She wraps her fingers around my thumb, grinning around me.
“My strong girl.” A low laugh leaves me as I lower my head to kiss hers. “You’re getting so big.”
Tomorrow she’ll be four months old, and the time has flown by so fast it’s almost terrifying.
She smiles, laughs, and rolls over with ease. Her back is getting stronger by the day, so she’ll be sitting up with a little help in no time.
I hope I’m with her when she does.
Bailey’s eyes roam my face and hair, and then the area around me, but it’s not long before her little grip loosens. She’s falling asleep again, so I lift her to my shoulder, gently patting her back until she’s settled, and slide myself a little lower on the arm pillow.
My eyes slide to my phone once more, a frown taking over.
I pick it up, hovering over the notification.
My lungs fill with a heavy inhale, and as I read what the man had to say, the pit in my stomach deepens.
I think I expected him to cancel on me.
I might have thought he’d question me.
One thing is for sure, though.
I most definitely didn’t anticipate his text would hold an offer, asking if I wanted to have our Sunday session over Zoom so I could stay home with my little, as he called her.
He must have felt compelled to suggest a change in the routine we have going and that’s not fair to him.
So, I politely decline, and only after I hit send do I remember it’s only five in the morning.
Huffing, I let my phone fall beside me.
It’s whatever, there’s nothing I can do about it now, he probably won’t even notice when it was sent by the time he sees it.
A yawn pushes past my lips, so I close my eyes.
My alarm is going to buzz, very quietly, in about fifteen minutes, and after that I’ll have about two hours, if I’m lucky, to get through some of my own coursework before she wakes up ready to play. So, I drop my arm to the bed and close my eyes for the last few minutes of calm I’ll have for the entirety of the day.
Before I’ve had a chance to take a full breath, my phone vibrates in my palm.
Oh my god, I woke him up.
Tobias: why not?
I frown and respond.
Me: I’m so sorry, go back to sleep.
Tobias: cute, Tutor Girl.
Cute? What’s cute.
Ten seconds later, a picture pops up and my eyes pop with it.
Okay, so I didn’t wake the man up.
It’s a quick shot of the camera turned toward him. His shirt’s off, hat’s backward and his tongue is sticking out of his mouth. He’s holding his fist in front of his chest to show the two-mile distance stamp on his watch. It’s dark, nothing but the stadium lights lighting the track behind him.
He’s not trying to be sexy and there isn’t a hint of cockiness to be found. It’s just a playful shot he took on the fly, and I like it.
It’s him.
Happy-go-lucky, confident.
I trace the shape of his jaw, neck, and the deep cuts of his broad shoulder. I follow the muscles of his arm and then move back to the way his lips curve, full and flushed by nature.
I jerk when my phone vibrates again, and Bailey jumps.
Shit.
Tobias: I already made breakfast, ran the bleachers, and I’m coming up on my third mile.
Me: You’re insane.
Tobias: Guess that makes two of us. I’m not the one texting before dawn.
My lips curve into a small grin. Touché. Granted, my alarm isn’t set to go off until five thirty.
Me: You know what they say. The early bird gets the worm.
Tobias: And the hot water, Tutor Girl! That’s gold right there.
My lips pull into a grin.
Tobias: I’m gonna finish my run and later I’m gonna call you to talk about Sunday. Tell me you’ll answer.
Guilt and indecision swell in my throat.
We’ve been around each other plenty of times now, so if he were going to remember me, it would have happened already, and he is only asking for a phone call.
There’s no risk, right?
A little voice in the back of my mind screams wrong, that something about his asking feels intimate, but apparently that voice isn’t loud enough, because I agree, and then I get up and get my day started.
Who knows, maybe he’ll forget.
q
My boss at the diner called and asked me to swap shifts, and since Bianca came over with breakfast, she convinced me to take the offer so I could get it over with.
I hate leaving when Bailey is awake, but I’m glad I did today. Now I’m free until Monday when the cycle repeats itself all over again. Well, free other than the two-hour window set aside for Tobias on Sunday.
Speaking of ...
I pull my phone from my bag, finding several missed calls and texts.