“Roly! What happened to your face?”
Roly shakes his head. “It was just a misunderstanding.”
Yeah, well, that guy better not fuckingmisunderstandaround Roly’s face again.
Is a totally normal and nonpossessive thought to have.
Lily gets to him first and hugs him tight, burying her face into his neck.
Also? Not jealous of my daughter.
When she doesn’t let go after the usual time, Roly looks at me with concern in his deep, brown eyes. “What’s goin’ on, Lily-belle?”
She doesn’t say anything, and a few moments later a sob escapes.
“Why’re you crying, sweetie-pie?” His face is soft with concern, and I can’t tell if my heart is lurching at the site of Lily’s tears or Roly’s sweet face. Call it a tie.
She cries so hard that her words come out choked and wheezy. “The guys at school pushed me down. They were sn-snorting at me. Like a pig.”
He gapes at her scabbed knee and pulls her to him in a tight hug, anger and pain warring on his face. He looks up at me, his eyes curious and sad.
I answer his unasked question. “I went to the school today and took care of it. Actually, I got Jean-Pierre involved and… yeah. They won’t be bothering her again.”
He nods and pulls her in even tighter, declaring, “Your daddy doesn’t play around, Lily-belle. He went and pulled outthe big guns.”
Lily nods into his neck one more time, then pulls back, smiling at him through her tears, a smile I hadn’t seen in far too long. “Yeah, he did.”
Roly hugs her for a moment more, then wraps his arm around her shoulder and asks the both of us, “So, what is this? Both of you playing hooky?”
“Yes!” she declares, the tears drying quickly as she laughs like bells at his mock-disapproval. She notices the little ball of floof at his feet and squees. “Oh my god, Roly! Who is this?” She bends down and Audrey tentatively steps toward her and lets Lily pick her up. “Daddy! You have to get me a dog like this! She’s sooooo sweet!”
I swear, half of this dog’s body weight is in its eyes. “This is Audrey,” I say, reaching out to scritch her ears. Sasha climbs up my chest, wanting to smell the little one and to steal some of her scritches.
Roly is careful as he holds Audrey up to Sasha, letting them bond. “Yep, she’s named after Audrey Hepburn.”
Lily’s eyes go wide, and her smile broadens. “Daddy! It’s just like your favorite movie… that old one. Romansomething.”
Dammit. I peek over at Roly, and he is far too delighted. “Roman Holiday?” He winks at me, and it does me in.
“Yes!Roman Holiday. Daddy loves that movie so much. Hey, Roly, can I take Audrey over to the water fountain? They have a fountain for dogs, too.”
“Okay, fine, but don’t let the big dogs pick on her. She gets scared easily,” he says, biting his lip, likely doubting this course of action.
At least he has as hard a time saying no to those pleading eyes as I do. I clamp my hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Roly. She’s good with dogs.”
Before he can even agree, Lily squees again and takes Audrey’s leash, racing over to the water fountain. I turn back to Roly to thank him, but his eyes are already sparkling with laughter. “Even your kids know your love forRoman Holiday. That’s cute.”
“You hafta teach ’em young, Roly. Otherwise, they start to think that sparkling vampires are real cinema, and that’s how you find yourself watchingTwilightreruns until your eyes bleed out.”
Roly narrows his eyes at me. “Didn’t you and Jean-Pierre go to theTwilightmovie marathon, like last month? Specifically without the kids?”
I slant my jaw to the side, not believing that my seven-foot-tall friend ratted me out. “Nobody was supposed to know about that.”
“And yet… here we are,” he says, grabbing my arm and leaning in to emphasize how much he enjoys busting my balls. My chest feels warm at the sight of his teasing smile, and I inhale sharply at his nearness and the smell of his subtle, woodsy cologne.
I step away, awkwardly shifting my shoulders. He notices. “Yeah, well, wait till you have kids. All of a sudden, ten hours of teenage vampire angst sounds like a walk in the park after hormones swamp your otherwise adorable children.”
What a stupid thing to say. This is Roly—he doesn’t want kids.
