BINGO
Griffin
“Dad,can you tuck me in bed?” Theo called when he was ready.
Jessa came down the hall from his room, and winked at me with a knowing smile. She brushed my hand with hers along the way.
“Here. I made this for you.” Theo proudly presented me with a handmade board game as I perched on the edge of his bed.
On a cereal cardboard cut-out labeled *Dad’s Birthday Bingo*, a grid of drawn squares had things like:
*Groans about email.*
*Says he’ll only be on the phone 20 minutes. Takes an hour.*
*Attends my entire game, start to finish.*
Pasta pieces already marked some spaces.
It was a slap in the face I hadn’t expected but sorely needed.
I had no idea how much attention he paid to those things.
I set it aside and gathered him in my arms. He’d grown so big. I had about eight years until he was an adult. And suddenly, this past year felt lost. Stolen by all my hours at work.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been around much lately, buddy. I’ll do better. I promise.”
“That’s okay, Dad. I know you love me. That’s all that matters.”
His little voice choked me up.
I sniffled and tucked him in. “Okay. Which book tonight? Any book you want.”
“Jessa already told me a story. She’s really good making stuff up. Can you just stay here and rub my back until I fall asleep?”
He turned over. Curled around a huge dinosaur that was a gift from Archer Bellamy.
“I love you, Theo. Best buddy in the whole world.”
“Love you, too. Best buddy.”
He yawned. I shoved the world out of my head. Slowly rubbed his back. Simply forced myself to stop and be in the moment.
Once he’d fallen asleep some time later, I closed the door on his quiet breathing.
Now I had to find Jessa and thank her properly for all of this. It was my birthday after all. And if anyone knew how to make a man forget his age, it was her.
When I found her, she was asleep on the couch. Was she wearing one of my Brioni shirts and little else?
My line of sight ran up her leg. Caressing the soft curve of her thigh as it rounded into the globe of her ass. I tore my eyes away to her hair spilling like spun gold over her shoulder. A smear of frosting dotted her cheek.
I should have covered her with a blanket and gone to my office to work through the night, ignoring the sleeping beauty. Should have forced myself to forget that a woman was sleeping in my penthouse. In my shirt. With possibly nothing on underneath.
Instead, I slid an arm beneath her knees and another behind her back.
She startled awake halfway down the hall. “Put me down. I’m too heavy.”
I snorted. “Trust me. I lift more than your weight. My trainer is brutal.”
