I growl my response, and he laughs. “Just kidding, Sexy Papa Bear. I deleted them when we started hate-fucking.”
“Damn right you did. Now let’s get under the covers and snuggle,” I say, smacking his ass.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Roly
I figured we’d be snuggle-fucking, or at least new-boyfriend blowing, but we actually just… snuggled. Wrapped up in each other, and… snuggled. I’d had a good night’s sleep, but as soon as I was in that warm bed with him, hand on his belly, head on his shoulder, I was lights-out. I woke up to a bit of a commotion and noted that it was much brighter than it had been when I’d been basically dragged over here.
“Oh, shit,” Heath whispers into my hair. “The kids are here.”
“Weren’t they supposed to be here this evening?”
“Yep.”
“So, this is earlier.”
“Yep.”
“And they’re already in the hallway.”
“Yep. Ex-wife has the key.”
“Molly, honey, don’t open Daddy’s door,” his ex-wife calls out as all three girls pile into the room.
Um.
“Roly!”
“Yay! Roly’s here!”
“Where’s Audrey?”
“Oh my god, she’s so cute, snuggled up with our pups!”
I’m clearly mistaken about it being his girls, because it feels like a herd of very shrieky kangaroos have just joined us on the bed, diving in between us and kissing both of us on our foreheads and cheeks. I’m just super glad that I’m still wearing my boxers, and I snake my hand down the side of the bed and grab my sweatpants, which I slip into like a contortionist after a bad night of drinking. Just as I’m feeling a bit more decent, the five dogs join us on the bed and the door is opening again, and it is the girls’ mother.
#awkwardpants
Heath stacks his pillows and sits up against the headboard, and I follow suit. Only… I’m suddenly very aware of my exposed nipples as his ex’s eyes land on me and go comically round.
“Shit. I’m so sorry. I tried to call. My dad threw out his back and fell and there are stitches, and my mom, paragon of calm that she is, is freaking out, and I was just going to rush over to San Antonio and would’ve taken the girls with me, but I didn’t want to get stuck there and then you’d have to come out…”
Heath holds up his hands. “Ash, take a breath. It’s okay, really.” Gesturing at me, he reintroduces us. “Ashley, you remember Roly.”
“Of course,” she says, biting her lip, and, I’m assuming, a laugh. I pull up the sheet to cover my exposed nipples and reach across to awkwardly shake her hand.
“Roly, baby, are my pants over there?”… is the world’s most awkward question, ever. I go for nonchalant and grab them off the floor and pass them to him over the heads of his girls, who’ve now nested in the middle of us and are playing with the dogs. He slips them on quickly and then gets up and walks over to Ashley, giving her a hug. My heart lurches a little, and then I remember that they have been very good friends for a very long time, and I tell myself to chill.
I check the time on the clock, and it’s just before nine. “Has everyone had breakfast?”
“No!”
“I’m starving!”
“Can we have Pop-Tarts?”
Ashley looks stressed to the max, so I answer, “I was thinking more along the lines of my famous breakfast tacos with eggs, potatoes, and cheese.” Turning to Ashley, I continue. “It’ll take me about ten minutes, if you can wait. That way you don’t have to hit I-35 on an empty stomach.”
