Amusement bubbled in my chest. “You’re totally right. Your parents suck.”
* * *
From the moment Eddie returned,I was on alert. What that meant was I turned into a stumbling, bumbling idiot.
Case in point.
Eddie: “I brought you a coffee. Be careful, it’s hot.”
My mind lingered on “hot,” which led me to thinking how hot Eddie was, which led to the words “so fucking hot” spilling from my mouth and my face setting on fire. This led me to spilling said coffee on my pants and Eddie helping me clean up.
Of course this encouraged my dick to misbehave, pop a boner, at which point I sat down so hard on the chair to cross my legs to conceal said boner that I misjudged, missed, and landed on my ass.
Fun times were had by all.
Except me, who wanted the ground to open up.
But hearing Lottie’s sweet laughter did the job of calming me—in every imaginable way—and making me so damn happy that she managed to laugh despite her shitty couple of days.
I didn’t miss the barely concealed amusement on Eddie’s face. Heck, who was I kidding? Barely concealed… what a crock. The guy busted a gut laughing before helping me up. With the way his hands lingered in mine, though, it was totally worth it.
After that, we stuffed our faces. Them with juicy burgers, me with a chicken salad. Was it bad that I loved and hated Eddie for being so damn thoughtful? But seriously… a chicken fucking salad.
“It’s getting late, and you have an early start tomorrow.”
We’d just finished another game of bullshit, where I’d destroyed my opposition. Lottie had since plugged her earbuds in and was watching something or other on YouTube, her eyes drooping and her skin looking a little paler than earlier.
A quick glance at the time told me it was past her bedtime and definitely closer to mine, since I’d committed to an early run with Cassius and Ollie in the morning. “Are you going to be okay?” My gaze roamed over Eddie’s features. He looked a lot fresher than earlier. He’d showered and shaved and wasn’t looking as bleary-eyed as this morning.
The smile directed at me was soft and sweet and all mine. “Yeah. The sleep this afternoon helped. Thanks for looking after her.” His gaze darted to his daughter, who remained completely focused on her phone, before returning to me. “You sure you’re okay with us sticking around?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
His shrug was too stiff to be carefree. “You’ve got a lot on. I don’t want us being a distraction.”
Leaning forward in my seat, I captured his gaze. “It’d be more distracting not having you there, wondering how Lottie’s healing, not being able to make sure you’re both okay.”
When he swallowed hard, my focus shifted to his throat before snapping to his mouth as he darted out his tongue and swiped at his bottom lip.
We were quiet for a moment, and when he didn’t speak, I realized he was thinking about something hard. Five years of spending every spare moment I could in this man’s company had taught me a thing or two about reading his tells. “What’s up? Has something happened?”
An awkward laugh escaped as he ran his hand over his head, gaze once more darting to Lottie, then back to me. The clearing of his throat caught my attention even more. He was nervous? About what?
“I spoke to Wayne again.”
I stiffened at the mention of the man’s name. Fuck, what if they’d worked out whatever was going on between them? A couple of years was a long time together to be calling it quits. I hoped Eddie wasn’t asking if Wayne could stay too. How would I be able to say no to his request without coming across as a prize prick?
“Yeah?”
“I called it off with him. It was long past due. His reaction to Lottie….” He scoffed, and my brows sprang high at the derision in the sound. “Or lack of… Yeah, it was something I should have done a long time ago.”
As he spoke, my mind buzzed and my skin prickled. Would it be bad if I fist-pumped? Probably. Instead, I didn’t hold back my wide-ass grin. “Oh no,” I deadpanned. “How devastating. He’s such a good guy and so worthy of your company and time. How will you possibly cope without such a great guy in your life?”
The sarcasm dripped off my tongue, earning me a loud laugh and a “Fuck off. Tell me how you really feel.”
I could barely form additional words with just how big my grin spread across my face. “I can if you need me to.”
Eddie rolled his eyes, and I tried hard to rein in some of my glee, offering a more genuine “But you are okay, right? Not cut up about it?” I hoped to shit I’d read this situation right, even though hearing this was something he’d been considering for a while took me by surprise.
