Page 57 of Sneak Attack

He wasn’t wrong for a second. Hall was always up for shenanigans.

* * *

I’d managed to throw my full focus into the day’s practice, but as soon as I pulled my truck into my driveway, this morning’s memories flashed through my mind so real I wouldn’t have been surprised if Eden had been sitting in that rocking chair, tears rolling down her cheeks and then pushing me away, unable to look at me after I kissed her.

Broken. She’d looked so broken and beautiful, and my heart had only pounded for her since I hadn’t been able to help myself. Made me an asshole, probably, that I didn’t even stop to think how she’d react to it, or hell—if she evenwantedit. But as soon as my lips pressed hers and she melted into me…heaven.

Absolutely heaven. I’d had to go back inside, take another shower and take care of the fire she’d ignited before I could even think of focusing on work.

Now that I was home, my thoughts raced. What in the hell did we donow? Would she run after my idiotic display of desire for her?

“Daddy, are we going inside?”

I jerked, surprised by the sound of Jasper’s voice. Shit, there was no time to wonder about Eden now. Not with Jasper around.

“Yeah, sorry, buddy. Thinking of today’s practice.” I grinned back at him over my shoulder. I picked him up from the diner, but he hadn’t eaten yet. Tonight was one of the nights during the week Selma set aside for girl time so Jasper helped his grandma do baking in the kitchen and she got him nice and sugared up for me.

I turned off the truck and hopped out, and then opened Jasper’s door while he unbuckled himself from his booster seat. He wiggled out of the shoulder straps and flung his arms around my shoulders. I set him on the ground and once he was on his feet, he took off toward the door.

“I’ll let Bongo out and I’ll play with him, okay!”

The neighbors, four acres away probably heard him screaming but I didn’t care. “Keep an eye on him, though!”

“I will!”

He had the code to our front door lock tapped and the door opened before I’d grabbed my gear out of the back of the truck and reached the porch. Bongo’s excited whines came from the back door, and I cringed at the flour from the diner Jasper must have tracked through the hallway on his way to let the dog out.

“I’ll start dinner. Want to help with burgers tonight?”

“Sure! With cheese and fries?”

“You got it,” I called out.

The back door slammed shut and the house turned quiet again, and while thoughts of Eden lingered and tried to push to the forefront, I held them back by a wing and prayer.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out, frowning when that same unknown number from earlier lit up my screen, this time with a text alert.

The Face ID signed me in, and I pulled up the message, only to have that same fire from earlier returned in full force.

It’s Eden. I called earlier. Figured you probably deleted unknown numbers. Or maybe you’re busy. Can we talk?

Damn. One stupid text message from her and my blood was sizzling. She could be calling to tell me to leave her alone, or she was leaving. Maybe it was Marley. It could be anything. And was I ready to hear what she had to say?

I set down the phone and grabbed the ground beef from the fridge I’d set out last night. The phone stayed right next to me, tempting me, but if I didn’t get Jasper fed that sugar high of his would turn him hangry and grumpy like a light switch.

That didn’t mean I took my eyes off my phone, trying to interpret what she wanted, needed, from me. As soon as the patties were made, I grabbed potatoes from the pantry. Scrubbed them, washed them, and then sliced them into fries. Once I had them doused with oil and garlic salt and pepper, just the way Jasper liked them, I then laid them out on a baking sheet while the oven preheated.

Jasper was still outside, and Bongo was still in the yard based on the barking I heard from the backyard and yeah, I should have gone right out back, turned on the grill.

But as soon as my hands were washed, curiosity and impatience got the best of me. Picking up my phone, I went right to my voice mail, and as soon as Eden’s soft, worried voice came through, my chest squeezed tight.

“Hi Cole. It’s me, well…it’s Eden. I got your number from Marley, and I hope that’s okay, and if it’s not, feel free to block me, but you should know, well, at least Nate said you’d want to know, so I wanted to call. Because I was out with some, well, friends, I guess, maybe that’s what they are? Anyway, there was an argument, altercation…I don’t really know what to call it, but it was with Selma.”

I ended the message before I broke my phone and tossed it to the counter. It rattled across the butcher block island, and I slammed my hand over it before it fell onto the other side.

What in the hell had Selma done now? If it involved Eden, it couldn’t have been good. Not if she was calling me, but I could imagine what Selma had to say to her given our morning argument.

I’ve got Jasper. Will call when he goes to bed tonight.

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