Page 29 of Collision of Winters (Hillcroft Group #4)

Wade Winters

T wenty minutes until Kayden was due.

I exited the elevator and smoothed down my shirt. My next patient wasn’t scheduled to bitch me out until after lunch anyway, so I had plenty of time.

Once I reached the lobby, I wasn’t too surprised to see both Quin and Chris waiting between the reception desk and the revolving door.

There wasn’t much else to set your eyes on out here.

The massive fish-tank lobby was fairly empty but needed to be large enough for checking in departments from government agencies for seminars and training.

I nodded hello to Gina at the desk at the same time as Quinlan and Chris heard my approach and turned around.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” Quin said.

“I had to finish my session with Hudson first,” I replied.

He furrowed his brow, immediately concerned. No wonder, Hudson was one of his closest friends. “How’s he doing?”

It wasn’t as if I could answer. But…in the middle of a divorce, three children, an ex who wanted to move home to Toronto, stress, anxiety, too much work, and, what I was beginning to suspect, suppressed issues about his sexuality.

“Couldn’t hurt if you gave him a call tonight,” I settled for saying. I shifted my gaze to Chris. I was obligated to tell him more, as the head of field ops. “He doesn’t struggle financially, so I advised lessening his workload for a few months. He’s not happy about it, of course.”

“Got it.” He nodded firmly.

“I’ll have him over for dinner tonight,” Quin said. “It ain’t like Kayden will join us.”

My mouth twitched. No, he sure wouldn’t. It was my turn. I missed my boy an absurd amount, and we hadn’t spent the night together all week.

It was Wednesday.

“How was he doing this morning?” I asked. “I didn’t wake up to a novella.”

I’d grown fond of his good-morning texts. They arrived in the form of a list of what his plans were for the day, questions he might have, and that he missed me. Today, I’d only received an all-caps message that said, “TODAY IS THE DAY, DADDY” and approximately fourteen heart emojis.

“He was focused,” Quin replied. “I had to remind him twice about finishing breakfast because he was busy doing inventory of his backpack.”

I smiled. That fucking boy. He’d been looking forward to this day for weeks now. He’d started training too. He went running with me. He swam, lifted weights, and no longer fussed about avoiding sugar during the workweek.

“He’s gonna do great,” Chris said. “He has all the gear he needs now too.”

He sure did. We’d hosted a big birthday celebration for him shortly after we’d come home from Alaska, and Quin and Chris had gone all in to prepare him for his program. Kayden had a new laptop, a digital planner, a utility backpack, notebooks, markers, software, and workout clothes.

I’d forgotten that we were already in the middle of the training of our next class of officers, possibly because I’d been off work when they’d gone through their psych evals.

So it was going to be a matter of Kayden catching up so he could join the class.

Chris had put together a two-month-long crash course to get Kayden up to speed, and then he’d be on the same level as our other four trainees.

“What do you think he’ll struggle with?” Chris wondered, putting on his profiling hat. “The exams?”

“The psych evals,” Quin and I said at the same time.

I nodded. “Initially, at least,” I amended.

“He’s afraid I’m going to dig up, to quote him, a diagnosis that sets him back further.

” But we didn’t work that way at Hillcroft.

While identifying possible markers and issues was fundamentally important, we preferred to look at a person from a wider perspective, not a set of symptoms. I had reassured him he had nothing to worry about.

If I hadn’t identified him as a good addition to our logistics team, I wouldn’t have encouraged him to pursue it.

Quin folded his arms over his chest and turned to me, pensive. “Is it just me, or has he become calmer?”

“It’s not just you,” I answered. Kayden had become calmer.

It was something he and I worked on together.

He thrived under the right kind of leadership.

With me, there was structure, chores, homework, and challenges—the latter with the sole purpose of letting him see for himself that he was creative, resourceful, and intelligent.

He loved getting a “Good boy” from me, much like the next Little, but mental strength didn’t come from others’ approval.

It came from within, and he was slowly realizing just how hard on himself he had been.

We obviously wanted him to be proud of himself—and not feel good only when we complimented him.

Quin side-eyed me. “Is this some voodoo shit you pull on him, or can I take some credit?”

I chuckled. “Take all the credit you want.”

“If nothing else, you can take credit for that right there.” Chris pointed at the entrance, and we all spotted Kayden out on the plaza, peering up at the building. Backpack on, thumbs hooked underneath the shoulder straps.

Warmth and pride surged through me.

“Fifteen minutes early—that’s my boy,” Quinlan said, standing taller.

I smiled to myself. My God, how I loved that sweetheart. And it was about damn time I told him.

I’d certainly felt it for a while, but he’d been so focused on preparing for his upcoming training.

“Did he settle on an alias yet?” Chris asked.

I inclined my head and did my best to conceal any smugness. “Blue.”

Quin huffed. “Your nickname for him.”

I threw him a glance. “You jealous?”

“Jesus fucking Christ, you two,” Chris grated out. “Can you fucking not? He’s headin’ in. Be cool. I think I’m gonna go.”

I furrowed my brow.

“Why?” Quin asked.

“Because this is startin’ to look like a full-blown Three Men and a Baby situation.” He tugged on Quin’s arm too. “Come on, Quin. You already made lunch plans with the kid. Let’s not crowd him.”

Chris had a point. Quinlan protested but let Chris drag him out of here, bitching that he didn’t even get to take a picture, to which Chris said, “Are you fucking kiddin’ me?”

I coughed to hide a chuckle.

Their voices faded until they were behind closed doors, and that was when Kayden walked through the entrance.

Deep breath.

He lit up when he saw me, but I could detect he was nervous.

“Good morning, trainee.” I grinned. “Are you ready for the first day of the rest of your life?”

He exhaled a chuckle, and I pulled him in for a quick kiss and a hug. We tried to be discreet at work, but I just needed something to tide me over until tonight.

He smirked a little and smoothed a hand down my shirt. “That day started when you hunted me down on the tundra.”

Just like that, I went from planning on telling him those three words tonight over dinner, to…right fucking now.

I cupped his face in my hands, and I kissed him harder.

“For me too,” I murmured. I rested my forehead to his. “I was going to tell you tonight, but now I…” I let out a breath and smiled. “I want you to begin your training today, knowing that I love you with all my heart.”

His eyes widened. He hadn’t seen that confession coming. “Holy crap. Really?”

I nodded and kissed his forehead. “More than I can describe.”

He blew out an unsteady breath and smiled. Fuck me if his cheeks didn’t look a little redder.

Gorgeous.

He swallowed hard and fiddled with my top button. “I’ve sort of sensed you getting closer to saying it, especially when we go to bed together.”

I wasn’t surprised. I couldn’t get enough of him. He breathed life into me.

Next, he reached up and kissed me chastely, and he grinned. “I, of course, love you ten times more.”

Christ, I was whipped. Merely hearing him say that made me want to give him the world. Aside from the part where he was utterly wrong.

“Impossible,” I replied. “I think I know best. Daddies always know best.”

His lips parted, and the brattiness ignited in his eyes. I had a second or two to act before we’d both discover how voices carried and echoed in this lobby. So I promptly slapped a hand over his mouth and cocked a brow.

“Don’t you dare, little one.” I gripped his jaw next and smooched his pouty lips. “We can fight it out at home later—see who loves the other one the most—but right now, you’re gonna be a good boy and report to Operator Payne.”

He smashed his lips together, challenge, affection, and determination swimming in his eyes.

“Yes, Sir,” he whispered. “But tonight when we get home, it’s on .”

“It’s so on,” I whispered back.

Doc and Blue will return as secondary characters throughout the series.