“Ryker, can I draw you a friendship card?” she asked after a while.
“Sure.”
“So you want to be my friend?”
I winked. “I thought I already was.”
She looked at me wearily. “So I don’t have to call you Dad?”
I’d started gathering our pizza boxes, but froze in the act, swallowing hard.
“Do you want to?”
She shook her head. “No. I want you to be my friend. Because friends always stay.”
Avery sounded satisfied, as if she’d found the perfect loophole. Pressure gathered in my chest in a matter of seconds. Jesus, I couldn’t believe my ears. It wasn’t just her words, but the way she’d said them, with so much nonchalance, as if she was informing me it was cold outside tonight. It slayed me. I tried to see things from her perspective, and it was remarkably easy. Kids’ worlds weren’t complicated. She’d been disappointed before, so that was the only thing she’d come to expect. Disappointing children should be illegal. If I had a kid, I’d never leave it. Ever.
I had no idea what to tell her. Should I even say anything? Explain that things weren’t black and white? No, I had to talk to Heather first.
After we took the empty pizza box back to the kitchen, Avery brought a sheet of paper and crayons into the living room. I was sitting on the couch, she was lying on the floor on her belly, bent over the paper. She scribbled “Friedsip card” on it and drew two figurines just below it. Didn’t take a genius to figure out it was supposed to represent the two of us, even though we looked nothing like the drawings. She shoved the card in my hands after she was done.
“Thanks, Avery.”
I detected a hint of wariness in her eyes. Damn, I wanted to erase that. I knew how it felt to have that security blanket stripped from around you. It sucked. I wanted her to have the safety of knowing that both her parents would be there no matter what. But what did I even know about that?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Heather
“Troops, I’m home,” I called the second I entered the apartment. No one answered. In fact, the whole place was suspiciously quiet. I returned earlier than I’d thought so it wasn’t Avery’s bedtime yet. Considering she usually fought tooth and nail for any additional minute, I wasn’t sure what was going on.
Tiptoeing to Avery’s bedroom, I discovered her sleeping soundly. Oh, wow. That was a first.
Hearing the water running in my bathroom, I headed that way. Ryker was showering. Oh, yum. He was just... perfection. Taut skin and toned muscles everywhere I looked. I rarely had the opportunity to just drink him in like now, so I planned to take advantage of it for as long as possible.
“Had your fill?” Ryker asked in a teasing tone.
“Not by a long shot.” I grinned, shrugging. I’d been so lost in the act of admiring him that I hadn’t realized he was watching me.
Ryker’s mouth curled up in a smile. He moved one finger in a come here motion. I walked toward him slowly, eyeing the spray of water. I stopped at the edge of the shower, heart beating wildly. Was this drop-dead sexy man really here, in my shower? Or was he a vision? I ran a hand from one shoulder to the other, tracing a pattern over his chest, feeling his wet skin under my fingers. He kissed me the next second. Oh, yeah. He was real.
The touch electrified my lips, and the way he explored me made me weak in the knees. I clasped his shoulders, needing more support. Next thing I knew, Ryker’s hands were gripping my hips. What was he planning?
He pulled me with him under the shower, getting my clothes completely wet. I half laughed, half yelped.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“What’s it look like?” He grinned widely. I was full-on laughing now.
I wasn’t spontaneous, but Ryker was making me discover all sorts of things about myself. Like the fact that I relished these small, unexpected moments.
He kissed me again before I could answer. Pressing my back against the tiles, he deepened the kiss, exploring me with so much urgency that I felt on fire. Not just the simmering kind, but a full-on inferno.
I felt wanted, claimed with every stroke of his tongue, every inch of skin he bared.
I had no idea when he’d undone the zipper of my skirt. I’d been too consumed by feeling his hard, naked body pressed against mine. When I was buck naked, he turned off the water, and we both stepped out of the shower. He wrapped a towel around me and another around himself before pulling me in a bear hug.
“My clothes are drenched,” I said, glancing at the pile. I would have pinched him, but he had me firmly captive in his hug. “Why did you pull me in the shower?”
“I didn’t plan on it.”
“So you just couldn’t help yourself?”
“Exactly. Just saw you standing there and wanted you with me.”
I sighed, just sinking against him. Well, I was completely disarmed now. I disentangled myself from his arms, turning around, running my fingers over his chest.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Getting my fill of you. And shhhh... your voice is too sexy. It’s distracting me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He was silent right until I reached the hem of the towel he’d wrapped around his lower body.
“Heather....” His voice was dangerously low.
“All done, had my fill.”
“Really?”
“For now,” I amended.
“We’ll see about that.” Ryker’s smile was wolfish now. And his voice was still in that lower octave that made my entire body tingle. “How was your evening?” he asked.
“Excellent. The interview was just what I needed. I’m going to edit it tomorrow morning while it’s still fresh.”
“You can do it tonight if you want.”
“Ha! I’ve got you here to kiss and touch as much as I want, and you think I’ll waste my time editing?”
“Happy to know I’m more important than editing.” He wiggled his eyebrows, but then he swallowed hard, looking at me intently. “I want to talk to you about something.”
“Okay.”
“So... Avery made me a friendship card today.”
“Oh, that’s cute. She does those sometimes.”
“Yeah... but she made that after telling me she’d prefer if I was her friend, and not her dad. Because dads leave.”
My vision faded at the corners. I blinked a few times. My throat wasn’t just dry now; I had a lump the size of a fist at the base of it too.
“She... she said that?” My voice was shaky.
“Yes. And I was thinking, why don’t you two spend some time at my apartment too? Maybe then she’ll trust that I want to stick around. That I’m here to stay.”
Air rushed out of me. I hadn’t expected this, not in a million years.
“You want us at your apartment?” I whispered. Yes, I was double-checking, but I just couldn’t help myself.
“Yes. I want you two to be part of my life. You’re more important to me than I even thought possible, Heather. Both of you.”
“Ryker... wow, this is so surreal,” I whispered.
He frowned. “And you don’t want it?”