I let out a relieved breath. Byron is loud. He’s going to give me so much shit for this, but this is his fault.
Well, not the baby-making part, but he was part of the crew who insisted I get out and experience life and the benefits of being a pro hockey player. I can’t blame him for the rest but if I would have stuck to hockey, none of this would be happening right now.
I open the door, standing in the doorway, Byron and Hannah are both there.
“Thank you for coming.”
He practically shoves me out of the way and he squares his large form up to Paisley. I barely have time to step back and allow for Hannah to step in right behind him, thank goodness, when Byron barks out an evil sound.
“Sweetheart, if you think you’re getting money from this man here, you’re barking up the wrong tree. No way in hell that baby is yours.”
Oh. Oh no. He read that wrong. Or maybe I explained it wrong. I flip back to what I said on the phone but can’t remember.
“A baby?” Hannah says on a breath.
I step in front of Byron, hands out. Paisley’s face has paled and then scrunched.
“It is not hers.” I lower my voice. He was with me on my birthday. “Angela,” I say quietly. But I’m also pretty sure I shorten her name to one syllable.
Louder, I continue. “She left him here. In the hallway. Paisley, she is my neighbor. She found him.”
“Oh,” Hannah gasps and her fingers fly to her mouth. “That’s so…”
“Shitty?” Paisley snaps and again I am struck by the anger in her too.
“What the fuck?” Byron glances at me. His eyes are steel like he’s facing down an opponent and I know with the way he’s looking at the woman holding the baby behind me that she is his new target. “How much is that bitch paying you to lie about this?”
Hannah slaps his chest. “Stop it,” she hisses. “Don’t be a dick.”
It took me almost a year of living in the States to stop thinking of my penis when someone called someone a dick. English slang sometimes makes no sense.
“Paisley didn’t do anything. She lives across the hall and heard him. I believe her. Angela left a note.”
“No shit?” Byron mutters.
“Wow,” Hannah croons and I swivel my gaze off Byron to her. She’s already hurried over to Paisley and she’s peeling back the blanket, smiling down at him. “He’s so cute, Mikah. Are you sure he’s yours?”
“That’s what the note says.”
“This is un-fucking-believable.” I am really going to need Byron to do or say something more helpful soon. It’s the whole reason he’s here.
“It was just that weekend.” I don’t need to elaborate. It was all his and Newman’s idea in the first place. “But why would she lie?”
“Why would she drop off a baby at your door? Where is the note?” Hannah is scanning the place like it’s going to float from the ceiling and land in her hands.
“I threw it somewhere, but his birth certificate is on the table.” I point to the coffee table and Hannah snatches it up. Her brows furrow and I imagine her planning on hunting down Angela and giving her a piece of her mind.
I hope she brings me with. I have a few things to say myself. But then her lips press together and I can almost see her mind working.
“July,” she says softly. “Timing fits. Birthday weekend, right?”
She grins at me and I burn straight to the tips of my ears. Does everyone know when I lost my virginity?
“Yeah.” I clear my throat and I’m fascinated with Paisley who is still standing there, holding my kid, looking like she wants to run.
It’s probably time I man up. I go to her and hold out my arms. It feels awkward. Like I’m made of wood but in truth, the only time I have ever felt comfortable is on skates and on the ice. “I’ll take him.”
“I should go. Let you have time with your friends. It’s good you have help though.” She chews her lip and her eyes bounce to all of us in the room. I don’t think she knows who Byron and I are, and I like that almost as much as her voice.
It’s nice to not be recognized sometimes.
I don’t blame her for wanting to leave, either. Byron is still glaring at her, like he doesn’t believe her.
“I’ll be around all weekend,” she says again. “If you need anything. Don’t hesitate to walk across the hall, okay?”
“Thank you.” A pressure in my chest releases. I’m going to need her help. But I don’t know if I will ask. I laugh then and it’s strained and ridiculous. “It was nice meeting you. Finally.”
I smile and hers appears too. She shakes her head, brushes a finger down Angelo’s cheek. She peers up at me through her lashes. Gud. She’s so pretty I want to kiss her. I bet she’ll taste sweeter than she looks.
“You too, Mikah. Finally.”
She lingers on the word and it gives me hope. As does the blush rising on her cheeks.
Her hand drifts away from Angelo and if I wasn’t holding him, I would reach for it. The thought of her leaving me makes my heart jump. Byron and Hannah will leave and go home and then I’ll be with Angelo alone.
She must see the panic in my eyes, the racing of my heart because she giggles. “All weekend, Mikah. If you need anything, come get me. And maybe I can come check on you?”
“Please.” It falls through me in a rush, before I can be embarrassed about it.
“Okay then.” She steps back and lifts her hand toward Byron and Hannah. “It was nice to meet you.”
“You too.” Hannah smiles at her and then she’s in front of me, whisking Angelo out of my arms before I can blink.
At some point, I’ll need to hold him for longer than a minute or two. I hope I don’t break him.
Byron grunts at Paisley as she walks by him, but that is his way with most people.
As soon as the door shuts behind her, Byron turns to me and smirks.
“Knocked someone up the first time you have a go, hey slugger? That’s my man.”
He slaps me on the shoulder, jolting me forward. He’s a big guy and even though I’m six feet, he’s much bigger.
Hannah tells him to shut up and then he grabs Angelo from her and holds him tight to his chest.
It’s that moment, seeing another man more comfortable with him than I am that I break down.
“What in the hell am I supposed to do, guys?”
Chapter Six
Paisley
* * *
It’s time I call the cops on myself for being a stalker. Has anyone actually tried to get a restraining order against themselves? My eye has been glued to my peephole for so long since my awkward and weird return to my apartment, it’s surprising it doesn’t stay stuck to the door when I finally turn my back.
It’s been noisy though, and who can blame me for being curious.
It seemed like not long after I came home, glass of wine in hand and all thought of a bubble bath evaporated, the door shut and then an hour later, I heard another noise and saw Byron returning. With boxes and boxes of things.
The pictures on the sides as he made trip after trip showed he’d done some serious shopping. Pack’n’Play was in one. Stroller. Car seat. Diapers. Large red bags from Target proving how many items and how large some of them are and when he opened the door to Mikah’s, I heard a lot of laughing come through.