Page 44 of Stick Play

“Here.” Mel sneaks her a slice of bread, and Zoe giggles and runs out of the room with it. Mel slices the rest of the bread and sets it on the table, and I don’t miss the way Gina is trying to busy herself.

Since I’m not needed, I gesture toward the living room. “I’ll check on the kids.” I walk into the living room and my heart squeezes tight when I see Dad laughing as he plays a board game with the three, Tate on his lap, snuggled up to him as they play snakes and ladders. Zoe’s petting Jersey, who’s after her bread. Am I a bastard for not giving the man grandkids, and even a dog? After all he’s done for me, and he’s not getting any younger…

Fuck, what am I saying?

“Who’s winning?”

“Come sit with me,” Zoe yells and holds her hand out to me. I drop down onto the floor, and she climbs onto my lap. Is this what it’s like to be a girl dad? Maybe little girls aren’t as scary as I thought they were. I don’t miss the gleam in my father’s eyes as he watches us.

Zoe reaches for the dice. “It’s our turn, Ash.” She puts the dice in my hand. “Here, you roll.” I roll and she moves the pieces and groans as she hits a snake. “Oh no.”

“I must be bad luck.”

She turns to me, cups my face with her small palms and smiles. “It’s okay, Ash. It’s just a game.”

My heart twists in my chest as she consoles me, and when I lift my head and catch the mixture of wonderment and worry in Gina’s eyes as she leans against the doorframe and watches us, I get it. She’s worried about Zoe getting too close to me, and I can totally understand that. From here on out, I need to make sure Zoe doesn’t think of me as anything more than a friend. The last thing I want is for her to get attached. This hook up isn’t going to last forever, and I don’t want a little girl getting hurt when I distance myself.

Gina pushes off the doorframe. “Dinner time.”

“Yay,” Zoe shouts. “Don’t worry, Ash, we can finish later.”

“Okay.” She jumps up and hurries to the kitchen with Camryn and Tate and I get up, turning to give my father a hand. He pushes my hand away.

“I can get up.”

“I know you can, but you weren’t feeling well last night and I was just offering a hand.”

He looks like he’s about to protest, then something in him softens, turns frail. “Fair enough.” He holds his hand out to me, and I take it and tug him to his feet. Okay, that’s a first. I eye him as he saunters off. What is he up to now?

Gina waits for me. I step up to her and dip my head. “You okay?”

“I am.” She pauses. “I just worry about my daughter. She really likes you.”

I actually like her too, but don’t admit it. “What should we do about that?” I ask, not at all sure how to handle any of this. It’s definitely not in my wheelhouse.

“Once she’s back to school, and routine, I think it’s all going to be okay and once Camryn and Tate are back home, she might forget about wanting a daddy.” She sighs heavily. “At least, I hope so.”

I look over her head. “Okay, let’s go in there before we give Mel something to talk about.”

She laughs at that. “It’s hard to keep anything from her.”

I touch her lightly to get her moving, but drop my hand as soon as we enter the kitchen. The three kids are seated around the table, as Mel pulls the bowls from the cupboard.

“How many meatballs do you want?” she asks each child. “Remember, they’re really big.”

“I want two,” Zoe says. She looks at Brady, so damn serious, it’s comical. “Do your meatballs have lumps?”

Oh, Jesus.

Brady frowns, and glances at his meatballs. “Uh, lumps?”

“Don’t ask,” I say quietly. “Just say no.”

“No lumps,” he tells her and puts two meatballs, along with some sauce on top of her noodles.

He sets it in front of her, and her eyes go big. “These meatballs are huge.”

“I told you,” Mel says with a laugh as she fills two more plates with noodles and hands them to Brady. She turns to Gina and quietly asks what the lumps are all about. Gina tells her as Brady finishes them off with meatballs and sauce, and as the volume in the kitchen rises, my chest swells. I kind of love all the rambunctiousness of this. It’s clear Dad does too. He hasn’t stopped smiling, and I’m so glad he’s feeling better.

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