps to images of house fires and masked intruders.

I snap my eyes closed for a second and softly reprimand myself. “Stop it. You’re fine. Everything is fine.”

And at least Zander is only a phone call away now.

Although he has a big game tomorrow and I have no idea what he’s up to tonight, I’ve got a gut feeling that if I called him, he’d drop everything to be here for Zoey and me.

Picking up my phone, I read through our last couple text chains, smiling to myself as I gaze at the last shot he sent Zoey. It’s a smiling thumbs-up. He was praising her for attempting a forward roll. She ended up just rolling on her side, but she thought she was the next Simone Biles. It was pretty cute.

Brushing my thumb over his handsome face, I nearly drop the phone when I get a text message from Russell’s sister, Celeste.

Celly: Just checking in. Russell’s worried about you.

I roll my eyes and quickly reply.

Me: I’m fine! Seriously. He doesn’t have to worry.

Celly: I told him that, but he’s a paranoid freak when he wants to be. I’ll assure him that you’re snuggled up on the couch watching romance movies.

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