Page 67 of The Thief

“You can kiss Mummy later. It’s TV time now,” Ava said, and I laughed.

“I’m always missing my moment,” he muttered.

“I think your timing is perfect,” I whispered back.

Chapter Twenty-Four

TYLER

Ispent the day with my girls, playing with Ava, letting her boss me around in that cute way of hers. And watching Jess as she watched us with a look in her eye. A look that said she was getting as much from this as I was.

She wanted me here.

And she loved the friendship Ava and I were building.

I felt like my life, which had always been a jigsaw puzzle thrown haphazardly on the floor, with pieces missing and a picture no one ever took the time to complete, me included, was slowly coming together. Bit by bit. Step by step.

With Jess and Ava, I was uncovering secrets about myself that even I didn’t know I had. A part of me I actually liked. A nurturing, loving, protective side.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the life I had with my brothers atthe club. But in the past, there’d been a niggling feeling in the back of my mind that I wanted more. I’d always felt like something was missing. Maybe, at some point in their own lives, they’d felt that way too. But now, they had their partners. They were settled, thinking about their future.

And me?

I was single.

I had to admit, it wasn’t always easy living with four happy couples. Seeing them together, being there for each other. It could get lonely. I often wondered what it’d be like to have what they had. But with Jess and Ava, I had so much more.

They were a family.

And I wanted them to be my family.

“Time for bed, sleepy head,” Jess sang as Ava stifled a yawn. She was sitting on the floor with me, playing a Peppa Pig snakes and ladders game, and she’d just reached the end square.

“But it’s still early,” she moaned, going into a little sulk and throwing the dice across the living room in anger.

“Hey,” I said a little firmly, but not enough to overstep the mark. “Listen to what your mummy tells you.” I reached over to pick up the dice, and I held it in my hand as she frowned and tried to make a grab for it. “We can always play again another day, but bedtimes are important.”

“And you know how cranky you get when you haven’t had enough sleep.” Jess gave her a pointed stare and Ava huffed.

“You’re always cranky,” Ava snapped.

“Hey!” I gave her a pointed stare and her eyes went wide. “Don’t speak to your mum like that.”

Ava swallowed, and I thought she was going to burst into tears. They were certainly welling in her eyes. But she held itin, sniffed, and said, “Sorry, Mummy.” Then stood up and came over to me to give me a hug.

I wrapped my arms around her little body, feeling a calmness from her warmth and the strawberry scent of her soft blonde curls. Protectiveness like I’d never known seeped into every pore.

“Go and get ready for bed,” I whispered to her, giving her a kiss on the top of her head.

“Okay,” she sang, morphing back into sweetness mode. “Mummy, can I have the squash and squeeze story tonight?”

“Of course,” Jess replied.

“And can Tyler read it to me?”

With impeccably bad timing, my phone rang, and as I pulled it out of my pocket, I saw Adam’s name on the screen.

“Just let me take this call, then I’ll be all yours,” I told them, standing and heading towards the kitchen. I opened the back door so I could move to their yard and talk with a bit more privacy.