Page 110 of False Start

We had yet to find him a house.

We also had yet to talk about what happens next.

It was like we slipped into a normal routine as if we didn’t evenhaveanything to talk about, like it was all figured out for us. Kyle trained with Braden and some of his teammates when I was at work. We looked at every house that we could find with all his requirements — though I felt like he wasn’t seriously looking anymore. He’d pulled back from the hunt, always having some excuse for why a house didn’t work.

I spent every hour I could with Sebastian, soaking up the summer while we had it. But now, we had just a month until we’d start the mad dash of getting him ready to go back to school. And between sharing him with Marshall and letting him do camp like he’d begged me to, I knew the time would fly.

But this morning, on a warm Saturday in late July, it was just the three of us and smiley-face pancakes.

I sipped my tea as Kyle walked toward me, Sebastian pretending he was dead from the tickle attack on the couch. Kyle pressed a kiss to my hair that made my heart expand, his hand lingering on the small of my back as he passed by me and back into the kitchen.

In the past couple of weeks, this man had made so much food for us, I was surprised I even remembered how to cook now that he’d all but shoved me out of my own kitchen.

You take care of everyone else. Let me take care of you.

Those were the words he’d said to me when I tried to argue that it wasmyturn to cook dinner last week, and they’d been circling around my head like love-drunk birds ever since.

While pancakes were by far the simplest dish he made for us, they were always Sebastian’s favorite. I much preferred when Kyle whipped up bright, colorful dishes with more flavor in one bite than seemed possible — like his prawn and red cabbage summer rolls with cashew butter dipping sauce, or the melt in your mouth salmon he quickly found was my favorite.

Still, I smiled when he slid a blueberry pancake in front of me that looked like Mickey Mouse, complete with the ears, his eyes and mouth made out of fresh blueberries. The little thing had a hat made of whipped cream, and I smothered it with the compote Kyle made that was so delicious I wanted to take a bath in it.

Sebastian liked his pancakes a little more traditional — buttermilk style with syrup. Kyle always obliged him, but not without making crazy shapes with the batter. While smiley faces were always on the menu, today, he’d also added a dinosaur and a handful of little star-shaped pancakes, too.

We sat at my small dining table as we ate, Sebastian prattling on about how excited he was for camp while Kyle ran lazy circles over my knee under the tablecloth. When we finished, Sebastian took our plates to the sink before running back to get ready for the day, and Kyle swept me into his arms before I had the chance to start washing.

“I think it’s about time you let me take you on a proper date.”

My cheeks warmed. “Is that so?”

“Mm-hmm. I was thinking tonight.”

“Tonight?” I balked, but didn’t have any reason to argue other than I was surprised and couldn’t think of a thing I had to wear on a date. Sebastian would be with Marshall tonight and tomorrow before coming back home on Monday after camp. “What do you have in mind?”

“Do you want to pick, or do you want me to surprise you?”

“Surprise,” I said instantly.

Kyle smiled like he already knew that would be my answer. “Tired of making decisions all day every day?”

“You have no idea.”

He chuckled, tilting my chin before his lips found mine. “I can imagine,” he murmured, and then my whole body was tingling, just like it always did when that man kissed me.

Suddenly, the front door banged open, the sound of the springs hitting their max rattling through the house.

And Marshall stormed in.

I jumped out of my skin at the commotion, heart galloping, but I didn’t even have time to process what was happening before Kyle had me behind him, his chest puffed and his gaze murderous on my ex-husband. Marshall stopped at the sight, sneering at us both like he’d caught us red-handed in an affair.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I interrupt breakfast?”

“As a matter of fact, you did,” Kyle said. “I think you should turn around and walk out that door and try again — with a knock this time.”

Marshall’s jaw popped, and he took a big step toward us, his thick finger pointing at Kyle. “Don’t you tell me what to do, you fucking punk. That’smywife and child.”

“Ex-wife,” Kyle pointed out.

I ran a shaky hand gently over Kyle’s arm, stepping around him to face Marshall with my chin held high. Adrenaline was rushing through me, the memories of similar scenes with my ex’s wrath playing out in my mind like a highlight reel. But I heldmy chin tall, my back straight, shoulders back, eyes assuring Kyle as much as just having him there assured me.