Page 75 of Meant for Mayhem

I pulled into traffic and headed home, feeling Shannon’s glare aimed my way. “Oh, you’re one of those people, huh?”

“If you mean a correct person, then yes. Tomato is a fruit.”

“Then why is it sold in the vegetable aisle, Mikko?”

“It’s in the produce section, Shannon. Both fruits and vegetables together.”

“I classify food groups by vibes, not scientific terms.”

I laughed, feeling lighter than I had in months. “And tomatoes have vegetable vibes?”

“Obviously.” She closed the box of pizza on her lap, then turned to look at me. “You want me to believe that it’s a fruit solely because it has seeds?”

“And grows from a flower.”

She rolled her eyes. “Nerd.”

“Says the girl with more books than clothes to her name.”

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing.”

We pulled into the parking garage a few minutes later, still bickering over stupid things and far more playful than we’d been in the last two weeks.

Shannon brushed Leena’s hair from her forehead, her smile softening when she looked at my sleeping daughter in my arms. “She was wonderful today.”

“Good,” I said. “Think you can do it again in two days?”

“Yeah. I think we’ll manage.”

“And traveling for the game on Saturday?” I asked when we stepped out into the foyer.

“We’ll figure that out too, won’t we?” She leaned forward and kissed Leena’s forehead, then whispered, “Goodnight, baby. I love you.”

Shannon put the pizza in the fridge, then turned toward her room like this was any other night, and she hadn’t said something so monumental without even acknowledging it.

I stood there, partially in shock but mostly wondering how I could make tonight stretch on longer.

“Reading tonight?” I asked.

She looked up at me, surprise written in the arch of her brows. “I was going to, yeah.”

“Meet in the living room in ten minutes?”

Hopefully, it didn’t sound as desperate as I felt, because what I wanted to say was:

Spend time with me.

Keep making me feel this light.

Love me, too.

That last one was so jarring, I missed her response, practically running toward my room before I realized Leena was still in my arms. I couldn’t bring myself to look down the hall to see if Shannon witnessed my mistake before entering Leena’s dark nursery. I pulled the jersey off her and changed her diaper in the dark, then gently laid her in the crib, mirroring Shannon’s words.

Luckily, Leena slept right through the whole thing, rolling over onto her belly, butt in the air. I stood there and watched my precious girl for another minute, then closed the door and went into my room.

Somehow, even more adrenaline than before was pumping through my system, but I changed into a pair of grey sweats and a tee, then grabbed a new mystery novel and went back out to the living room.

Shannon was already waiting for me, hood up over her head and a blanket over her legs as she wedged herself in the corner she’d claimed over the last two weeks.