“Congratulations, Joker. I’m so happy for you both.”
“Thanks.” I reluctantly pull away from him, cup his face with my hands, and kiss him. It’s brief because we’re in a courthouse, surrounded by people. I stare into his gorgeous eyes. “And thank you for being here. You didn’t have to come.”
“I want to be here.”
“Where are your ankle biters?”
“Ugh, right when I thought you were all sweet,” he says, grinning and trying not to laugh.
“I’m the sweetest.”
“Liar, liar… Seriously, they’re at my facility. They’d be bored here anyway.”
“Especially that hellcat of yours.”
“Especially her.” He chuckles and drags his knuckles across my face. “We should celebrate.”
“Oh, anaughtycelebration?”
Seth snorts a laugh while looking at me as if I give him endless suffering and pain. “I was thinking more along the lines of an early dinner with Braeden.”
“Bummer,” I say to see if I can get him to eye roll for me. He doesn’t disappoint. “How aboutafterdinner?”
He shrugs nonchalantly. “I might be able to work something in.”
I pinch his chin and make him look up at me so I can kiss those suckable lips. “Works for me.”
I step back from Seth, but hold his hand as Braeden comes back from the restroom. “Hey, Brae,” Seth says.
“Hey, Mr. Seth.”
“How do you feel? Think you can get settled in finally?”
He nods, then his face suddenly bursts with pure joy. “Guess what happened yesterday, Mr. Seth!”
“What happened?”
Braeden pointed right at me. “Mr. Cal stopped some kids who were bullying me,” he says excitedly.
“Oh?” Seth glances at me with a quirked brow. “How’d he manage that?”
“Traitor,” I say, keeping my tone light and full of humor. “You know, maybe Seth doesn’t need to know thewholestory.”
“But it was funny,” Braeden insists.
“Oh, now Ihaveto hear what happened. You can’t leave me in the dark, Cal.”
Braeden faces Seth, excitement on his face, his hands moving as he talks. “You should’ve seen it. Those bullies were mean and tried to drown me, or they pretended to. I was so scared. I told Mr. Cal, and he ordered a water gun and skunk spray.”
Seth sucks in his bottom lip to keep from smiling while trying to look serious, but failing miserably—though I’m sure he’ll scold me later. “Yeah? Let me guess, he sprayed those boys and made them stink.”
The boy giggles and covers his mouth. “Yep. It wassofunny.”
“You didn’t think to talk to the parents first?” Seth asks.
“Pfft, what fun is that? This way, those kids know not to pick on Braeden anymore. Giving them a dose of their own medicine is the only way to stand up to them. They don’t listen to their parents. If they did, they wouldn’t be bullies, or they became bullies because of their parents.”
“I guess that’s fair.” Seth affectionately grips Braeden’s shoulder. “And how was your first therapy session?”
