Beating Heart: A Small Town, Single Dad Romance (Magnolia Falls Series Book 4)
Chapter 23

“You did this on purpose,” Kingston whined, and I used my hand to cover my mouth. “What is she, some sort of Olympic volleyball player?”

“My Sunny is the bestest player I’ve ever seen.” Cutler was jumping up and down after Emerson and I smoked Kingston and Romeo in the final round of volleyball. She high-fived my son before bending down and wrapping her arms around him and kissing his cheek. These two were thick as thieves these days. I also didn’t miss the way she was always assessing Cutler’s breathing when we were outside being active. She’d study him the same way that I did, checking for signs of breathing struggles. I’m sure it had a lot to do with her being a doctor, but my gut told me that it had even more to do with her loving my boy. And I had no doubt that she did.

“Hey, you never asked. You were the one who suggested we play volleyball, seeing as I already smoked your ass at baseball a few weeks ago.” I laughed as Emerson came up beside me, hair in a long ponytail on top of her head, short shorts showing off her long, toned legs.

She was already the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that seeing her smoke all the guys in volleyball was even sexier.

She made it all look so effortless.

Romeo and Demi had a beach area down near the water on their new property, and they’d put in a volleyball court. Kingston was one of those dudes who was basically good at all sports, and he felt pretty confident that he’d dominate at this one. But I hadn’t mentioned the fact that Emerson played college volleyball. And I’d loved watching all of them gape at her as we played game after game as partners, taking every single team out.

“Damn, girl, you’re smart and athletic. That was badass,” Ruby said, as she handed Emerson a bottle of water.

River sauntered over and handed me a beer as Ruby and Emerson led Cutler over to where Demi, Peyton, and Saylor were sitting a few feet away.

“Of course, Heart dates the girl who can treat his son’s asthma and kick King’s ass on the volleyball court. Always the overachiever, this one.” River clinked his bottle with mine. Normally, I’d get defensive about him claiming we were dating. But the truth was, we spent every free minute together. We weren’t with anyone else. So call it what you want.

A relationship. Dating. I wasn’t going to deny any of it anymore.

We settled around the firepit, and Hayes was next, because these guys loved to dish out shit. “So much for keeping it casual. You look at the girl like she hangs the fucking moon.”

Because she may as well hang the moon.

We’d been spending a lot of time together because she lived next door, and hell, we just liked hanging out. It wasn’t just sex for us.

At least it wasn’t for me. Which was a foreign concept to me.

But yes, the sex was mind-blowing.

Apparently, Emerson hadn’t been having a whole lot of sex with her ex over the last few years, and she’d gone a few months since she’d had any at all, so she was making up for lost time.

And I didn’t get out much, as it was difficult as a single dad, so I hadn’t had consistent sex in—well, six years. Since the day my son came into the world and everything changed.

But now it was the three of us, cooking dinners together and doing puzzles with Cutler. We watched movies every night and sat out on the lake while my son played with Winnie.

When we weren’t at work, we were together.

And when my boy was sleeping, we were sneaking down the hall to my room to have sex.

Fan-fucking-tastic sex.

And I was here for it.

For as long as she was.

“Whatever. We’re friends. She’s my neighbor, and she’s cool. And fucking beautiful. And smart, and—” I glanced up to see all of them gaping at me.

Romeo clapped his hands together once and barked out a laugh. “Look at our boy. He’s growing up.”

I flipped him the bird. “We’re having fun. It’s nothing serious.”

“Then why the fuck would you not tell me she’s an Olympic volleyball player? If it’s not serious and you’ve known me my whole life, why would you do me dirty that way?” Kingston said over his laughter.

“She played collegiate volleyball.” I chuckled.

“I love that you think anyone who beats you has to be an Olympic athlete.” Hayes smirked.

“Well, you were recruited to play college ball, and you’re a fucking firefighter. You’re in fabulous shape. How the hell did she beat you?” Kingston pressed. Hayes had been offered a college football scholarship right out of high school, but he’d turned it down to become a firefighter and to support his younger sister, Saylor.

“Well, I don’t spend a lot of time diving for balls anymore. I try to put out burning buildings, you dicknugget. Stop pouting. The girl beat you. Maybe you’re not that good.”

“Saylor thinks I’m the best at everything.” King puffed out his chest, and laughter filled the air around us.

“So, we’ve got the big proposal this weekend. People spend less time prepping for a wedding than you did for this damn engagement.” River kept his voice low, making sure no one else could hear us.

“Hey. Go big or go home. And you all have the plan for after and where to meet, right?”

“You sent us a fucking itinerary. Of course, we know the plan,” Hayes grumped before turning to me and raising a brow. “Let me guess, you’re next?”

I coughed and covered my mouth before shaking my hand in front of me. “You’re fucking crazy. She’s not staying. We’re just having fun.”

“But if she were staying?” Romeo asked.

“She’s not. So, there’s no sense going there,” I said, glancing over when the sound of my son’s laughter pulled my attention away.

Emerson was tickling Cutler as he sat on her lap, and his head was back, mouth open, as he bellowed out in joy.

“Yeah. Just having fun, my ass,” River said under his breath.

I took another pull from my bottle and pushed the thought away.

She was leaving. We knew what this was.

I was the king of keeping it casual.

I’d be fine when she left.

“Just enjoy it, brother. You deserve to have some fun. And Emerson is cool as hell. Don’t overthink it.” Romeo shrugged.

Yeah, he was right. I wasn’t going to overthink it.

“You’re just saying that because she told you that her brothers and her cousins are obsessed with you, Golden Boy,” Kingston said as he shook his head. “I saw his head double in size right in front of me.”

Romeo flipped him the bird and barked out a laugh. “And you jumped right in that selfie so fast with me, you didn’t miss a beat.”

Emerson had sent a selfie of her with Romeo to her family group text.

“Hey. I’m the photogenic one.”

Emerson’s brother, Easton, whom I’d already met, ended up FaceTiming his sister after she’d sent the photo.

“Yeah, well, her brother nearly lost his shit when he realized Lincoln Hendrix was Ro’s brother,” River said, with a wicked grin on his face. Romeo’s brother, Lincoln, was the quarterback for the New York Thunderbirds.

“He played for San Francisco for years before heading to New York, so he’s still got a lot of fans out this way.” Romeo nodded, proud as hell of his brother. “And Clark Chadwick is a fucking legend on the ice, so they’re clearly an athletic family.”

Emerson’s brother was one of the best centers in the league, and the guys had flipped out when they’d realized that he was her brother.

They were all teasing her about it now and giving her a hard time.

It was like Emerson had been part of this group forever.

She fit right in.

“I think you have the best style. There is no one cooler than you,” Emerson said, as my son came out of the bathroom with his hair slicked back and enough gel to make it look like it had a glass coating over it.

“I think you’re really cool,” he said, walking straight over to her and placing a hand on her cheek. The kid had game, no doubt about it. But his relationship with Emerson was different than it was with anyone else. I wasn’t sure what it was, but their connection was impossible to miss. He talked to her about everything. It had surprised me because normally he just liked to flirt and be funny, but he went deep with her. He talked about his mom and the disappointment he felt that she’d left. He talked about things that happened at school that bothered him. Things he didn’t talk about with me. I’d hear them chatting when I was cooking dinner or when we were out on the boat and I was driving.

I was always listening.

It made me happy that he was so comfortable with her, but it also terrified me.

Tara had left him when he was a baby. I knew it hurt that he didn’t have a mother in his life like all of his friends did. So, I’d always been cautious about who I let into his life. But I’d let her all the way in, and now I was fucking worried about how he’d handle it when she left.

With Tara, he didn’t have an emotional attachment. He just had to deal with the fact that he didn’t know her, and she hadn’t stuck around.

With Emerson, there were feelings. Real feelings.

“No one has ever called me cool,” she said over her laughter as she patted her legs, and he climbed onto her lap.

“You’re a doctor, and you’re pretty. You make me laugh, and you make the best cupcakes and unicorn Rice Krispie treats. You have pretty hair, and you can play all the sports as good as Pops and my uncles. That’s cool, Sunny.”

“Thanks, angel face,” she said with a chuckle, because she had a nickname of her own for him now. “Maybe you can mention that to the boys today?”

Cutler wanted to meet her brothers and her cousins, so they were doing a Zoom call with all of them. They’d had it planned for days, and it was all my boy could talk about. And I was standing here like an asshole, not knowing what the hell to do.

Her laptop was open as she started typing something, which I assumed meant she was logging in. It only took a few seconds before she and Cutler started waving at the screen.

“Is this the infamous Beefcake?” one of the guys said.

“My Sunny calls me angel face.”

“Angel face? That’s lame, Emmy. Beefcake is probably the coolest handle I’ve ever heard. I’m Emmy’s evil twin, Easton. Nice to meet you, buddy.”

“Well, then, you can call him Beefcake, and I’ll call him angel face.” Emerson waggled her brows at my son, and he laughed.

“Nice to meet you, too. Tell me all of your names,” my son said.

They went around saying their names, and Emerson raised a brow at me, waiting for me to come sit beside her, and I didn’t know why the hell I was so nervous.

I sat in the seat next to them, and the conversation flowed easily. There was Easton, who I’d already met. Her superstar hockey player brother, Clark, who Cutler grilled endlessly about hockey. Rafe and Bridger rounded out her brothers, and then Axel and Archer were her cousins, and the group of them were funny as hell in the way they gave one another shit.

They were telling Cutler and me old war stories about Emerson and all the trouble they got into as kids. My son was laughing his ass off. They insisted we’d need to make a trip to Rosewood River sometime soon.

The lines were blurring.

I was doing my best not to overthink it, but it was getting more challenging.

Because when Emerson left, I didn’t know how my son would handle it.

My job had always been to keep everything together.

But I wasn’t so sure I could do that this time.

I was too invested.

I needed to pull back, but I didn’t know how to do that.

And I already knew it was going to hurt like hell when she left.