Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79039 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
“Okay, Dad,” Ty yells back.
We get to the couch, and Hunter starts unpacking the food and putting it on my coffee table. “What would you like to drink?” I ask lamely, needing something to do.
“You got a beer?”
“Yeah. What’s Ty like?”
“Just give him whatever you get Slider. He’ll be fine.”
“Alrighty then,” I mutter, going to the kitchen. I grab Hunter a beer and sodas for the rest of us. I don’t even know why, because I’m not really hungry. I think I might be in shock. I mean, what else would you do when the man you are pretty sure you fell in love with and then kicked you out of the bed the next morning, shows up at your door and says he’s moving in with his kid? Obviously going into shock makes sense.
“Beau, I love my room downstairs,” Ty says as I walk back in.
I kind of force a smile on my face. I’m glad he’s comfortable here. I think Ty is a wonderful kid and I genuinely love being around him. “If you’d rather make a permanent place upstairs there’s a bedroom here, too. You can still have the downstairs if you’re here with Slider,” I respond. He looks at me with a goofy, cute smile that only a future heartbreaker could pull off.
“Thanks, Beau, but I really like it. It’s like my own apartment,” he brags.
“In your dreams, kid,” Hunter laughs.
“We’re gonna take our food back downstairs, Aunt Beau,” Slider says as the boys fill their hands with their food and their drinks.
“There are a few sodas and water in the fridge downstairs,” I explain. “Let me know if you need anything,” I answer softly.
“Night,” Ty murmurs.
“Night, Aunt Beau. Night, BB,” Slider adds
“Night, guys,” Hunter says, ruffling Ty’s hair lovingly.
“Sweet dreams,” I murmur, nervous to be alone with Hunter.
“Beau, we’re guys. You don’t tell us to have sweet dreams,” Ty complains.
“I don’t?” I ask, trying to remain serious, because Ty looks seriously affronted.
“No, Aunt Beau. You’re supposed to tell us not to stay up too late cause that’s what parents do, but you can’t tell us to have sweet dreams. That’s what you would tell a girl,” Slider explains.
“You can tell us not to play video games with lots of blood and stuff, too,” Ty reasons.
“Son, all your games have that,” Hunter argues, not bothering to hide that he’s laughing.
“Yeah, I know, but girls get weird about that shit.”
“Ty, language,” Hunter mutters.
“Dad, I say that word constantly.”
“Not around a lady,” Hunter argues.
I look at Ty and roll my eyes, making Ty grin. It’s a good moment, until Slider ruins it with his next words.
“Dude, Aunt Beau’s favorite word is shit. She says it all the time.”
I huff out an annoyed breath. Hunter looks at me and I just shrug. “Bite me, Slider,” I grumble.
“No thanks you’d taste like paint thinner,” he laughs. This is actually a familiar game between us, and I find myself giggling.
“Just for that you don’t get my strawberry French toast bake in the morning.”
“I didn’t say anything. Do I still get it?” Ty asks.
“Do you like French Toast and strawberries?” I ask Ty.
“I like French Toast. I’ve never had strawberry French toast, but I do like strawberries,” he explains.
“Then, definitely you can have it in the morning.”
“You’ll love it. It’s the bomb. She’ll make it for me, too—even if she is threatening me,” Slider says with a sly look.
“Get out of here,” I laugh, because the kid knows he has me wrapped around his little finger. There’s no way I could deny it. They take off laughing and I find myself looking over at Hunter who looks like he just won the lottery. “What’s that look for?” I grumble.
“You keep saying you’re not going to let me move in,” he murmurs.
“That’s because I’m not. The thought of you moving in—considering until just recently we weren’t even talking—is the very definition of insane,” I gripe at him, not even caring if I come off as a bitch.
“Babe,” he says, scratching the stubble on his jaw as he continues to grin at me.
“What? I’m being serious. You have to see how insane this whole thing is, Hunter.”
“What I see, baby, is that you just told my son he could have a permanent room upstairs so he wouldn’t feel like we were pushing him down into the basement.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“It was just the wrong choice of words. It didn’t mean anything,” I argue at once.
“Sweetheart, you can argue all you want, but you want this to happen between us. You want it almost as much as I do. Besides I love that you want Ty to feel comfortable here. That just makes me positive that being with you is the right choice—not that I doubted it for a minute. I have known what I wanted since I first let you get away. I spent months of my life terrified that I would never get the chance to prove to you that I could do better—be better. Now that I’m here, you have to know that I’m not walking away. I’m not letting you go without a fight, Beau Harper. I need you and I’m not going to rest until you need me just as much.” With his speech delivered he pulls back and smiles at me. “Now, eat up. I can’t have my woman starving herself.”