Page 24 of Love Me Like You Do

Both girls screwed up their faces and shook their heads.

“It looks like doggie throw-up,” Paisley said.

It kind of did. He took a bite, just to be sure.Delicious. “You’re seriously not going to even try chicken pot pie? Fine. Noodles, it is.” He served two helpings and pushed it in front of each girl.

Paisley stared as if he’d just spa,t on a plate. “It’s green.”

“We’ve already gone over that. That’s pesto. Everyone loves pesto.”

“It’s green.”

“Trees are green. Grass is green. Green is good. Try one bite, and you’ll never want to eat anything else again.” His sales pitch was met with twin stubborn, tight-lipped scowls. “Oh, it’s like that, huh? Well, if you don’t like this, you’re definitely not going to like the paella.”

Paisley pointed to a mussel. “Whatisthat?” She made gagging motions, her tongue sticking out.

“Yeah, okay, I can see you wouldn’t want to suck down a bivalve mollusk that maybe looks like a woman’s special garden. How about we skip the fish, and you just eat the rice?” He shot Hailey an impatient look. “Some help here?”

But she was of no use because she couldn’t catch her breath. She was wheezing with laughter. With a hand on her belly, she sucked in a deep breath. “Oh, my God. Special garden? You’re hilarious.” Then, she waved him off and opened the refrigerator. “I’m making mac and cheese.”

“Yay,” Paisley said.

Evvie clapped. “Mascaroni and sheeze.”

“This...” He pointed a finger at the pesto. “Is a hell of a lot better than that boxed stuff.”

“How do you know?” Hailey asked. “Have you ever had it?”

Ignoring her, he used his boot to kick out a chair and sit down. He figured if he ate with relish, they’d want to try it. So, he served himself a little of everything, sawed off a piece of steak, and chewed. He sighed at the warm, rich goodness of the meat. “Unreal.” But the girls just stared at him. “What?”

“You’re going to eat all that?” Paisley asked.

“Well, sure. I have to eat a lot of calories every day.”

“What’s a calorie?” Paisley asked.

Okay, this was something he could talk about. “It’s a unit of energy. And our body—our brains and muscles and cells—need nutrients, which the calories provide. A car needs gas, right? Our bodies need good food.”

“Faffles good food.” Evvie spoke with absolute sincerity.

“Whole wheat ones, maybe.”Wait. He was being a dick. She was three and didn’t need a lecture on white versus wheat flour.Stay on topic. “Yeah, so, I play hockey, and I burn about two thousand calories in a game. I’ve got to replenish that with good food. Like fish and fresh vegetables and meat. Like good carbs.” The girls seemed enthralled, so that was a good thing. “Multigrain bread, rice, vegetables…you get me?”

Paisley pointed to his forearm. “You got lots of hair.”

“I…what?” What did hair have to do with calories?

She rubbed her hand on his arm. “You’re like a bear.”

“I don’t havethatmuch.” He wasn’t unusually hairy. “I have a normal amount for a guy.”

Paisley got up on her knees and leaned across the table to tug on a few strands. “You look like Wild Man Jack.” She giggled, which set Evvie off, and soon the two were squealing and stomping around the kitchen like some weird mountain beast.

“Who’s Wild Man Jack?” he asked.

“He’s that man in the stories Mommy reads to us. We love Wild Man Jack.” Paisley continued to roar like a grouchy old hermit.

Is that me? Am I the grouch?Dropping his fork, he pushed his chair back and joined Hailey at the stove. “Is this because I talked about whole wheat waffles?”

She burst out laughing. “Oh, my God.”