Page 24 of One Baby Daddy
“Uh, you might have seen him around. He’s Hayden Holmes.”
“Hayden Holmes? Who the hell is Hay—?” Realization hits Logan hard as his mouth falls open and his eyes widen. “Hayden Holmes . . . as in the hockey player?” I nod slowly. “Holy shit, Adalyn. Where the hell did you meet him?”
“Racer is good friends with him. They grew up together. I was at Racer’s house the other night for a little gathering. He said his childhood friend was coming back home for a few weeks, and it happened to be Hayden. I didn’t think we hit it off until Hayden showed up here the other day, looking for me.” I chew on the side of my lip and glance at Logan, a wince in my eyes. “Racer told me to stay away, and he also told Hayden to keep his hands off me.”
“Which of course only makes you want to get to know each other even more,” Logan says.
“Kind of, yeah.”
Nodding, Logan tilts his head and asks, “And what happens when his little stint in Binghamton is over?” Leave it to Logan to be the sensible one. “Are you going to continue to date him when he’s in Philadelphia? Isn’t the hockey season super fucking long, one of the longest out of all the sports? That’s a lot of away trips and days on the ice. Are you up for that?”
I twist my lips to the side, never actually thinking that far ahead. “I mean, I guess I never thought about his profession since I don’t pay attention to hockey. I only see him for who he is: a sweet, interested, and extremely good-looking man.”
A questionable, yet playful brow is raised in my direction. “Extremely good-looking?” Logan asks.
“Uh, yeah. Have you not seen the jaw on that guy? And his eyes.” I sigh. “Like a clear windowpane straight to his soul.”
“Oh, Jesus.” Logan scoffs. “Okay, so you have a crush on the guy.”
“How could I not? He’s dreamy and thoughtful and . . .” I lean forward and squeeze Logan’s arms. “Did you see the forearms? Rock-solid boulders, that’s what those were. Every time he shifts, it’s like a wave of sinew rolling up and down.”
“Okay, so you have a crush on him, and he has muscles. What does that mean about the next few weeks? What happens when he leaves?” I shrug my shoulders, not wanting to think about it. “I want you to be careful, okay, Adalyn? I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Like you hurt me?
I want to say it, it’s on the tip of my tongue, but before I can put those searing words between us, Logan pulls me into him, the rolling chair I’m sitting on making it incredibly easy. Encasing me with his strong embrace, he hugs me tightly to his chest and kisses the top of my head.
“I care about you, Adalyn.”
Relenting, I fall into his embrace and say, “I know you do, and I appreciate it. But this is just, you know, a little date. Who knows, we might actually hate each other and not know it yet. Maybe he thinks Zack Morris is more superior than AC Slater?”
Logan chuckles quietly, the rumble in his chest warming me. “That would be a fucking game changer.”
“A quick kick to the curb if you ask me.”
“Personally, I think you should lead with that question on your date. Who is more superior: Zack or AC? If he answers Zack, you walk right back out that door, you hear me?”
“Oh, believe me, I would hightail it so fast. That is a deal-breaker for sure.”
Chapter Six
ADALYN
“Oh, Zack Morris is by far superior,” Hayden answers, draining a pot of boiling noodles into a strainer.
“What?” I can feel my eyes bulge out of their sockets, my entire world flipping upside down. How on EARTH does anyone believe Zack is better than AC Slater fromSaved by the Bell? “How can you possibly think that?” If I wasn’t so damn curious as to why he would think such a thing, I would be grabbing my purse and walking out of this quaint little cottage to my car to get as far away from this . . . this . . . anarchist as I can get.
“Well for one, AC’s real name is Albert Clifford.”
“Not by his choosing.”
“Two”—Hayden wiggles two fingers at me while he stirs the aromatic pasta sauce bubbling on the stove—“the dude has a curly mullet.”
“That was the style back then. You would have been so lucky to be able to have such luscious locks like AC.”
“Three.” Hayden pulls the pot from the stove and puts it on a trivet. Staring at me from over the island where I’m sitting, he grips the counter and says, “AC didn’t get the girl in the end.”
“What are you talking about? He had Jesse.”
