Roping Melanie by Melissa Ellen

13

Melanie

I’d spent the last forty minutes trying to keep myself busy. From time to time, I’d watch the two of them through the window. Once the pizza had arrived, I snuck out on the back porch again. Nash was in the middle of flying Avery around the driveway like an airplane with the basketball in her hands. I crossed my arms loosely and leaned against the porch post as I watched them interact together. He continued to run her around as she laughed, bringing her to the goal for a slam dunk.

“She shoots! She scores!” he hollered as she dropped the ball through the net with a swoosh. “And the crowd goes wild!”

Avery cheered with him as he set her back on her feet. She gave him a high-five and then turned to me. “Mommy, did you see that?”

Nash placed his hands on his hips as he caught his breath.

I gave her a smile. “I sure did. That was awesome!” I glanced at Nash. “You two hungry? The pizza’s here.” I hadn’t wanted to interrupt their time together, but figured they probably had both worked up an appetite.

Nash looked down at Avery. “What do you say, kiddo?”

“Yes!” Avery responded before racing toward the porch. Nash walked the opposite direction to gather up the ball that had rolled into the grass, tucking it under one arm. Avery had already breezed past me and shot inside before he made it to the bottom step and stopped.

“Looks like you hit it off pretty easily,” I said, glad the two of them seemed to have a natural bond.

He shrugged, taking the few steps up. “She’s a great kid. You’ve done a good job raising her.”

“Thank you,” I said, looking away, unable to meet his eyes. They sliced right through me every time I did, making my heart ache.

I didn’t deserve his kind words. The more I was around him, the worse I felt about the decision I’d made for all three of us years ago. It wasn’t right. I realized that more than ever, but it was one I’d have to live with. Tears welled at the thought of all the moments my daughter and Nash had missed out on.

“Hey,” he said, gripping my chin lightly with his thumb and forefinger, bringing my gaze back to him. He lowered his hand. “Look, I know we still have some things to figure out, but I want you to know I only want what’s best for Avery.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Me too.”

“Okay. Good.” He grinned. “At least we know we can agree on something. Means we might just have a chance at making it through this in a civil manner.” His grin was wider and teasing now as he shoved his free hand in his pocket.

“Are you guys coming?” Avery hollered from somewhere in the house.

“We’re being summoned,” I said.

“We wouldn’t want to keep the little princess waiting,” Nash said with a wink and then headed for the door.

“Nash?” I called out, stopping him in his tracks as he reached for the knob.

He turned and raised an eyebrow.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being so great about all this.”

“It does Avery no good for us not to get along.”

He was right. But despite that, not all men would be so levelheaded about the situation.

He held the door open for me. “You coming?”

I nodded and walked inside. The tips of his fingers brushed against my lower back as he followed me in, sending a ripple of tingles down my spine.

I hurried ahead, grabbing the stack of paper plates from the counter in an effort to busy myself so I wouldn’t think about how much I liked the way he’d touch me.

They were innocent touches. Gentle.

Ones he probably didn’t even realize he’d done. I couldn’t read too much into them. His parents had obviously raised him right. He was a gentleman. In and out of bed, he knew how to treat a woman. It’s one of the things that had stuck with me from our night together. My skin heated. My off-track thoughts were not helping one bit.

“You feeling all right?” he asked. Another gentle touch to my waist.

“Huh?” I practically jumped away from him like a skittish cat. “Yeah. I’m fine. Why?” I spewed rapidly as I piled multiple slices of pizza on a plate.

One corner of his mouth tilted up in a grin. “You just seem a little off.”

“I’m fine,” I replied, handing him the mountain of pizza.

“Okay.” He took the plate, glancing down at it. “This all for me?”

I gave him a single nod. “Thought you might be hungry.”

“I am. But normally I don’t eat a whole pizza on my own.”

“Who do you share it with?” I quickly raised a palm to stop him, wishing I could take the words back. “Actually, don’t answer that. It’s none of my business.” I turned away from him, grabbing a slice of cheese pizza and placed it on a plate for Avery.

“If I eat pizza, I share it with a buddy, or I save it as leftovers,” he answered anyway. He set the plate on the counter beside Avery’s, using his arms to trap me between him and the counter. The front of his body pressed lightly into my back, causing my breath to catch as he leaned in. His warm breath brushed over the shell of my ear as he whispered, “But to answer the question you really wanted to ask, I’m not seeing anybody.”

And then he was gone, taking his plate and Avery’s with him, along with my ability to breathe.

Once I’d composed myself and we were all seated with our plates of pizza, I peeked over at him. With his eyes, he dared me to deny the truth. I wouldn’t. Because I had wanted to ask, but didn’t have the guts. He took a bite of his pizza and chewed behind a smirk.

“Why don’t you want to live with us?” Avery asked, breaking us both out of our little staring contest.

Nash coughed, covering his mouth with a fist, nearly choking on his pizza. He took a big gulp of water before flicking his eyes back over to me for help. “Um, I . . .”

“Avery, we already discussed this,” I chided her, saving him from having to answer.

She sighed heavily. “I know . . . but—”

“No, buts,” I said with a warning look. “Eat your pizza. It’s already getting late and you need to be getting ready for bed soon.”

She picked up her pizza with a sullen pout I’d grown used to when she didn’t like something I said. “I’m not even tired,” she grumbled before taking the tiniest bite. She would drag out eating just to stay up later.

After we’d all had our fill of pizza, we’d moved to the living room to play a game of Candy Land. The two of them wore me down until I finally conceded and allowed one more game before bed. I agreed as long as she got into her pajamas and brushed her teeth first. One game turned into three.

Avery’s eyes drooped as she slowly began to nod off on the couch beside me. Her little head rested against Nash’s side while his arm was draped around her. A few seconds later and she was out.

“I should put her to bed,” I said, sliding forward to the edge of my seat, so I could lift her.

“Do you mind if I do it?” Nash asked, already adjusting her, so she was in his arms.

I shook my head.

He stood and carried her down the hallway. Once he was out of sight, I worked on cleaning up the game pieces and put it away in the hall closet. It took him longer than I expected to tuck her in. And when I heard her little voice talking to him, I knew he wouldn’t be back any time soon. She’d likely already convinced him to read her a bedtime story or two.

After I stored the game away, I heard my phone ping in the kitchen. I walked into the room and picked it up from the counter.

Olivia: How did it go?

Me: He’s still here. She’s enamored with him.

Olivia: What? I figured he’d have left hours ago. That’s good, though. Right?

Me: Yes. He’s putting her to bed.

Olivia: And then maybe he’ll put you to bed.

Me: <rolling eye emoji>

Olivia: LOL. I’m just saying . . . he’s still hot. And you still need to get you some. What’s wrong with another one-night stand?

A part of me wished we could. But I’d never admit that. It would be a terrible idea for us to get involved now. Even for a one-night stand. Things were too complicated as it were.

Me: I’m blocking your number.

Olivia: I’m only kidding. Call me in the morning. I want all the details.

I locked my phone and set it aside before starting to clean up the kitchen by putting the leftover pizza away. Once that was all taken care of, I checked the time, wondering whether Nash would want to leave as soon as Avery was asleep again. He’d have no real reason to stay, but for some insane reason I wanted him to.

I glanced around the living room, my gaze landing on the shelves that flanked each side of the fire place. The familiar book I kept on one of the top shelves to the right caught my attention. That’s when it hit me.