“I think we should stop by Travis’shouse,” Reese told Brantley as they were pulling out of the resort parking lot.
“Okay.”
“You don’t think we should?”
Brantley glanced at him briefly before returning his attention to the road. Reese could see from his profile that he was conflicted.
But what came out of his mouth next was completely unexpected. “Do you want kids?”
“Uh…”
Brantley laughed, but it sounded strained. “I mean…” He huffed. “I don’t know what I mean.”
“If you’re askin’ whether I’ve thought about havin’ kids, then yeah. I’ve thought about it. Not too seriously, mind you.”
“Not even when you were engaged to Madison?”
“We weren’t engaged,” Reese countered. “She turned me down.”
Brantley didn’t look at him.
“No, I didn’t think I’d have kids with her,” he said honestly. “I was well aware of who her family was, and I didn’t want to bring kids into that world.”
“Huh.”
Reese didn’t know how to translate that sound, so he continued. “As for you and me havin’ kids… I honestly haven’t thought about it.”
That earned him a sideways glance. “Really?”
“Yeah. What about you? You want kids?”
“No.”
“That was very … to the point,” Reese said, trying to figure out if Brantley was angry or not.
Brantley exhaled heavily. “I’ve never seen myself as a dad. I also never saw myself gettin’ married or havin’ a dog, but here I am.”
Reese was relieved that there was a hint of amusement in his tone.
“I love my sisters’ kids. And I know I’ll love JJ’s, but I can’t envision kids of my own.”
Reese stared out the front window and let his brain process that, trying to determine how he felt about that heartfelt sentiment. He wasn’t sad, and he wasn’t upset. It was strange, but he didn’t feel he’d miss out if they didn’t have kids.
“Maybe another dog or two down the road,” Reese said, adding a hint of wistfulness to his tone.
Brantley’s gaze darted to him. “Look, Reese. If you want kids, I’ll do whatever you—”
“You would, wouldn’t you?” He reached for Brantley’s hand. “You’d give me whatever I wanted even if it wouldn’t make you happy.”
“I’d be happy,” Brantley said, flipping his hand over so he could link their fingers. “As long as I’ve got you, I’m happy.”
Reese believed him. “Then I think we can safely say that kids aren’t in the cards for us.”
“Unless we’re spoilin’ the shit outta everyone else’s,” Brantley noted. “Because I fully intend to buy the peanuts a drum set when they’re four. They deserve it.”
Reese barked a laugh. “Because you want to spoil them.Notbecause you’d get a kick outta JJ and Baz goin’ outta their minds from the noise.”
Brantley flashed him a smile. “Exactly. You know me so well.”
