“Dad?” God, what a weird thing to hear me called that. “I’m not even officially his guardian yet, Tiger.” There go those rolling eyes again. I swear to god, I’m going to call him Tiger for as long as I live. “Besides, I’ll never replace his dad. Robert was a better man than I’ll ever be.”
“Technicalities. You’re still a father figure to him now. The reason I say this is that I want to invite you to our poker club.”
I cross my legs and stretch my arms out along the back of the bench, watching the kids chase Emily around. “Poker, you say?”
“Yep, every other Friday we get together and play. Royal Dads’ Poker Night. It’s not high stakes or anything. It’s hanging out with queer men like us who are dads. It’s a little community we’ve formed with people we can relate to.”
“You talk about kids all night? I don’t know… it doesn’t sound that enticing.”
“Sometimes, but mostly we talk about ourselves, life, and the game. It’s fun, even if I suck at playing.”
“Poker, you say? Maybe. It does sound fun. I barely have any friends, unless you count my bad-ass PA. Too busy pushing my business to succeed.”
“I’ll talk to my friends to make sure, but there’s a game next Friday if you want to come.”
“What do I do with Braeden?”
Seth thinks about it for a second and nods. “Well, he’s a little old for my babysitting place, which cuts off at thirteen. He’s old enough to stay home for a few hours at night, but not right now. He’s still hurting, so he can come with us and hang out. Sometimes there are other kids there, but there’s always something for them to do.”
“Thanks,Tiger.”
“God, why do I even bother?”
“Come on, you love it.”
He looks at me flatly. “Anyway… it starts at eight. I’ll drive us, if you want.”
“Okay, let’s do it.”
“And no calling me ‘tiger’ while we’re there.”
“Well, shit, now I want to call you that even more.”
“Ugh, you’re uninvited.”
I throw my head back and laugh. Honestly, it’ll be nice to meet other men and make some friends.
“Emily’s running on her last legs. We’d better go so I can get her to nap.”
The kids run back to us when Seth calls them. They’re completely disheveled and dirty, except for Braeden. He seems more like the indoor type.
Emily looks exhausted, and when Seth gets her all buckled into her stroller, she doesn’t fight him. In fact, as soon as we start moving, she crashes, her little arm dangling off to the side.
“Ah, the joys of sleeping children.”
Seth eyes me and smirks. Instead of complaining, he says, “It can be pretty nice. Quiet is a luxury in my house.”
We reach his minivan, and we get the kids all in. Before we climb in ourselves, he turns to face me. “You don’t have to say yes, but would you like to eat dinner with us tonight?”
I lean my arm on the car and grin at him. “You asking me out there, Tiger?”
He stammers, and his eyes go wide. “W-what? Huh? Ah…”
I chuckle and raise my hand to him. “I’m only teasing you.”
“Ugh, I’m never getting used to your humor, if you can even call it that.”
“I’m gutted. You’re a cruel man, Seth Griffin.”
