Page 19 of War

“It was the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” Sara adds.

“And the hottest,” Hannah says, her voice a little too loud in my small, quiet apartment. “Learned something new about myself today—I find dadshot. War was already the hottest guy on the team, but with his reputation, I’ve always sworn that I wouldn’t touch him with a ten-foot pole. Now, though?” She fans her face. “After witnessing him holding a little girl in his arms? The way he was so worried about our Josie? Girls, what the hell?”

“First of all.” Lennox snaps up straight. “War isnotthe hottest guy on the team.”

Snorting, Sara sinks into the couch, clutching a throw pillow to her chest. “And who, pray tell, is, bestie?”

Lennox crosses one leg over the other with a huff. “Daniel Hall is the prettiest. Camden Snow has that all-American boy thing going for him. Brooks”—she rolls her eyes—“has the whole ‘touch herand die’ vibe down to a science, andmy husband”—she grins at that last word—“has the star power. He flashes those pearly whites, and everyone melts?—”

Hannah folds her arms across her chest. “And like I said, War is the hot one. He’s got fuckboy written across his forehead. Or inked on his arms, I guess.” She narrows her brown eyes on me. “Don’t tell me you weren’t drooling over those damn forearms.”

When I stare back at her, still unable to form a coherent sentence, she smirks.

“He’s hot,” she continues. “Dark windswept hair, glacier-blue eyes, strong cheekbones, and don’t even get me started on that mouth. His lips are biteable.”

“Spoken like an author,” Sara teases.

Hannah shrugs, using a hand to flip her dark hair over her shoulder.

“You interested?” Lennox tosses out.

Head dropped back, Hannah barks out a throaty laugh. “God, no. The man is a walking, talking red flag. The baseball team is full of problematic men, so I spend my days babysitting more than enough of them. I have no interest in adding another to that list. Besides, that bad boy only has eyes for our doe-eyed redhead here.”

When no one so much as bats an eye in response to her statement, I gape and sputter. “Th-the man hates me.”

Hannah arches a brow. “I don’t see you arguing about how hot he is, though.”

Heart thumping loudly in my ears, I snap, “Can we focus on how the man I hate is adopting my Josie?”

Sara drapes an arm around me and squeezes, enveloping me in her sugary scent. “She seems really happy.”

Guilt and shame swamp me. She’s right, and yet here I am, upset about it. “God, am I an awful person for being annoyed that he gets to adopt her?” She seemed happy, and he acted as if he legitimately cares about her. She’s not in the hospital anymore. She’s living with a sister I didn’t even know existed and has her own bedroom. War’s house is gorgeous, and he can give her anything she’d ever want.

I look around my tiny apartment, deflating. If not for theLangfields’ generous compensation package, I couldn’t even afford to live in a place this nice. If adopting Josie had been at all possible, I would have already been pursuing it. But I spoke to her social worker. There’s no way a single woman who lives in a one-bedroom apartment with a bunch of athletes for neighbors would be approved.

Sara’s grip on me tightens. “You aren’t awful for loving Josie. Or missing her. Of course you wish you could be the one to adopt her, but there’s no denying that you’re relieved that your girl has someone in her corner, fighting as hard for her as War apparently is.”

Lennox leans forward, her pink hair falling over one shoulder. “Remember when War had us all over after he moved in? God, he was adorably shy when showing me the little girl’s room.” She breaks out in a grin. “He swore it was decorated that way before he moved in, but he was super awkward, asking if I thought a little girl would like it. Thinking back on that moment, I don’t know how I didn’t see that he was the one who painted it. There were little birds on the walls just like he did for Vivi’s bedroom.”

I remember the day they decorated Vivi’s room well. Gavin’s wife Millie, who also happens to be Daniel Hall’s twin sister and a good friend of mine, wasn’t in the picture at the time. Gavin had just found out he had a little girl, and the guys all came over to paint while the girls and I watched Vivi. That was just another in a long string of instances where it was obvious that everyone I knew loved War. And god, was it annoying. They went on and on about his artistic abilities for days. Sure, the birds he painted on the walls to match Taylor Swift’s album were adorable, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t a selfish, cocky, womanizing jerk.

Why am I the only one who sees how much of a jerk he really is?

It’s as if they view him from a completely different lens. Rose-colored glasses that make him look like a wonderful person. Honestly? Maybe I saw a little of that today too. And I don’t like it. Because that means that maybe I was wrong about him.

If he’s going to be Josie’s dad, then despite how hard it is to comprehend, I can’t help but hope I was way off in my assessment of him. I hope more than anything that he can be the guy she deserves. Good. Caring. Loving.

I blink back tears. “She really did seem happy, didn’t she?”

With murmurs of agreement, the girls crowd in close, and we spend the rest of the night cuddled together, chatting and coming up with ideas for how to spend more time with Josie now that we know she’ll be part of the Bolts’ family. While it isn’t a perfect situation, it’s more than I had before. And I’ll take Josie any way I can.

SEVEN

TYLER

Not surprisingly,I came home from the hospital to a couple hundred texts from the guys. Clearly their damn women can’t keep their mouths shut. Every one of them knew about Josie before I had a chance to check my messages. They came over the next morning, and over a cup of coffee—spiked with Jameson, because the conversation called for it—I told them everything.

To say they were shocked that I managed to keep this entire other life hidden from them would be an understatement. But, of course, because they’re the greatest guys in the world and closer to me than my own family, they assured me that they’ll be here every step of the way. They’ll rib me about this forever, and I can’t blame them. If I was in their position, I’d be allwhat the fucktoo. Because we’re more than teammates. We’re brothers. I could have confided in them. They would have helped me. Now that I realize that, I won’t shut them out again.

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