10. Violet

Chapter 10

Violet

“I heard the garage door! He’s here!” Jake hisses.

He darts away from the front window and hides on the side of the couch with the welcome home poster we made for Sawyer together. He brings a little finger to his mouth, silently shushing me, and I nod back at him from the opposite wall I’m crouching down against, waiting to surprise Sawyer when he comes inside.

Jake claps a hand over his mouth when Sawyer puts his keys in the lock a few moments later, but he can’t stop giggling. It’s adorable, and I can’t help laughing with him, but I press a finger to my mouth, urging him to keep quiet as Sawyer swings the door open and steps inside.

“I’m home!” he calls, but neither of us answer. Sawyer drops his bags on the floor by the door and steps inside, looking for signs of life and thankfully missing both of us. “Jake? Violet? Are you here?”

I nod at Jake, and we jump out together.

“Surprise!” we exclaim in unison.

Sawyer startles before he catches sight of the poster in Jake’s shaky handwriting, covered in sparkles and other craft stuff we glued to it, and a warm look spreads across his face.

“Welcome home, Daddy!” Jake throws himself at his dad, who scoops him up and spins him around a few times, filling the entrance with Jake’s high-pitched laughter. When they stop spinning, Sawyer settles Jake on one of his hips and beams at me.

“I could get used to this kind of enthusiastic greeting when I get back from away games. Was this your idea?” he asks me, and I shake my head, so Sawyer looks at Jake with raised eyebrows. “You thought of this?”

Jake nods enthusiastically, still holding the poster in one hand. “Yeah! Ms. Violet gave me some ideas for the decorations though.”

“Thank you, buddy. I love it,” Sawyer says and takes the poster from Jake’s hand to hold it up and admire it. “We should hang it somewhere.”

“Oh, I know! How about on the stairs?” Jake suggests and wiggles in Sawyer’s arm until his dad sets him down. He takes the poster and runs halfway up the staircase, then works the poster through the banister’s posts. It’s a little crooked, but it’s noticeable right from the entrance and looks nice there.

Sawyer turns to me. “You’re apparently the decoration mastermind. What do you think?”

“I love it,” I say, smiling.

“Yes!” Jake pumps one fist in the air, letting go of the poster. It flutters down the side of the stairs to the floor, but Sawyer picks it up and goes to the kitchen.

“We’ll need to find some tape or string or something to hang it with,” he calls.

“I think there’s some in the junk drawer in there,” I call back as I follow him with Jake hot on my heels.

“Oh, you’ve already found that, huh? That’s embarrassing,” he says as he opens the exact drawer by the fridge I was referring to.

I shrug. “Everyone’s got one. Jake and I were looking for glue and stuff like that, so that’s how I found it.”

Sawyer pulls out a small ball of red yarn, not string, and holds it up. “Not exactly what I had in mind, but it’ll do. Think you can handle hanging it, buddy?” he asks Jake, who jumps up and down excitedly.

“Definitely!”

“You might need this too then.” I pick up the small hole punch I also found in the drawer last night and hand it to Jake. “Be careful with it though. We don’t want you losing any fingers.”

Sawyer hands the poster and yarn back to Jake, and the kid tears off back to the stairs to hang it. Sawyer smiles at me. “That was really nice. Thank you.”

I shrug. “It really was Jake’s idea. I just helped bring it to life.”

Sawyer checks to make sure that Jake is out of earshot, then leans closer to me. “Is buying the stuff to make this what caused your account to overdraft?”

I will my face not to flush, but it does anyway. “No, that wasn’t it.”

“That’s good,” he says, thankfully leaving it at that. He glances away and spots the mail I brought in sitting on the kitchen counter and moves for it, filing through the few pieces. “Oh, perfect, it came.” He holds up a nondescript white envelope.

“What did?”

He tears the envelope open and unfolds a piece of paper inside. A freshly printed credit card is stuck to the inside of it, and he peels it off before holding it out to me. “Your new company credit card. No limits.”

I stare at the card for a second before my eyes drift up to his, and I let out a little laugh. “You’re joking, right?”

He looks from me to the card and back again. “It has your name on it. Does it look like I’m joking?”

“Sawyer, no. You don’t have to do this.” I know this has to be because of what I told him the other night, and while I’m flattered that he wants to help, I push his hand away. But he sticks the credit card back out at me again.

“I know I don’t. But I want to.” He flips the card between his fingers, his eyes warming. “Besides, the company offered me a bonus for adding an authorized user, so it’s a win-win.”

“Sawyer…”

“I want you to be able to spend money on Jake without having to worry about it. And on yourself if you need it, no questions asked.”

I stare at him, unsure what to say. He really doesn’t have to do it, but there’s a part of me that’s blown away that he is. My eyes start to burn with tears, but I will them back and take the credit card from him to stick it in my pocket.

“Thank you,” I whisper quietly.

“Of course.”

“Daddy!” Jake calls out as he comes thundering back into the kitchen. “Can we go get ice cream? You know, to celebrate you being home?”

Sawyer shoots me a look. “I’ve created a little ice cream monster by taking him to the new shop at Cherry Street Mall all the time. Probably not one of my best parenting decisions.”

“Maybe not. But Jake did make you a nice welcome home poster.”

He smiles at me, a playful twinkle in his eye. “True. I guess that deserves something nice in return.” He looks down at Jake and pauses for a second, and Jake rocks back and forth on his heels, dying to get an answer from his dad. “Alright, let’s go.”

“Yay!” Jake bellows, jumping several feet in the air and dashing for the front door to put his shoes on.

“Wow, he’s not playing around. What about your stuff?” I ask, gesturing at his bags still sitting by the front door.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’ll put it away when we get home. Come on, let’s go. I want to make sure your new card works.”

My cheeks tingle at the mention of the card, but I pay it no mind and follow Jake out to the car to help him get situated in his booster seat. When I’m satisfied that he’s in safely, I climb into the passenger seat while Sawyer starts the car, and he smiles at me over the center console. In a weird way, it feels like we’re going on some kind of family outing or something. It reminds me of the times that my parents used to take Reese and me out when we were kids, back before everything went sideways.

We drive the short distance to the mall with the windows down, and Jake sings something I don’t recognize on repeat from the backseat. It must be something he picked up from a cartoon. I glance back at him, and he giggles at me, making me laugh with him.

After everything the poor kid’s been through with his parents getting divorced and the way his mother treated him, it’s amazing he’s able to be so happy. I think it’s probably one of my favorite things about him. We have that in common.

Sawyer helps Jake out of the car when we get to the mall and makes Jake hold his hand until we’re inside. But as soon as we cross through the doors, Sawyer sets him free, and Jake tears off into the mall toward a couple of claw machines full of stuffed animals near the entrance.

“He’s never won a damn thing from these rip-offs, but he insists on playing them every time we’re here,” Sawyer tells me in a low voice as we catch up to Jake.

“Daddy, can I play? Please?”

“Alright, alright,” Sawyer grumbles and fishes in his pockets for some coins to drop into the machine, then picks Jake up by the waist to hold him closer to the controls. The machine whirs to life in a cacophony of flashing lights and piercing sounds, and Jake kicks his dangling feet excitedly.

“I want that one!” he says, jabbing his finger at a lavender-colored bunny rabbit toward the back of the case. “She can be friends with Chewy.”

“You’ve got to win her first.” Sawyer laughs as Jake takes the joystick and starts moving the bright-red, metal claw toward the bunny. “A little farther back,” he suggests, nudging the joystick for Jake. “Okay, now a little more to the right. Perfect. I think that should do it.”

“Can I press the button?”

“Go ahead.”

Jake smashes the red button built into the top of the joystick and lets out a sound of excitement when the open claw drops, spinning. It closes around the large ears and top half of the rabbit’s head and starts to lift. The rabbit comes with it.

“Look, Jake! It’s working!” I tell him, feeling just as excited as he is.

But as soon as the words come out, the rabbit hitches and almost falls out of the claw’s grip. All three of us gasp, but somehow the claw hangs on to one of the rabbit’s ears all the way to the drop area, and when the little stuffed animal tumbles down into the dispensing chute, we celebrate loudly.

“Daddy! We did it! We finally did it!” Jake hollers as he sticks a little arm into the machine to get the rabbit. He holds it out to examine it, then squeezes it tight against his chest and peppers it with kisses. But then his little face scrunches up while he thinks about something, and a few seconds later, he thrusts the bunny out at me.

“You should have it, Ms. Violet.”

“What, really? Are you sure? What about Chewy?”

He nods. “They can still be friends. Besides, she’s purple, just like your name.”

I laugh and take the bunny from him. “I guess you’re right. Thanks, Jake. That’s really sweet of you.”

I glance at Sawyer, who raises his eyebrows at me, but Jake has already moved on.

“And now, it’s… ice cream time!” With a beaming grin, he leads the way toward the food court area. I can just barely see its neon sign from where we’re standing. With the rabbit tucked under one arm, I follow him and Sawyer to the parlor.

“I can’t believe he gave you that bunny,” Sawyer says quietly as we walk, alone for a moment. “That’s a big deal. He must really like you.”

I hold the rabbit up to admire it and smile. “It’s mutual. He’s a great kid.”

Sawyer beams and leads me to the ice cream place, which is styled like an old diner from the 1950s, complete with bright-red bar stools, their legs sparkling chrome, and doo-wop music playing from an old jukebox built into the dining area’s wall.

“This place is adorable,” I say, looking around and drinking it all in. “I see why Jake loves it so much.”

“Yeah, and just wait until you taste the ice cream. It’s to die for.” We catch up with Jake at the counter, who’s already ordering from a young male clerk who seems to know Jake. If they come here as much as Sawyer says, that’s not a surprise.

“Brownie sundae, as usual, little guy?” the worker asks Jake.

“Yes, please!”

“Thanks, Alex,” Sawyer says to the clerk. “I’ll have a double rocky road in a waffle cone, please. And whatever she’s having as well.”

I’ve barely had time to read the menu, and I don’t see corn flakes on the ice cream bar anywhere. “Um, I guess I’ll just have a double vanilla scoop in a cup, please.”

“That’s it?” Sawyer asks, his brows furrowed. Then they shoot up his forehead when he realizes what’s missing. “Ohhh, got it. You know what? Go ahead and ring us up, Alex. I’ll be right back,” he says and dashes off out of the parlor.

“Sawyer?” I call after him, but he just holds up a finger to me to tell me to wait. Unsure what else to do, I pull the credit card he gave me out of my back pocket and try to use it to pay, hoping it actually works. It’s embarrassing enough using the credit card at all, so I don’t even want to think about how I’d feel if it declines. Alex tells me the total, but I barely hear him as I stick the credit card’s chip into the reader and hold my breath until it finally dings and “Accepted” appears on the reader’s screen.

“Would you like the receipt, ma’am?” Alex asks, holding it out to me.

“No, thanks.”

“I’ll have your ice cream right up then.”

Jake stands on his tiptoes, his hands gripping the edge of the bar so he can watch Alex make it all. But all I can think about is where Sawyer ran off to, so I keep looking for him while we wait.

In a smart move, Alex makes Jake’s ice cream first and steps around the counter to give it to him when it’s ready.

“Thank you!” Jake says and walks carefully with the dish in both hands to a nearby booth. But he doesn’t waste any time before digging in with the spoon that Alex stuck into the ice cream. I drop the rabbit Jake gave me in the booth next to him and go back to the counter to pick up Sawyer’s cone since he’s not back. Alex is just handing me my cup of vanilla when Sawyer’s voice echoes from behind.

“Just in time,” he says, and I turn with ice cream in both hands to find him walking toward me with a little travel-sized box of corn flakes. He shakes it at me with a big smile, and I can’t help laughing.

“You really didn’t have to do that. The vanilla would’ve been fine,” I say, although honestly, it means a lot to me that he remembered and cared enough to run to the Target in the mall to get them. He trades me the box of corn flakes for his cone, and our fingers brush in the exchange. My heart flutters until we sit down in the booth with Jake, Sawyer beside him and me across.

“I hope that box is enough. I know you like a lot of them on your ice cream,” Sawyer says as I tear open the box. I laugh and shake my head.

“It’s only two scoops. This is plenty.”

I pour a heavy coating of the corn flakes on the ice cream and pick up the plastic spoon in the bowl to mix it all up, then scoop some up and bring it to my mouth. As soon as the ice cream hits my tongue, a satisfied moan spills out of me.

“Oh my god,” I murmur as I chew. “It’s so good.”

“See? I told you. To die for.”

“Now I see why you love this place so much, Jake. It’s amazing.”

“It’s like the best place ever! Right, Daddy?”

“Definitely. But it’s even better with great company.”

I smile at him and lift the box of corn flakes to give it a shake. “There’s still some left if you want to try it.”

“On rocky road?” Sawyer asks, his brows raised. He hesitates for a second until Jake interrupts.

“Come on, Daddy! It’ll make it extra crunchy!”

Sawyer laughs and reaches for the box, then sprinkles some on his ice cream and takes a tentative bite. I watch his face as he chews, and he lets out a little groan. “Actually, you know what? That’s pretty darn good.”

“Can I try?” Jake asks, reaching for the box.

“I don’t know, buddy, I think you’ve got enough going on in your ice cream already.” He’s not wrong. There’s brownie, fudge drizzle, sprinkles, and plenty of other toppings, but Jake seems undeterred.

“I want to try. Please?”

“Alright, but only put a little on in case you don’t like it so you don’t ruin the whole thing.”

“Okay.” Sawyer passes him the box, but rather than be gentle, Jake turns it upside down over his ice cream and empties the flakes onto his sundae. Sawyer shoots him a displeased look and I have to bite back my laughter because he had to have seen it coming, but neither of us can be mad at Jake. He’s too cute for that.

Jake scoops up a huge amount of ice cream, brownie, and corn flakes, and brings it to his mouth.

“Mmm, it’s really good!” he mumbles through a mouthful and his crunchy chewing fills the quiet between us. Sawyer smiles at me over his ice cream and gives me a little shake of his head, and I snicker back at him.

“Oh, Daddy! Can I have a quarter? I don’t want to forget to make a wish.” Jake points at the big fountain at the middle of the food court area that’s visible from the parlor’s dining area.

“Finish your ice cream first, then we can talk.”

“Okay,” Jake says, and just like a typical kid, starts wolfing it down until Sawyer calmly puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Slow down, killer. It’s not gonna melt that fast, and I don’t want you getting sick.”

Jake smiles playfully at me and does slow his pace, but not by much. He eats the majority of it before finally giving up and pushing the little plastic dish away. Sawyer’s already eaten all of his, and I just have a few bites left.

“I’m full. Can I have a quarter now?”

“Alright, alright,” Sawyer caves and fishes in his pocket for some coins. He passes Jake a handful and Jake drops out of the booth seat to climb out around his dad from under the table. “Don’t go too far! I want to be able to always see you from here, okay?”

“Okay!” Jake says and peels off toward the fountain.

Sawyer sighs and shakes his head at me. “Told you he can be a handful sometimes.”

“He’s fine. I think he’s just putting on a show for me,” I say as we watch Jake sit on the ledge of the fountain and start flicking coins into the water. “I wonder what he’s wishing for?”

“Who knows? Could be anything from a stuffed animal to a new episode of his favorite cartoon.” I snort and we laugh together.

“To be a kid again, right? When those are your biggest concerns.”

“Yeah, seriously,” Sawyer agrees, watching Jake with admiration. “But that’s what I love about the kid. Keeps me young and keeps my life in perspective, you know?”

“Oh, definitely.”

We fall silent while I finish the last of my ice cream, and Sawyer offers to take care of the trash for me. He’s just sitting back down across from me when someone calls out to him.

“Sawyer? I thought that was you!”

We both turn in the booth to find the same pretty young woman who tried to hit on him at The Hideout that night standing in the entrance of the ice cream parlor with her hands full of shopping bags. Sawyer shoots me a surreptitious grimace as the woman, Scarlett, makes a beeline toward us.

Shit. As far as she knows, we’re dating .

Quickly, I reach across the table for Sawyer’s hand and link my fingers with his. He glances down at our joined hands and then back up at me, a look of understanding passing over his features just as Scarlett reaches our table.

“It really must be a small world. I never thought I’d run into you here,” Scarlett gushes, maybe trying to overcompensate for the awkwardness of her last encounter with Sawyer. “You remember me, right? From The Hideout?”

“Of course. How could I forget?” Sawyer replies, although he’s still looking at me. I don’t think it’s conscious, but his thumb brushes lightly over my knuckles as he speaks.

“Anyway, I don’t want to interrupt your date,” Scarlett says, and Sawyer squeezes my hand in reaction. “But I just wanted to say you two look so cute together. You make a great couple.”

“Thanks. We’re just out doing a little shopping with the kiddo.”

Sawyer’s voice is casual, but I can make out just a hint of a flush on his cheeks. Clearly having picked up on what I’m trying to do, he goes along with the ruse, lifting our linked hands to his mouth and placing a kiss on the back of my hand. It’s sweet, but with the way Scarlett is watching us both so intently, I’m not sure it’s quite enough to sell the lie. Following an impulse that I don’t stop to question, I lean forward across the small table, and with only a half-second of hesitation, Sawyer does the same.

Our lips meet in a soft kiss, and Scarlett lets out a soft, “ Aww .”

It’s brief, barely a kiss at all, really—just a quick press of our lips. But something electric zaps through me the moment our mouths meet, and when I suck in a breath, his masculine, woody scent fills my nostrils.

We separate, each of us leaning back in our seats again, and for a moment, I could swear that Sawyer looks as stunned as I feel. He holds my gaze for a suspended moment, his lips slightly parted and an expression on his face that I desperately wish I could read. Then he puts on a smooth, easy smile and looks back up at Scarlett, who’s got her hands clasped by her chin as she stares down at us.

“Oh my goodness, you two really are adorable!”

She smiles brightly, although I can see a hint of envy in her eyes when she glances at me. Not that she truly has any reason to be envious, but she doesn’t know that.

“Well, I’d better run. I’ll see you around,” she says, directing her last words at Sawyer in a way that would definitely annoy me if he and I were actually dating.

“Uh huh. See you,” he says vaguely, barely glancing at her as she turns and sashays out. We keep our hands linked as she walks away, and even after she’s gone, neither of us moves. Sawyer is still looking at me, his brows drawn together slightly, and I can’t tell if he’s annoyed that I kept up the ‘we’re dating’ ruse, or grateful, or… something else.

“Daddy!”

Before either of us can say anything, Jake comes running back toward us, a confused look on his face. Sawyer and I quickly disentangle our hands before he notices, and Sawyer clears his throat, running a hand through his hair.

“Daddy, who was that?”

“Nobody, buddy. Just a waitress who recognized me from games on TV,” Sawyer says quickly.

It’s not the whole truth, but it’s close enough, and it’s all Jake really needs to know. Sawyer scoots over in the booth to let Jake sit down and focuses intently on him, almost as if he’s trying to avoid looking at me.

Does he feel weird about what just happened between us? But why would he? It was nothing. Wasn’t it?

I shake that thought out of my mind as Sawyer ruffles Jake’s hair.

“So what did you wish for?” he asks his son.

Jake fixes him with a stare, as if the answer should be obvious. “I’m not supposed to tell, remember? If I do, it won’t come true.”

Sawyer’s deep chuckle rumbles in his chest. “Right. I forgot. Good job keeping it a secret then. Are you ready to go?”

“Yup!”

Jake nods, and Sawyer glances quickly at me. “Violet?”

“Sure,” I answer and follow them out of the parlor, making sure not to forget my rabbit prize.

“See you next time!” Alex calls after us.

Sawyer waves as we leave, his hand linked with Jake’s as the little boy skips along beside him. I watch the two of them with a grin tugging at my lips, but no matter how much I try to ignore it, my mind keeps replaying the small moment of our kiss over and over in a loop inside my head.

It’s completely stupid, but my stomach flutters every time I think about it. It was probably one of the most chaste kisses of all time, but it affected me in a way I wasn’t prepared for. And the way he was looking at me when we broke apart almost makes me think it affected him too.

Was that real, or am I just imagining it?

I let out a slow breath as we reach the parking lot. It doesn’t matter either way, because Sawyer is firmly off limits. For starters, he’s my brother’s teammate. Not to mention he’s my boss now. And the corn flakes on top of the ice cream is the fact that he’s several years older than me. That’s way too many strikes to even entertain.

I need this nannying job, and more than that, I’m truly enjoying it. I can’t afford to mess this opportunity up by doing something as monumentally stupid as fanning the flames of my crush for a man I can never have.