by Ciara Shayee
My lip disappears between my teeth and I can’t stifle my smile when he turns to see why I haven’t responded to whatever question he asked while I was busy eye-fucking him.
“Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be, huh?” he snorts, his gaze heating up. “I think I’m gonna enjoy having you work for me, short stuff.”
Eighteen
Kellan
In true form, we have our quietest day of the week on the day we have all our staff in.
Brayden is back after his paternity leave and Kelly has returned after a three-day sickness bug. By four, I’ve got nothin’ to do except twiddle my thumbs. I hate being idle. My mind wanders, and that’s never a good thing.
“Yo, boss!”
Cocking an eyebrow at New Kid, I fold my arms over my chest. “Yo? Where do you think you are, the skate park?”
The two girls he’s serving giggle while his cheeks flush red.
Oops, guess I embarrassed him. Never mind.
“Why you gotta bust my chops all the time?”
“Oh, I’ve gotta hear this,” Jones mutters from the hatch before hurrying around to join me behind the bar, an expectant grin on his face.
Pursing my lips, I shake my head. There are a million reasons, but I don’t have the energy to list them all. I go with the simple explanation. “Honestly? Because you make it so easy.”
The girls at table four find this hilarious and crack up. I feel bad for a second until I see that one of them is shooting the kid sympathetic goo-goo eyes.
With a roll of my eyes, I throw a thumb over my shoulder and address Brayden as he returns from the bathroom. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
Looking at the half-empty restaurant, I doubt I’ll be needed any time soon, but Brayden agrees and heads over to the family in the window to check everything is good with their food. As I round the bar and head to my office, I can’t help but look at the kid on their table. She’s four or five, long red hair in pigtails. A tiny little thing. Her gap-toothed smile makes my chest ache.
Willow always loved having her hair in ‘piggies,’ as she called them. And just a few days before the accident that stole her from me, she lost her first tooth after falling over in the playground. I almost broke my damn neck tiptoeing into her room and around all her toys so the ‘tooth fairy’ could put a dollar under her pillow.
Shaking my head, I tug at my hair and sigh. I’m usually good at repressing these memories. Spilling my guts to Piper has opened the floodgates.
I’m almost in the safe solitude of my office when I hear a voice that stops me dead.
“Hey, Brayden. I know it’s against the rules if we’re not buyin’, but can Arlo use the restroom?”
“Sure, Piper. Hey, little dudes. How’re you all doin’?”
“I need to pee,” Arlo says frankly.
I grin and do an about-turn. Piper is just about to step through the door into the restrooms with the boys, but she pauses for a second to offer me a grin that has my stomach flip-flopping.
Turning to Brayden, I click my tongue. “Always breakin’ the rules for the pretty girls, huh?”
“Hey, the kid’s wearing a Gators hat. We Gator fans have gotta stick together.”
“Sorry, excuse me? Please can we get some more drinks?”
Waving Brayden off, I offer the table beside us a grin. “Sure thing. What can I get you?”
By the time table nine has a fresh round of drinks, Arlo is done in the restroom. I hear Piper telling him to wait seconds before his little body slams into my legs. This has become his usual way of greeting me.
Whenever Bethany or Carson or Sebastian, who ever has the boys while Piper works, brings them by, Arlo announces their arrival by skidding all over the place, usually careening into me in the process.
I kind of love it.
I’m even on a no-mess-up streak with getting the twins the right way around. Now I know them a little better, I find it easier than ever to differentiate them, not that they don’t sometimes try to trick me.
Peering down with a grin, I chuckle. “Hi, buddy. Nice shirt.”
Today’s tee is plain white with a green, sunglass-sporting cactus on the front along with the words ‘Can’t Touch This.’ It matches his green soccer cap, but at this point, I’m pretty sure he has a collection of funny shirts. While Piper often dresses Jaxson and Finley in matching, or at least similar, outfits, Arlo is rarely without a silly slogan or amusing graphic.
“Hey, Kellan.”
“Where’re your momma and brothers? Did you lose ‘em?”
Glancing over his shoulder, he catches sight of his pursed-lipped mom winding between the tables the same time I do. He turns back to me with his bright eyes brimming with mischief. “She’s comin’. Save me, ‘kay?”
This kid. “Sure.”
“Arlo Maxwell Fitzgerald, if I have to tell you one more time about running off…”
“I’m sorry, Momma. I was just excited to see Kellan.”
Piper huffs a long sigh; she looks stressed. I suddenly realize she’s in her usual work attire for Vaughn’s, but loaded down with three little backpacks and her boys.
“Are you working tonight?” It’s not Wednesday or Thursday, her usual late shifts. I’d know. I look forward to our time together when she wraps early or I drive her home. Since we made nice, she’s back to riding home with me. She’s usually off on Fridays, though, and the last day of her notice period is next Monday.
“Paulette called in sick and Isaac is out of town, which would be fine if it weren’t such late notice and I had a chance to get a sitter for these crazy kiddos.”
Proudly, Arlo tells me, “I’m a crazy kiddo.”
Ruffling his hair with a smile, I admit that I don’t doubt it. Looking back at Piper with a frown, I can see she’s worrying her lip to death with her teeth. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve gotten quite attached to those lips. Yesterday and the day before, after driving Piper home from work, we made use of the boys’ ability to sleep through anything and I let her use me as an outlet for all her frustration at having to work with Paulette.
We’ve managed a few chaste kisses here and there, too—when I stopped in on Tuesday to drop off Burger Co. tees ready for her first official shift next week; when she came to find me in my office between finishing her shift at Vaughn’s on Tuesday and picking the boys up from swim school with Everly; and earlier today, when I drove past her dragging out the trash can and couldn’t resist pulling up to hear her voice, just for a few moments, before I went to my therapy session with Kendra. When she visited on Tuesday, we ate lunch in my office and she invented a new burger with a bunch of Italian ingredients, declaring it her new favorite.
The noises she made while eating it led to me mauling her over my desk.
I’m addicted. My mind swims with thoughts of her whenever I’m not keeping it busy.
“What about Carson and Beth?”
“They’re out of town, at that—”
“Funeral,” we both say at the same time. I remember Carson mentioning it last week. “It’s in Illinois, right?”
“Yep, so I’m pretty much screwed. If I don’t work there’s no-one to open the store and I wouldn’t put it past Paulette to make sure I lose my wages despite me working my notice period, but I can’t take the boys with me.”
There’s only one option, really.
“What about if they hang out here, with me? It’s right next door, and I can give you all a ride home when you’re done.”
I’m starting to get to know the woman Piper has become, so I know this is when she’d usually thank me before turning down my offer, but she’s desperate. Defeat and gratitude swirl in her gray eyes as her shoulders rise and fall in a deep sigh.
“Are you sure?” Arlo wanders off to join his brothers and Brayden looking for familiar faces on the polaroid wall, so Piper murmurs, “I love them, but they’re kind of a handful. You’ve seen them in acti
on.”
How hard can it be?
“We’ll be fine, trust me. We can hang out in my office, maybe walk down to the beach for a bit.”
“If you’re sure…” she smiles slightly, handing over the little backpacks when I hold my hands out for them. “I don’t really have a choice, to be honest. I’ll get a jump on the cleaning so I can get out of there earlier. Oh, and Arlo’s getting good at asking to use the bathroom, but you have to remind him sometimes. They might get cranky if they get hungry but they have had dinner. Don’t feel like you have to—”
Snorting, I put the bags on the bar and take Piper’s shoulders in my hands. “Piper, we’ll be fine. Say ‘bye’ to your boys and get goin.’”
Watching Piper pepper her sons’ faces with kisses before she leaves has my chest tightening. That adoration between child and parent…it’s second to none.
I miss it.
And I’m a touch jealous that she doesn’t plant one on me, too.
“Be good, okay? Kellan will call me if you misbehave.”
Brayden laughs with me as Arlo, Jaxson, and Finley draw crosses over their hearts and solemnly tell her they’ll behave.
The mischievous smiles on their faces say otherwise, but really, how wild can three little boys be?
*
By the time Piper double-taps on the door before letting herself in, I know how wrong I was.
Fuckin’ hell, these kids are something.
Her eyes widen when she spots Arlo sprawled across my chest, but soften when she finds Jaxson and Finley curled around each other on one of the bucket chairs. I wonder what she’s thinking as I look around the room. It looks like a tornado hit. There are scribbled-on pieces of paper strewn all over as well as the crayons Brayden brought in from out front. The remains of their snacks consist of some wrappers and an apple, which Finley flat-out refused to eat.
Piper shakes her head with a barely-stifled grin when her gaze returns to me and Arlo. He’s in the pajamas I found in his backpack when I had to look for dry clothes after he spilled a juice box all over himself. I’ve swapped my Burger Co. tee for a spare I had in a drawer, his drool seeping through the fabric over my chest. The juice debacle robbed us both of clothes.
I thought taking them for a run along the shore was a great idea until I realized the salty sea air and fading evening sunshine was making them more hyper than tired.
“C’mon, Kellan!”
Chuckling, I scoop Arlo’s flip-flops out of the sand and tuck them into the pocket of my cargo shorts, hurrying it up so I can somewhat keep up with him and his brothers. As soon as we hit the sand, they took off.
There are a fair amount of people still out enjoying the evening, so I’m careful to keep a close eye on the boys as they splash in the shallow surf and eventually talk me into joining them.
Ankle-deep in the ocean with the sun on my face and the boys giggling their butts off when a strong, stray wave soaks the hem of my shorts, it’s abundantly clear I’m in way over my head with this family. They’re a bunch of sweethearts and I don’t stand a chance.
“Did you have fun?”
I’m about to scoff, then I acknowledge the tired but amused smile on my face and the warmth in my chest as Arlo shifts against me, his little arms tightening around my neck.
The boys took up all my attention, but we had a blast. I didn’t get any work done and the restaurant was packed, so they probably could have done with an extra set of hands, but still…
“I did, actually. They’re a riot.”
Piper’s laughter is soft. “You’re not kidding. I hope they behaved? I meant to run over and check, but we had a massive delivery and it took forever to sort it all out.”
“They were fine, Piper. Don’t worry. They ate everythin’ except the apple.” She nods and rolls her eyes, guessing that it was Finley. “And we demolished some fries and shakes.”
The relief that blankets her is immediate. I’m glad I offered to help. She looks shattered and overwhelmed, and I know she still has another shift at Vaughn’s before she’s free, but I can’t wait for her to be done at that place.
My guilt at dragging this out for so long hits me in the gut. If I’d worked through my issues sooner, she could have been out of there and happy working here weeks ago. It just took me a hot second to figure my shit out.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I left them with Brayden for a few and used my spare keys to get their boosters from your parents’.”
“Their boosters?” Her slightly glazed eyes and ensuing yawn tell me she’s not completely with it, tiredness catching up with her.
With a faint smile, I nod, wincing when the chair squeaks under me. Arlo snores before sighing and snuggling into my neck. “For the car…”
“Oh! I didn’t even think…thank you.”
“Momma?” Finley mumbles, carefully sitting up. His bleary-eyed blinks are pretty fuckin’ cute.
“I’m here, kiddo.”
“I need to go potty.”
As Piper gently shakes Jaxson awake to check if he needs the restroom, too, I tell her I’ll lock everything up and meet her out front.
“Okay. Shall I…?”
My arms reflexively tighten around Arlo as she motions to take him. “We’re good, I’m good.”
Her lips twitch. “I see that.”
By the time I’ve one-handedly locked the place up right, she and the boys are out front. I folded Arlo’s, uh, drawings—the kid’s cute, but he’s no artist—and put them in his backpack.
“All set?”
Piper just nods before heading to the Jeep to buckle in Jaxson and Finley. While I wait, I swallow the lump in my throat and rub Arlo’s back with my free hand as he fidgets and whines in his sleep. The moon above is bright, reflecting off the windshield of the car beside mine. As I gaze at my reflection, I can’t help but wonder about the contented smile on my face. Whenever I look in the mirror these days, on a good day, I’m looking at my own scowl. This smile is unfamiliar, like an old, ill-fitting suit.
As we drive home, I resist the urge to reach over and hold Piper’s hand. She’s far too distracting. Now they live on the same street as me, it’s just a short, five-minute drive. The balmy air wafts her perfume at me, and I know I sure don’t smell as good as she still does after a whole shift.
A little conscious of the fact that I’ve been in a hot kitchen this afternoon as well as running around with the boys, I roll my window down a little more.
“So. Wild weekend for you and the boys?”
“Nah,” she laughs, tilting her head to face me. “We’re actually going to a shelter in Jacksonville to pick out a dog tomorrow.”
“Oh, nice,” I chuckle. “I bet the boys are stoked.”
“I haven’t told them yet. They’d have driven me mad if I told them when I made the appointment last week.”
Humming, I lose myself in thought and only chance a glance at her when we pull up outside her house. My lips curl up into a grin when I see that she’s fallen asleep. Rolling to a stop, I take a longer look, soaking her in. My stomach seizes up. She’s so peaceful, so beautiful. I know I don’t look as relaxed when asleep as she does. Her long eyelashes are fanned over the apples of her cheeks, her face tipped toward me.
A heavy sigh rushes from my lungs. I don’t want to wake her. She’s obviously exhausted, but it doesn’t look comfortable for her neck to be in that position.
Reaching over without conscious thought, I thumb her cheek and revel in the softness of her skin. Resisting her is next to impossible now I know she’s this soft everywhere.
“Piper,” I whisper. “We’re at your house.”
“Hmm? Oh, crap, I’m sorry.” Yawning so hard it makes her eyes water, Piper shoots up in her seat and palms her flushed cheeks.
“It’s okay, you were tired.” Fighting a smile, I quip, “The snoring was a bit much, I’ll admit.”
The horror in her wide eyes is enough to ma
ke me grin and ruin the ruse. Her face splits in a smile as she shakes her head. “Nice try, Kellan. I don’t snore.”
“Sure you don’t.” Looking at the house, I jerk a thumb at the backseat and unfasten my belt. “I’ll give you a hand carrying the boys in.”
Juggling the boys without waking them is easier than I expect, but I quickly feel like I’m intruding when Piper kisses their foreheads and tenderly tucks them in, so I head out to grab the boys’ booster seats from the Jeep. She’s just reaching the front door when I step back inside with all three. Bleary-eyed, she offers me a sleepy smile. The hole in my chest aches as I gaze at her, knowing I’ll be returning home tonight. She’s too tired for me to try my luck, and to be honest, I could use the space.
“Oh, I forgot about those. Let me…”
Clicking my tongue, I set them all on the floor by the new console table. “They’ve heavy, I’ve got it.”
“Thank you. Really, thank you. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you doing this today.”
As if I’m not uncomfortable enough receiving thanks, she winds her arms around my waist and gives me a quick, warm hug that I instinctively return. Her small body molds to my taller frame and I’m hit with the sudden conundrum of not wanting to let go.
Steeling myself, I force my arms to unwind and take a big step back. “All right. I’m gonna head out.”
“You can stay, if you want?”
“I think it’s better if I head back to my place tonight.”
Thankfully, she doesn’t seem offended by my need for space. She walks out, hugging herself on the front step as her eyes follow me down the path to my Jeep. Turning as I climb in, I return her wave with a teasing salute and watch to make sure she’s back inside before I drive down the street.
When I get home, my silent house feels emptier than ever, the closed door down the hall from my bedroom tantalizingly close. Closing myself in my bedroom with a heavy sigh, I tell myself it’s just the long day weighing me down even though I’m well aware it’s the ever-present, self-inflicted loneliness.