I grin and shake my head as she places her arms on the table and lays her forehead over them.
“I just want my own Nolan. Or Rafe. I’m not picky.” Her voice is muffled by her arms.
“You’ll get one but, you know, straight.”
She sits up. “Or bi.”
I nod. “Someone who loves you for you. And will give you a damn complement without you even having to look for one.” I need to change the subject, and I’m a little bit of an asshole, so I say, “So does that mean you’re free this weekend?”
She snorts a quick laugh. “Need a babysitter so you can fuck your new boyfriend kid-free?”
“Maybe.”
“Yeah. I’ll totally watch Hailey. That kid is fierce, but she’s awesome.”
“I agree.”
She jumps up from the table, and I follow. “I guess we should get back to the party. I really do like your parents. Krista and I got here so early, and your mom was like, ‘Come on in, and make yourself at home.’ And I think she was serious.”
“Oh, she definitely was.”
She’s beaming as she walks back outside, and I follow before she heads to Krista. I see Gavin walk through the back gate with a teenager, who I don’t know, in tow. He introduces the kid to my mom before leaving him there for her to dote over and makes his way over to me.
“Who’s the kid?”
He looks behind him like he doesn’t know who I’m referring to and then back at me, shrugging his large shoulders just as Rafe walks to stand by my side, probably having heard my question. “Just a kid I coach.”
I raise a questioning eyebrow. “A kid you coach?”
“Yeah.” There’s something he’s hiding, I can tell. I’ve known him his whole life, and he’s acting weird. “He doesn’t have the best home life, so I thought I’d show him that good families exist.”
My heart sinks, thinking about Gavin when he was that age and how miserable his parents made him. “How bad?”
“Bad,” he says quickly.
Rafe and I share a look and then glance back at Gavin. “You aren’t fucking a student, are you?”
He looks horrified by my question, which again is weird for Gavin. Usually, he’d make a crude joke. “No. He’s a kid. A troubled one.”
I look back over at my mom and the kid, who really isn’t a kid. I’d say he has to be a senior and is built like a linebacker. Broad and full of muscle. But something tells me not to push it. “Okay. I’m glad you brought him then. Mom will spoil him.”
Gavin grins. “Yeah. I knew this was the best place for him. I’m going to go catch up. Glad you two got your shit together.”
He leaves, and Rafe turns to me. “You told Gavin?”
“Sorry.”
He laughs, “I want to tell everyone.”
“Me too.”
“You think he’s okay?” he asks, and I know he’s talking about Gavin.
I tell him the truth because I’d say he’s definitely, at the very least, got a lot on his mind. “I don’t know. I hope so.” I look over at Emily, who’s playing with Krista and Hailey. “I got us a babysitter this weekend, though, if you want an hour or two to hang out.”
He grins at that, taking my hand in his. “I definitely want that.”
We walk over to my parents, where almost everyone has gathered and let them in on our secret.
That Rafe and I are together. Finally. And forever, if I have anything to say about it.
* * *
“Hey, it’s time to get up.” I groan, covering my eyes with my arm and mumbling something, but I’m not even sure what I said. Then I feel my boyfriend’s lips on the back of my neck and hear a low chuckle. “First day of school.”
Again, I groan because it’s way too damn early. I still work construction, and Nolan has been amazing this summer, watching Hailey. So have his parents and Emily, on occasion. They’ve shown me what it’s like to have a family.
A real family who helps out with no questions asked and wanting nothing in return. My Aunt Jo came up for a week this summer, and everything seemed complete.
I roll over and look into Nolan’s eyes. Good God, I love this man. And I admit it freely every single chance I get. “How is the summer over?”
He laughs again, his hand smoothing over my bare side and the tattoos I got when I was just a kid before Hailey was born. “I think I’m the one who’s supposed to be complaining about summer ending. Hailey too.”
“That’s right, I had to work all summer while you got to hang out with my awesome kid.”
He doesn’t argue or complain that he essentially gave up his three-month vacation to hang out with a kid who is now six years old. No, he grins so fucking big that I have the urge to lean in and kiss him even before I hear his response. “That’s very true. God, I love that kid.”
Yeah, those words make my heart soar in a way I never thought it would. I thought it would be closed off for the rest of my life. I figured I could squeeze in some random hookups when my hand wasn’t enough, but I never thought I’d find this. I grab his face in my hands and lean forward, pressing my lips to his. He smiles against my mouth, kissing me back until his body blankets mine.
“Please tell me we have time.”
We’re at my place, but he has a change of clothes here when he stays the night, which is a lot. It’s getting to be inconvenient as hell, not having his things here, but we haven’t been together very long. Not officially anyway, and I don’t want to scare him away by asking him to move in together.
Even though I know deep down that’s exactly what I want. Still, he’s going to take Hailey to school with him instead of her having to ride the bus. It makes sense. I trust him 100 percent with her, and they’re going to the same place.
“I doubt it.” He wags his eyebrows, smiling knowingly just as we hear the small thundering of a tiny fist on my bedroom door. He laughs and rolls off me. “Life of a parent.”
It’s not said with any malice or regret, and I’m still amazed at that. “Tonight?”
He pulls on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. “You bet your ass.”
“So, it’s my ass tonight?”
He laughs and leans his hands down on the mattress. It dips slightly with his weight as he leans in for a too-brief kiss. “You’ve been begging for it a lot lately. Who knew you’d be so needy to have my cock in your ass?”
I groan, my dick loving his words, but my mind knowing I have a six year old to get dressed and ready for school on the other side of the door. “Are you trying to kill me?”
His grin is sinful as he winks, pecks my lips again, and then walks over to the door, opening it and smiling at my pint-sized daughter. “Well hello, Ms. Hailey. You want me to get you ready this morning?”
“Yes!” she squeals happily, practically jumping up and down, then grabbing his hand and pulling him to her room.
I never thought I could have it all.
Not until I met the teacher that totally schooled me on every subject.
* * *
I’m in a fantastic mood. I love the first day of school, but I love it even more now that I get to kiss my boyfriend goodbye with an I love you and a promise of getting to see him later tonight. I also love that I get to walk into the school with the world’s cutest kid.