Josh snorts so hard, he chokes on pool water, and I swear to God there’s a Taylor-shaped giggle behind me. Perfect. Of all the things I want her to witness?—
‘Yeah!’ Josh shrieks. ‘It’s Nanna Isla’s cockerel!’
Lottie pouts up at me. ‘Why ’ave you a cock’l on you, Uncle G?’
And that’s it.
I lose it.
A laugh tears out of me before I can stop it: rough, real, shaking loose something I didn’t know was stuck.
Maybe it’s the tension that’s been building ever since lastnight – scratch that, ever since Taylor asked me to be her baby daddy.
Or maybe it’s something else. Either way, I’m gone.
As for Nanna Isla – Theo’s housekeeper in Wales, who dotes on these ratbags like they’re her own grandkids – she’d sure as shit love this. A lot more than my ego does right now.
‘It’s an eagle,’ I stress, trying to pull myself together. ‘Big and strong. Like me.’
‘No,’ Lottie says, shaking her head. ‘It’s definitely a cock’l.’
The boys hit hysterical level, and I meet Lottie’s sparkling blue gaze. ‘See what you’ve done now?’
‘You called me twubble.’
‘And you just pwoved it.’
And, oh my God, did I just drop an ‘r’ for her?!
Her smile widens into a smug little grin as the boys try to climb me for a closer look. And that’s when I realise, I’ve been played. By a four-year-old.
‘Why you little…’ I growl, then start tickling her until she’s wriggling and squealing, the boys shrieking for their turn.
Before I know it, I’m mid chaos: tickling, throwing, catching, dunking.
Their joy is wild and easy, and I can’t remember the last time I felt anything like it. I’ve no clue what I’m doing, but they ain’t complaining. Neither are their parents. They’re watching on with smiles as wide as their sunglasses.
And I know Taylor’s still watching. I feel her eyes on me, my body hooked on her every movement. As for Sadie’sWe Risewomen, open-mouthed fascination is the only way to describe it.
Now I get what Theo once told me after a solo park session with Lottie:
‘It’s true what they say about a single dad. I’ve never beenset upon by so many women. It’s like some predatory instinct takes over. Full-on cavewoman, Ax, I’m telling you. Bloody terrifying.’
I thought he was joking.
Turns out the joke’s on me.
Because Sadie’sWe Riselot didn’t need any more reason to pounce… and the only woman I want staking her claim is the one whose gaze I can no longer feel.
My eyes hunt her down, all on their own.
With Lottie hanging off my neck and the boys hooked under either arm, I turn – and there she is.
Walking off with Sterling. Arm in arm. Heads close. Voices low.
I wouldn’t give a shit… except Sterling’s got that look.
The same look theWe Risewomen are sporting.
