Hunter snickers. “It was kind of awesome. I got to watch whatever I wanted on TV and play all the video games without him demanding a turn.”
“So, Sadie, was your upbringing as crazy as these two?” Mia asks. “I was an only child so I was spared all this drama.”
“It was. Definitely sounds like this,” I admit, and I love that we both have great siblings and good families. “There is nothing quite like the joy of terrorizing your teenage brother. But unlike Griffin, I was actually good at it. Still am.”
They all burst out laughing.
“I want a brother!” Charlie says out of nowhere, bringing the laughter at the table to a screeching halt. Griffin’s staring over at her with shock on his face, completely speechless.
Charlie looks at him, blinking innocently. Hunter jumps in. “I thought you wanted a dog?”
She seems to think about that, her face scrunching up for a moment, and then she bounces in her seat. “Can’t I have both?”
Mia snorts.
Hunter looks from Griffin to me and then turns back to Charlie and smiles. “Not right now, kiddo, but maybe one day.”
I feel Griffin’s hand wrap around my shoulders. Charlie accepts that answer and runs with it. “So I can have a dog one day? What about a bow and arrow like Merida?”
A sibling seems to have fallen off the radar and an awkward moment has naturally evaporated. I sigh in relief, and Griffin notices, giving my shoulder a squeeze.
The rest of the night goes flawlessly. Mia was right. The pizza is fantastic. And I really hit it off with her and Hunter. Mia and I even make plans to go to the movies together. Charlie asks me questions and tells me stories and seems genuinely content. I don’t think she understands I’m her dad’s girlfriend, but it doesn’t matter. The fact that she seems to like me is all that matters right now. It’s the first step. We took it and we’re on solid ground so far.
We say goodbye to Mia and Hunter outside the restaurant and start up the hill toward Griffin’s car. Charlie begins to complain it’s too far. Without a word, Griffin lifts her up and plops her on his shoulders. Her grin lights up the evening sky. My dad used to lift me up like that too whenever I complained about being tired of walking. I used to love it so much that I’d fake complaints. Sometimes he’d give me the slyest smile, as if he knew I was faking, but he’d never deny me. Griffin’s grin right now reminds me of my dad’s, and it makes everything hurt in the most joyous way. He is so much like my dad with her, and it makes me want his babies. I’m not even scared to admit it to myself, but I’ll probably keep that revelation from him for a while.
When we reach the car Griffin puts her in the car in her booster seat. I climb into the passenger seat as he reaches into the pocket in the back seat and pulls out an iPad and clips it to the back of my headrest. “You can watchBravewhile we drive home.”
“Awesome, Dad!”
We drive in comfortable silence to my place. He casually rests his hand over mine on the center console. It’s easy and feels so natural, even with Charlie in the back seat and her movie echoing around the car.
Griffin pulls up to the curb next to my building, turns the car off, and looks back at Sadie. “Say goodbye to Sadie, Charlie.”
“Bye, Sadie!” she calls out, looking up from her iPad and waving to me enthusiastically.
“I’m going to say goodbye to Sadie now, right next to the car, okay?”
“Sure.” Her attention is already back on the movie as she starts to belt out one of the songs.
We get out of the car, and I walk around to his side, so he doesn’t have to leave the driver’s side unattended. I look up at him, and I can feel that the grin on my face is huge. I reach out and touch his stomach, my hand low on his abdomen as I tug on the fabric of his sweater. “I had fun.”
“I can tell,” he replies, and his smile matches mine. He reaches out and brushes my hair gently. “Everyone loved you, which I knew would happen.”
I tilt my head and give him my best cocky grin. “Because I’m adorable?”
He laughs, his head tipping back a moment. When he looks at me again, though, his expression holds much more than humor in it. “That and because I love you.”
My smile softens, and my heart gallops. “I love you too.”
He closes the space between us and kisses me. It’s not one of our normal kisses. This one is restrained because of Charlie and gentle because we just confessed something so raw and so real to each other that we’re both in need of tenderness.
“I have to go,” he whispers softly, pulling me in for a hug. The only thing he does better than give orgasms is hugs. They’re everything. “She is precariously close to missing her bedtime.”
“Drive safe,” I tell him as I let him go.
“I’m going to text you later,” he says as he opens his car door and starts to get in. “So I can hear you say that again.”
I grin and blow him a kiss before silently mouthing the words again. He mouths them back. I head up the walk and into the building and turn to wave to him as he drives away.
