Page 111 of The Summer of Us

“Really?”

“Yes. No more breaking curfew. I’ll speak to him man-to-man about it.”

I flung myself into his arms. “Thank you, Daddy!”

“Off to bed.” Then as I turned to go, he held out his hand. “Your cell phone. Give it to me.”

“Why?”

“That’s your punishment. No cell phone for twenty-four hours. And you stay in your room tomorrow. No leaving the house. And you don’t see this boy again until he comes for dinner.”

I handed him my phone. “Mom’s suggestion?”

“Yes. She said no dessert tomorrow wasn’t enough this time.” His eyes danced in the overhead light. “I didn’t remind her you had messenger on your laptop either. You owe me one. But I mean it about the dinner.”

I didn’t mind having Damon over for dinner. He was alone a lot because his parents worked long hours. I knew he’d enjoy the meal since my mom was such a great cook. And they would like him—I knew it.

I bent and kissed his cheek. “You’re the best dad ever.”

“Pretend to be mad at me tomorrow, or I’ll never hear the end of it from your mother.”

“Okay.”

“And we are having that talk tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

Then he smiled. “Love you, my little rulebreaker.”

“I love you, Daddy.”

* * *

Linc

After I knew Amanda was safe in her room, I locked up the house, set the alarm and climbed into bed, sliding up to Sunny and wrapping my arm around her waist, tugging her back to my chest.

She made a low noise of protest in her throat at being woken up, making me grin. She sounded exactly like Amanda did on school mornings.

I kissed the side of her soft neck, teasing the skin with my tongue.

She tilted back her head, squinting at me in the dim light.

“Is she home?”

“Yes.”

“How late was she?”

“About an hour. She informed me it was an hour and a half.”

Sunny snorted. “At least she’s honest.”

“That she is.”

“Did you talk to her?”

“Yes,” I said proudly. “I punished her too—just like you said.”