Ryleigh
Ryleigh startled awake to a dark room, searching for anything to tell her the time. Something stirred her from her deep sleep and she couldn’t make sense of it. A bang echoed throughout the house.
That must have been it.
She patted around the bed for her phone; she remembered she’d been reading an eBook and fell asleep.
Another bang emitted again, this time a clatter accompanied it. What on earth was going on?
On her hands and knees, she moved across the bed and fumbled out of bed, trying to recall where the light switch was.
Having an entire room to herself, with a queen-sized-bed at that, still felt strange even after a few nights. Until this loud bang, she’d slept remarkably well. No snoring siblings, or Liv calling out in the middle of the night after another nightmare about her father.
Another muffled clang sounded from downstairs.
Ever since she’d started training with Devlin, Ryleigh felt confident about protecting herself. But she wasn’t cocky by any means. If she went downstairs and found three intruders, she still stood no chance. Crap. What was she to do now?
Keenan’s bedroom door was opposite of hers. She should check his room first; see if he could be her back up before she’d check on Tommy in his room next to hers.
She reached the door and opened up at the same time as Keenan opened his across the hallway. Shirtless and his lower half modestly covered with sweatpants; the second viewing of his almost naked body didn’t disappoint.
Did this man know a normal dad bod looked nothing like his?
Ryleigh urged her eyes to meet his green orbs and willed them to stay there. No way was she about to check out his shape and the outline of his length in those gray sweatpants. Shit. Keenan probably never heard about a dick print.
She needed to find her tongue to speak. How stupid she must look, gawking like a fish with her mouth wide open?
“I guess you heard it too?”
She brought her gaze up and nodded, still unable to form a sentence.
“I think it’s Tommy.”
“Oh, right. He probably couldn’t sleep because it’s his birthday tomorrow,” she said.
His warm chuckle made her smile. “It’s been a long time since he’s been this hyped about his birthday. I think we have you to thank for that.”
His kind words surprised her. Keenan has been a man of a few words these past days. After what he’d shared about his ex at the arcade, he’d put distance between them by making sure they weren’t alone again. He even stayed in his room after tucking Tommy in at night.
Although Keenan avoided her, she’d loved spending time with Tommy this week. From soccer practice or playing video games; this job didn’t feel like an actual job, thanks to Tommy. She couldn’t believe how fast she fell for the blonde whirlwind, but she already loved the little guy.
“I’m excited too. I’m finally meeting the rest of your family,” she said.
A small tattoo showed on the inside of his arm as he scratched the back of his head.
E
The single letter had been gracefully calligraphed. She wanted to know all about this letter. Where did it come from? Who or what had been special enough for this man to be reminded of, daily? To ink into his skin? Had it been the first letter of Tommy’s mom?
As if he’d read her mind, he dropped his arm.
“Come, let’s see what Blondie’s been up to.”
She loved his nickname for his honey blonde son. Tommy must take after his mother since Keenan and Tommy looked nothing alike.
Ryleigh followed Keenan down the hallway. Her insecurities came to join them as she realized she hadn’t put on a robe. Strutting down the hall in her white statin pajama shorts and frill-hemmed camisole was not provocative. They covered her up, but she continued to struggle to own her body. Nothing like a midnight stroll in her pjs with the guy she was crushing on to shake that confidence.
Stupid insecurities. Like he would even give her a second glance if she passed him on the street. A man looking like he does? He probably has more than enough women flocking to him.