“I was thinking about it,” I say with a smile.
His eyebrows lift. “What are we gonna eat?”
“Well …” I lean in conspiratorially. “What’s your favorite thing in the whole world to eat?”
“Mac and cheese.”
I laugh, nerves easing. “If you help me make it, I bet we can make the best mac and cheese ever.”
His eyes go huge. “Really? I get to help?”
“Of course. I’ll need all the help I can get.”
He leans closer and whispers as if sharing top-secret intel, “Even my daddy?”
“Definitely Daddy, too.”
“Alright,” Caleb says, smiling. “I wouldn’t want him to feel left out.”
I glance up at Wyatt, and he’s looking at me. He appears to be proud—maybe even approving of my interaction with his son. I try to deny it, but I know that look on his face just makes mefall a little more in love with him. The warmth in his eyes hits me hard enough that I feel as if my heart might burst.
“Well,” Wyatt says, shifting Caleb to one arm and reaching for my hand with the other, “let’s get my best girl inside before she turns into a popsicle and can’t cook. I’m hungry.”
“Okay, Dad!” Caleb says, bouncing a little.
“Oh wait! Buddy’s asleep in the car. I’ll go get him and meet you?—”
Before I can finish, Caleb is in my arms, and Wyatt is kissing my forehead. “You take my boy inside. I’ll get the dog, sweetheart.” His gruff voice sends chills of awareness throughout my body.
“Okay,” I whisper.
“You have a dog?” Caleb asks, looking up at me as if I just hung the moon.
“Yeah. He’s a tiny poodle.”
“Can I play with him?” he asks, the hunger for me to say yes evident in his eyes.
“Definitely. He loves attention. Still, you’ll need to be really gentle with him, okay?”
“I can do that!” Caleb says energetically, making me grin. I let him slide to the porch and keep his hand in mine. I catch Wyatt’s grin before he opens the door, and something settles inside of me. My nerves—those violently thrashing little beasts that have haunted me—go completely quiet.
It’s all going to be okay.
Somehow, standing here in this old house full of character and love, with a tiny clone of Wyatt holding my hand, gives me peace. I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. Mal was right. I need to stop hyperventilating and just go with it. Besides, I’m already in too deep.
And I don’t want out.
Cock-Blocked But Happy
HORSE
I’m lying on the couch, one arm curled under my head for a pillow, as I watch Caleb and Gwen sit cross-legged in the middle of the living room floor. They’re playing some board game I’ve never seen before. It doesn’t matter what it is. All I know is that this is the life I want.
We made dinner together. Hell, Gwen and Caleb made dinner. I just followed Gwen’s orders. She had me and Caleb elbow-deep in noodles and cheese while she soaked chicken in buttermilk and fried it like some damn Southern angel. I picked up her grocery list earlier, but I had no idea she planned a home-cooked feast. It tasted even better than it looked—but what got me wasn’t the food.
It was Caleb.
My boy blooms around her. I’ve never seen him laugh so much. She let him make almost the whole batch of chocolate chip cookies himself. Flour was everywhere, chocolate was on his nose, and my counters may never be clean again.
