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“About? Not mowing the lawn. Absolutely. Fuck that HOA lady.”
She frowns, biting on her fingers. “No, but we’re talking about that later. I’m talking about the fishing trip with Oliver.”
I reach for my keys on the table next to the door. “Yeah, I was.”
“Don’t promise him something and not follow through with it.”
“I won’t.” I know, you’re cringing. Hopefully he doesn’t have to call an Uber again.
Relief washes over her face and her shoulders sink forward. “Thank you.”
I lean in, my chest pressed to hers. “Thank me tonight. How about we go to dinner together?”
Her eyes light up. “Really? Like just us? No kids?”
I wink and press a kiss to the curve of her neck. “Let’s ditch ’em,” I whisper, darting my tongue out to lick her lightly.
A shiver runs through her body, and she pulls away, a new-found spark to her tired eyes. “Let’s see if I can find a babysitter.”
On Friday nights back before Mara got sick, and even after for a while, my parents used to watch the kids so Kelly and I could go out. Usually, going out meant sex in the car on the way to the restaurant and then maybe again on the way home because sex at home just didn’t happen once Sevi was born. For the first year of his life, he insisted on sleeping in our bed. I know, I was that parent that said we were never letting our kid sleep in our bed. But when your kid cries like he’s being murdered, you change your mind real quick just for a few hours of sleep.
Sorry, I got off track there for a moment. My point… I want a date night with my wife, and no kids are allowed.
I thinkI’ve told you this, but I’m beginning to hate my job. Not only is working for your brother awful, but I also miss working on the ranch and my uncle’s repair shop. You know that saying the grass isn’t always greener on the other side? It’s definitely bitten me in the ass. I can’t even tell you why I took the job, other than I was tired of hearing “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
Every time I heard it, I wanted to rip the person’s throat out. The only thing worse than hearing that was the fact that she was gone and I couldn’t change that. So I moved my entire family to this shit show.
When I arrive in the morning, Xianna is at the dealership standing next to the large glass doors with a bag in her hand. She notices me walking toward the shop, and her eyes light up. I’ve known Xianna since I was probably ten years old. She’s like a sister to me, and the fact that I know something is going on between my brother and another woman, the sight of his wife sends a chill through me.
“Noah,” she gasps, seeming thankful someone is here. “Can you give this to Nick? He left it at home. He was supposed to drop it off at the clinic this morning.”
“Yeah, sure.” I reach for the bag after hugging her.
Her dark brown eyes widen as I take the bag from her, and she gasps. “Be careful with it. Those are my future babies in there.”
“Your babies?”
“I know, crazy, but we’re in the middle of doing IUI.”
I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want to be holding is my brother’s spunk. It crosses boundaries I didn’t even know I never wanted crossed. I want to throw it back at her and scream, “Not it!” “I’m sure Nick’s in there. Are you sure you don’t want to give them to him? I really shouldn’t be in charge of babies.” And I don’t want to be.
“Oh, please.” Xianna laughs, her dark hair blowing in the wind. “You’re an amazing father.”
I don’t say anything.
“Just give it to him for me. He’ll know what it is. Poor guy has been so focused on training the new sales manager. He’s barely been home this last week. I’d hate to bother him. He said he came in early to get some work done.”
A wave of nausea hits me because I want to let her in the building so she can see for herself what’s going on, or better yet, for Ava to see that he’s married and whatever it is they’re doing, it needs to stop now. But I don’t. I stand there like an idiot.
“Well, I need to get going.” She points to her car where I can see their dog is in the front seat with her head hanging out the window. “I’m running late for an appointment with our decorator, but tell Kelly I said hello and we should get together soon.”
Again, I nod. I hug her once again, tell her it’s good to see her again, and then I’m on the hunt for the keys to the shop while holding what I hope is not my brother’s sperm in a bag.
Xianna leaves, and I venture toward the shop regretting the nauseating feeling swarming through my veins.
Because Ryker is a useless little shit and since the fire extinguisher event, he’s been even worse. He’s my lead mechanic, so that pretty much leaves me with the vapers who spend most of their time on their cell phones.
Oh, right. You weren’t there for the fire extinguisher incident. I’ll bring you up to date. It started about a week ago when Ryker was taking a forty-five-minute dump during the day. That translates to him sitting on the toilet staring at his phone while we were swamped with waiters. If you’re not familiar with waiters, it’s a term we use for people who drop their car off for service, and they wait in the waiting room until it’s finished.