I’ll order dinner and pick it up once I drop the girls off
Hopefully Noah and Graham won’t take too long
I’ll just be waiting for you all sad and lonely at my place
Whatever shall I do to pass the time
“I appreciate you guys.”
“You won’t when we’re drinking on your tab.” Noah slaps me on the shoulder as he and Graham head out.
It’s a balancing act, life as a single dad. Between the girls and hockey, and now Harper, it feels like someone is always going to get the short end of the stick. Learning to lean on people has never been easy for me. But these guys? I guess I can learn to trust people.
Getting to show up for Harper? I want to be that man for her. To let her know that she can trust me. That I won’t run this time.
That I’m here for good.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
HARPER
“Ihope you still like Thai.”
Glancing at Marcus over the island in my kitchen, my heart rate picks up. He’s handsome, if a little disheveled after his game. His gaze droops from exhaustion as he rounds the counter with one aim in mind.
Me.
“After a game, I’ll eat anything.” Marcus steals a kiss from me before heading toward my living room. “But you know Pad Thai is the key to my heart.”
“Is it?” I grab my own plastic container of fried rice and follow Marcus, sitting next to him. “Good to know.”
It’s a tight squeeze on my love seat, but it’s the only thing that fits in my small apartment.
“As long as I’m fed after a game, I’m happy.”
Marcus is not shy at how fast he wolfs down his dinner. I’m not even halfway done by the time he’s dropping the empty container on my coffee table and grabbing his water bottle.
“Do you want some of mine?” I hold the container out to him.
“Nah, I’m good. That was fucking delicious.”
“You worked up quite the appetite,” I observe.
“There are other ways I can work up an appetite…”
“Oh yeah?” Marcus grabs my foot and digs his fingers into the arch. “That feels amazing. Shouldn’t you be the one that needs this after the game?”
“You rubbing me down?” Marcus waggles his eyebrows at me.
“I mean, yeah. But I won’t say no to a foot rub.”
I set my half-eaten dinner on the table and stretch both legs into Marcus’s lap as best I can.
“You should know by now I won’t say no to you.”
“You mean anything I want, you’ll say yes to?”
Marcus smiles. “Yes.”
