“What about the TV? You have to turn off the TV.”
Oh. “Why do we have to turn off the TV?” He set the pizza boxes on the table. All three of them.
“Cuz dinner is to talk. Mommy says that’s when you talk about your day.”
Oh. And yeah, he was fully aware he’d thought Oh three times in a row, but often it felt like Jessie was the one watching him. Chelle must have been great. It made sense considering Jessie seemed smarter than any four-year-old he knew. “Sounds good to me.” He gave them each a paper plate, thinking about the fact that Jessie spoke about her mom as though she was still around. “You have to try this: pepperoni, sausage, onion and black olives. I know it doesn’t sound good, but it’s great.”
Jessie stuck her tongue out. “Ew. That’s yucky.”
“Yucky? It’s the Braden special,” he teased but she didn’t look impressed. “Fine. I bought you a cheese pizza, too. Don’t think I won’t remember this, though.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Ignore me.”
They finished eating. Braden cleaned up the mess afterward and Jessie watched him like she always did. “Are you having a sleepover?” she asked.
I wish, kid. “No. Your uncle will be home around seven thirty, so he’ll put you to bed.”
“How come you never have a sleepover? I sleep at Aunt Lydia’s.”
Hell. Why did he always get these questions? “Because I have my own house. I just like to hang out with you for a few hours on Wednesdays.”
“Don’t you want to sleep over? It would be fun.”
Yes, yes he did. He very much wanted to spend the night with Wes again.
Braden put the milk in the fridge. “I’m sure it would be, but...it just doesn’t work that way.” How the hell did he put it other than that?
“Why?”
Braden really wished he could ban that word tonight. “I’m craving ice cream. How about you?”
That easily, her questions stopped and her eyes went big. He’d have to remember to make sure Wes always had ice cream in the house.
After they had their snack, Jessie curled up with Jock on the living room chair and watched TV. She yawned about eight hundred times, and he thought about putting her to bed, but he had no clue what he needed to do to get her ready. He glanced at his cell. It was already eight. Where the hell was Wes?
Just as he went to dial, the door opened and Wes came in. “Uncle Wes!” Jock and Jessie both jumped off the chair and ran to greet him.
Braden watched Wes’s tired eyes brighten as he hugged the little girl. It didn’t change the bags he had there, or the slump of his body. He was obviously tired as hell.
“We had pizza and ice cream!” Jessie told Wes, who looked at Braden over her head.
“Oh, did you?”
“Is that a bad thing?” Braden asked.
Wes shook his head. “Nah. It’s okay to treat her sometimes.” Even his voice sounded lower and more exhausted than usual.
Jessie yawned and Wes picked her up. “Let’s get you to bed.” He caught Braden’s eyes. “Sorry I’m late. I—”
“Get her to sleep. I’ll hang around and we can talk when you’re done.”
Wes nodded and disappeared down the hall. Damn, he respected the hell out of the man for everything he did. And he wished there was more he could do to help. It hadn’t started this way, but he really did consider Wes a friend. He enjoyed his company, and for the first time in his life, outside of work, he was doing more than just going out to get laid or have fun. He felt like what he did mattered, even if it was just to a curly-haired little girl and her uncle, who Braden liked to see smile.
***
After Wes got Jessie into bed, he went to his room and changed out of his scrubs and into a pair of sweatpants and a shirt. His stomach growled and his bed called his name, but he knew that if he lay down, he wouldn’t be able to sleep anyway. His mind didn’t want to shut down lately, picking night to run wild.
When he made it back to the living room, Braden sat at the table in front of three pizza boxes. “Hungry?” he asked.
“Jessie wanted cheese. I didn’t know what you liked, so I figured I’d be safe with pepperoni. And then I needed mine, too.”
Wes opened one of the boxes and set a few pieces on a plate. “You didn’t have to get a whole cheese pizza for her, or a whole one for me. Let me know how much it was and I’ll pay you back.”
“Nah. It’s not a big deal.”
Wes sighed. “Yes, it is.”
“Then I guess you’ll have to buy next time.”
Wes wasn’t in the mood to argue, so he went over and sat on the couch.