“Unusually?” He laughs.
“You don’t usually like kids, that’s all.”
“I likeyourkid, ooh, that reminds me, Deaton was kinda upset about the Daddy slash Buddy day thing at school, and I said I’d ask you if I could go as his buddy instead.”
The hits just keep coming. “W-what?” I blurt. Then, I press my palm to my forehead. “Oh, god, it slipped my mind for a second.” I feel like the worst mother in the world, though I did only just find out about it myself.
“That’s the one.”
“And you offered to go for him? Why?”
He seems surprised, his eyebrows shooting up as he folds his arms over his very broad chest. “Because I’m his friend, and it’d be nice for him to not have to think about why he has a dead-beat Dad who doesn’t give a shit about him.”
I bite my lip. “I’m sorry, that sounded rude of me asking why.”
“No, but you’re also not jumping off the rafters to say yes.”
I pause. “It’s not that… I just…”
“You’re worried that I’m getting too close to Deaton, and that I’ll end up leaving, too?”
I swallow hard, lowering my voice. “Not in so many words. He has my dad, who is reliable and responsible, but I think it’s a good thing that he likes hanging around you. I just don’t want him to get hurt.”
His face turns serious when he says. “I’m never going to hurt him. Or you.”
“I know that.”
“But you’re biting your lip; you’re worried.”
“I’m not worried, I’m protective.”
He takes his hands to my shoulders, and time seems to halt right in its tracks. “I know you’re a mama bear, I get it. But he was pretty down about it in the car. He wants to show his friends that he has someone else in his corner too when Grandpa isn’t around. It’ll be fun.”
I nod, tears welling in my eyes that he confessed to Brad, but he said nothing to me. I mean, I would have figured something out, even asked Brad myself.
“Okay, if you’re sure you can get off work?—”
“I dictate my own hours at work.” He grins, tipping my chin up. “No sad faces. You’re an amazing mom, you’re doing a great job with him.”
I smile, despite how I’m trying to keep my crying at bay.
How does he always know what I’m thinking?
Chapter Eleven
BRADLEY
“You think?” Her eyes are all big and round, and if I’m being honest, I want to wrap her up in a big bear hug until that frown disappears.
“I don’tthink,Iknow.”
“You’re an incredibly decent man,” she whispers, wiping under one eye where a tear has formed. I always seem to make this girl cry.
“I’m not always decent.” I waggle my brows, trying to get her to smile.
She rolls her eyes and laughs. “Not according to the mom committee.” She thumbs behind her.
I glance over her shoulder, and several women quickly look away. “You know,” I say, my eyes back on her. “I think they think we’re an item.”
