Page 166 of Contentious

“You guys don’t know nothing.”

“Anything,” Cresley said.

“Same thing.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Does this house have a TV?” Ty asked.

“A couple of them.” Carson pointed to the family room. “Right in there. Let me know if you need help.”

“I won’t need help.”

“He’s more tech-savvy than I’ll ever be,” Cresley said as she took a seat on a stool at the island in the middle of the huge kitchen.

“He’s so much fun to be around,” Carson said.

“Aw, thank you. I think so, too, but I kind of have to think that.”

“No, he really is. If you’d asked me a few weeks ago if I’d look forward to spending entire days with a seven-year-old, I would’ve said hard pass. But he’s…” He covered his heart with his hand. “He’s such a great kid.”

She smiled. “He’s perfect in every way, if I do say so myself.”

“He really is. Well done, Mom.”

“Why thank you.” She studied the phone she’d placed on the counter in front of her. “Is it weird to be scared to look at your own phone?”

“After the day we had yesterday, it’s not weird at all. I noticed one hundred and twenty-six unread messages when I glanced at mine last night. So I’m scared to look, too.”

When Cresley’s phone rang, she grimaced. “It’s Teagan. Time to face the music.”

She put it on speaker so he could hear, too.

“Hi there.”

“Thank God you’re okay. We were so worried.”

“We’re fine. Sorry to worry you.”

“Oh please, as long as you guys are safe, that’s all that matters. We’ve gotten a thousand calls and messages checking on you. Suffice to say, the whole world was worried.”

“Awesome,” she said, pulling a face that made Carson chuckle.

“There’s media outside your house,” Teagan said, “so you’ll want to steer clear of there until they get tired of waiting for you and move on.”

He poured coffee for both of them and put creamer on the counter before he eased into the seat next to her.

“I assume you’d like me to put out a statement that says you, your son and friend are safe and sound and asking for privacy?”

“That would be perfect. Thank you.”

“What else can I do for you today?” Teagan asked.

“Buy me some time away from it all. I need to be home for the next little while.”

“Understood. D&G checked in last night. They asked for the fitting ASAP so they can be ready to go when you come back to work. If you can accommodate that at some point, they’ll come to you.”

“Early next week, I’ll make that happen.”