“Can you finally leave it be?” I ask.
“No,” he deadpans without looking up.
“Fine,” I snap back and start cleaning the counter, throwing the empty pill bottles away.
Severin doesn’t stop until every broken piece is picked up and the floors are spotless.
“Sorry,” Severin suddenly mutters again.
I raise my head from where I was pretending to not watch him to now openly stare at him.
“I was an asshole again—” He’s about to say something else when a four-year-old ball of energy rams into him.
“Mr. Brick!” Emett runs out of my dad’s room, crashing straight into his hockey idol. “You’re still here?”
“Hey, kid.” Instantly, Severin’s face softens and lights up at the sight of my son as he scoops him up into his arms.
My head tilts in curiosity of its own accord. Who is this man? I’ve seen so many sides in the span of a few hours it’s making my head spin. And now my hormones are not aligning with my head because seeing this man treat my son with so much gentleness and kindness does things to me.
“You saved Mommy today! I knew you’d make a perfect boyfriend.”
“Emett!” I groan. “I thought we discussed this already? You’re not going to walk around and ask every random man to be my boyfriend.”
“I am not!” he protests. “I was just being honest. You told me to be honest, remember?”
I narrow my eyes at the little smart-butt, using my own words against me. “I also distinctly remember teaching you something about thinking before you speak and more along the same lines.”
“But Mr. Brick did save you, did he not?”
“Yes.” I sigh. “He did.”
Emett places his small palms on either side of Severin’s scruffy face and smooshes them together. “He deserves a treat for that!” Emett decides, and my eyes widen, almost scared to see how Severin will react to my son’s touchy antics but it’s not revulsion or annoyance I see. It’s pure undiluted awe as he tries to grin at Emett through his squished face.
Oh, damn it. I don’t need to see that.
“Mommy’s going to make my favorite shepherd’s pie tonight, and I’ll share it with you.”
So much for trying to get rid of the man as fast as I can. Thanks, kid.
Emett finally lets go, and Severin’s face breaks out into a heart-stopping, ovary-bursting smile. “Well, I can’t imagine a better treat than that, but unfortunately, I can’t stay.”
Emett’s face falls instantly. “Why not?”
“I have a game tomorrow, remember?” He nods. “I need to get going to make it to tonight’s practice. Maybe some other time.” His eyes lift up to mine, trapping every breath I have.
“Yeah, I guess that’s an important reason,” Emett agrees, and Severin puts him down. “Bye, Mr. Brick, I’ll go talk to Button and Cranky. They lost one of their own today.” And with that he takes off down to our room, leaving Severin staring at him with the cutest confused look.
“Um…” he starts and trails off, clearly unsure what to say, and a tiny chuckle leaves my lips. His eyes instantly snap to mine, stealing that sound with them.
I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. “Button and Cranky are his stuffed toys and Aaron ripped Kevin the police bear apart earlier. That’s what Emett meant.”
“Oh. I see. Does he need a new Kevin?”
“I’m not sure, maybe. I’ll take him to the store tomorrow.”
Severin nods pensively, staring down the hall where Emett disappeared to.
“I hope I didn’t hurt his feelings,” Severin says quietly, his eyes, troubled.
