Page 63 of Sweet Oblivion

Okay. I can’t believe I just told them that.

“He what?” Apparently, neither can they.

“Do you trust him?” Ashton asks, dropping her arms and wiping her face.

Do I trust Ryker Beneventi?

I do.

Does that scare me to death?

It really does.

Ryker

“Hey, big guy. You want a milkshake?”

Bodhi shakes his head with a silly smile, his mop of blond hair falling in his eyes. This kid looks so much like his mom, it hurts. “Chocolate.”

He might only be two, but the kid knows what he wants.

His dad, on the other hand, is glaring daggers my way. “What? He’s my godson. I’m allowed to spoil him.”

“I said no milkshake, asshole,”Hendrix groans under his breath as he runs a hand over Bodhi’s hair.“They throw his stomach off.”

“Sucks to be you, doesn’t it?” I joke, knowing he’s basically telling me they make his toddler shit his brains out. “Right, big guy?”

I lift my hand for a high-five, and Bodhi stares at it until I lift his and force it.

His smile makes my whole day.

Hendrix may not have wanted to be traded home, but I love having them here. “Seriously, man, how are things going?”

“I need to find a damn nanny. Gracie’s great, but I can’t keep leaving Bodhi with her, now that the season started. It’s too much.”He drags a hand down his face, frustration tightening the lines. “It is what it is. I’m not changing any of it today. Tell me what’s going on with you. Still nothing from the league or the police?”

I drag a fry through the gravy on my plate and shake my head. “Not a peep out of the league yet. And Dennings still hasn’t woken up. They’ve lowered whatever they needed to lower to try pulling him out of the medically induced coma, but he didn’t respond how they wanted, so they had to put him back under. Not sure if I’m going to hear from the police until he wakes up.” What I don’t add is or if he doesn’t.

Hendrix nods and rips Bodhi’s grilled cheese into smaller pieces.“What about that hot wife of yours?”

“Choose your next words wisely, Hen.” I’m not sure why I feel like I need to warn him, but I don’t fight it.

The asshole smiles.“So it’s like that then, already?”

“Like what?” I don’t know why I don’t just agree. It is like that. It’s been like that.

Delaney walking in on me showering only made that worse.

And the conversation that followed... Holy fucking shit.

She’s a virgin. I should’ve realized it. But I hadn’t. Not until then.

And that little fact made me want to protect her even more than I already did.

Not sure who’s going to protect her from me when I inevitably fuck this up.

But we’ll deal with that when it happens.

“This is me you’re talking to, Beneventi. Don’t bullshit abullshitter.”He looks at Bodhi and shakes his head. “Slow down, dude. There’s no rush.”