Page 57 of Jay Bird

Today, his brain apparently had other plans, because instead of focusing on the training they had spent most of the day doing, he kept wondering what Willow and Lily were doing.

Jay Bird shoved a piece of equipment into his locker harder than necessary and closed the door.

He needed to get his head straight before someone got hurt.

He knew Willow and Lily were fine. Mia had gone over to the house earlier, and if anything had happened, his phone would have blown up with calls before he had even known there was a problem.

But it didn’t matter. No matter how many times he told himself that, he still couldn’t stop thinking about them.

He was still thinking about that kiss that Willow had placed on his cheek the night before.

He had been kissed plenty of times before, and in places considerably more interesting than his cheek. Yet apparently his dumb ass had decided that kiss was the one worth replaying in his head all damn day. Mostly, because he understood what it had meant for Willow to initiate it. She had chosen to touch him, and after everything she had endured at Chen’s hands, Jay Bird knew that wasn’t something he should take lightly, so he hadn’t.

He also hadn’t slept worth a damn because every time he had closed his eyes, he had remembered the soft brush of her lips against his skin and the pink staining her cheeks when she had pulled away.

Earlier that morning, Derek had cornered him between training evolutions and asked if he was still comfortable with Willow and Lily temporarily using his last name.

Jay Bird hadn’t hesitated. He didn’t need time to think it over or weigh the options, because in his mind there was only ever one answer. Yes. He was sure.

If using his name put another layer between Willow and Chen, then she could use it for as long as she needed. Hell, if there were something else he could give them that made them safer, he would hand that over too.

Derek held his gaze for a few seconds longer than Jay Bird was comfortable with, like he was trying to read something Jay Bird wasn’t saying out loud. Eventually, though, he let it go without pushing further.

Before walking away, Derek handed him a large envelope Tink had dropped off earlier, containing a driver’s license and other documents for her to look over and fill out.

“Yo, Jay.”

He glanced up to find Joker sitting on the bench across from him, casually unlacing his boots.

“How is Willow doing?”

“She’s good.”

“And the little one?” Snow asked from farther down the row of lockers.

“Also good.”

Aussie snorted. “Jesus, man, don’t overwhelm us with details.”

Jay Bird flipped him off, which immediately drew a few laughs from the group.

Nails tossed a shirt into his bag. “Riley wanted me to ask too. She didn’t want to bug Willow today since Mia was already going over there.”

“They’re both settling in well.”

That much was true, and honestly, they were settling in better than he had expected.

There was already more shit in his living room than there had been three days ago, like crayons, coloring books, building blocks, and a stuffed elephant that somehow migrated from room to room.

And then there was Willow mentally renovating his backyard. Jay Bird still wasn’t sure how the hell they had gone from her insulting his landscaping to discussing pools and playsets, but apparently that had happened too.

Bear zipped his bag closed. “Derek said Tink stopped by yesterday.”

Jay Bird nodded. “He did. They discussed some personal stuff, and Tink mentioned that somebody has been digging into her old identity.

“Shit,” Playboy stated

“Tink is trying to find out where the searches originated,” Jay Bird continued. “Because of that, it was decided that she doesn’t use her real name on any type of identification for now.”