Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
He gave me a sad smile. “You’re good at this, the whole parenting thing. You’re a natural, you know that?”
I tried not to get lost in the compliment, in him calling me the very thing I thought I knew nothing about. “I’m trying to bribe your daughter into liking me with nail polish and pizza. I’m not sure how much of a natural I am.”
“Well, I’m sure.” Knox reached over and cupped my face. I kissed his palm, and he lowered his hand to rest at the back of my neck. The sound of wheels on gravel came from behind us, and he broke the contact. “We doing this?” he asked.
I winked, trying not to let him see how upset I was. “We’re doing this, Knoxy.”
“Ah, hell, not you too. I’m gonna have to punish you for that later.”
“Is there any way you can now?” I teased, and we laughed.
Amanda and Dale got out of the car behind us. She looked at us, likely wondering why in the hell we’d been sitting in my car together. She was a beautiful woman, with perfect strawberry-blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She had a few freckles and a shy smile, and again, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about how much easier Knox’s life would be if he were with someone like Amanda. I hadn’t doubted myself in a long time. This whole thing was playing tricks with my head.
“I brought some sodas,” Amanda said.
“You didn’t have to do that, but thanks,” Knox told her. “Amanda, this is Callum.” He turned to me. “Cal, Amanda.” Dale had already run inside to see Logan.
“Nice to meet you.” I reached out and shook her hand.
“He’s around a lot, so I’m sure Logan has mentioned him.”
“He has,” Amanda replied. The way her eyes darted between us, it was clear as day she knew. “I, um…I’m feeling a little silly being here, actually. I think maybe there’s more going on than I realized at first. I don’t want to intrude.”
I started, “You don’t have to—” but Knox cut me off.
“The kids don’t know yet…about us.”
My eyes shot to his. “Knox…”
“No, it’s fine,” he said, then turned to Amanda. “Logan will be fine, I think. He loves Callum. I mean, I’ve never… He doesn’t know I’m… I’ve never been with a man before, so it will come as a surprise, but it’ll be okay, I think. Charlie’s struggling a bit, having anyone else in my life, even if she does think he’s only a friend. You got dragged into that and I’m sorry, but I—we—would like it if you stayed. You can never have too many friends and all.”
Oh, if I hadn’t been crazy in love with him already, I would have fallen right then and there. “Yeah, definitely,” I added. “I haven’t lived here long either. I know how it can be. I’m always looking to connect with new people.”
“Thank you. I’d like that.” Amanda nodded. She looked to be closer to my age than Knox’s. I didn’t figure this was easy for her.
I went back to the car for the pizza, and the three of us went inside. The kids were all sitting around the coffee table.
“Callum!” Logan stood. “After dinner, will you play the maze game with us?” He looked at Dale. “He’s super good at it. He can power up better than I can and get through that one spot we were having trouble with.”
“Yeah, sure. That’d be fun,” I told him, before looking at Charlie. “Your dad told me you like Canadian bacon and pineapple, so I got a whole pizza with that on it.”
“It’s so gross,” Logan said. “Fruit doesn’t belong on pizza.”
“Fruit belongs everywhere, kid,” I replied, then turned and went to the kitchen to set the boxes down. I’d decided I would be polite to Charlie, of course, but I wasn’t going to push. Where a couple of days ago I likely would have continued to try and engage after telling her about the pizza, I decided to walk away. Everyone followed behind me. “Knox, do we still have those paper plates I bought?” I asked, looking in the cabinet.
“Yeah, I put them in the microwave.”
I passed around plates to everyone as Knox opened the boxes. The boys dived in right away, piling their plates with pepperoni pizza.
“Geez, guys. What happened to ladies first?” Knox asked.
“Sorry,” Logan replied around a mouthful.
“Go ahead, Charlie and Amanda,” Knox added, standing beside me.
“I’ll wait for you, Daddy,” Charlie replied.
“No, you can go ahead and make your plate,” he countered.
She didn’t seem happy with his response, but did so.
Knox and I grabbed our food next. We headed to the table outside, then came back in for drinks. I purposefully sat beside Logan and Dale. Now that Amanda knew, I didn’t feel the same need to claim what was mine. I was also hoping to show Charlie I wasn’t any kind of competition. She would still have her dad no matter what.