With his lips grazing against the shell of my ear, he whispers, “Hmm. Guess you’ll just have to prove it, then, Doc.”
I tip my head back, eyes closed, as his warm breath ghosts over my cheek. One small movement from either of us, and our lips will be touching.
“Ready!”
At the sound of that little voice, we pull away faster than two teens getting caught making out in the basement.
“Daddy, you skipped my turn,” Bea pouts, eyeing him over the popcorn bowl settled on the rug between them.
She’s wearing purple pajamas dotted with tiny rainbows and a medium-size pizza stain.
“I didn’t skip you, Dolly,” he says, pointing to the pile of cards in the middle. “This is the Reverse card, remember? We were taking turnsthis way…” He motions clockwise with his finger. “But I put down the Reverse card, so now we take turns goingthis way.” He motions counterclockwise.
“But that’s not fair.” She ignores the rules and sets a blue card with a six on it on top of the pile, then looks innocently at me like it’s my turn.
I hesitate, surveying her, then Asher. While I couldn’t care less if we play by Bea’s rules, I also don’t want to overstep any parenting boundaries.
“Bea,” he sighs empathetically. “We play by the rules or we don’t play at all.”
Her eyes narrow slightly and she uses both hands to smoosh the pile like she’s playing with Play Doh.
“Bea Greer,” her father reprimands, but she’s already off and running to her room.
Asher rises with a huff. “Sorry. It appears as thoughsomeone’shaving a hard time regulating their emotions.”
Holding my hands up in defeat, I say, “No judgment here. She looks like me last Tuesday when I couldn’t find the antibiotic ointment in the clinic.”
With a pitiful laugh, he excuses himself.
I stay seated on the floor at the round coffee table for a few minutes, unsure of whether we’ll continue the game, but when Asher says, “Time to brush your teeth and get in bed,” I take that as my cue to clean up the cards and the popcorn littering the floor.
With a second glass of wine, I cozy up on the couch and scroll through my phone. Jessica texted, reassuring me that everything was fine and that she’d return the radio tomorrow evening.
I discover that I’ve finally heard from Joey, her text making me laugh out loud.
“What?” Asher says, sauntering back into the room.
My breath catches. “Jesus. You scared me. How are you so damn stealthy?”
He plucks the bottle of wine off the counter and topsoff his glass beside me. “I attribute it to tiptoeing around an infant. Bea was a terrible sleeper. Any little noise would wake her up.”
“How about now?” I nod toward her room.
“Now she sleeps like a rock. Finally. Unless there’s a thunderstorm.” He sighs. “Anyway, what were you laughing about?”
I smirk, clutching my phone to my chest. “You don’t wanna know.”
“C’mon,” he urges.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I sing. Then, with a wicked grin, I read the words on my phone’s screen. “Joey asked, ‘If Ezra stuck his dick in a glory hole, do you think you’d be able to tell it was his?’ and Millie said, ‘Ezra’s pierced, so duh.’”
Though he’s still holding his wine, Asher covers his ear with his free hand for dramatic effect, his face scrunched. “I could have gone my whole life without knowing that. He’s dating my sister.”
“I mean… they’re doing more than just dating,” I tease.
“Stop that. My baby sister has never had sex.” He pokes me in my ribs.
“Hey, I’m forced to hear about Joey’s sex life with my brother all the time,” I grouse. “If I have to suffer, then so do you.”
