Never Been Loved(66)

Sera’s eyes get wide and big, and she has this little smile in the corner of her mouth that somehow goes straight to my dick.

“Ever heard of a boy named Harry Potter?” she asks, looking like she’s hoping for a no.

Matty shakes his head, and Sera’s smile gets even wider, showing off her teeth. She looks so adorable, and the clothes she’s wearing are driving me wild. But it’s like I’m not even here, with the two of them, all her focus is on the kid.

“Right. We’re going to read that tonight.” She finally looks at me. “How could you not read him Harry Potter? What’s wrong with you?” She actually looks at me like I’ve done a horrible thing.

If only she knew.

“Sorry. I got carried away,” she says, looking at me with understanding. “Harry Potter has a very special place in my heart and to not read it to a kid is like blasphemy.” Colour blooms on her cheeks, and I wish I had the balls to reach out and stroke her skin there. “I don’t just wear the nerdy shirts and shoes. I have nerdy blood, and a nerdy heart.”

I jump when she reaches for my hand, and I’m reminded at how bad I’m strangling my napkin like it’s gone and revenge-killed my family.

“Maybe you shouldn’t pulverize your napkin,” she tells me, smoothing out my fingers and I’m not holding paper anymore, but the flesh of her fingers instead. “I’m really happy you’re letting me read to him. Thank you.”

C’mon, man, say something intelligent. Do something. Anything. She’s on the same page… I think.

I watch her put the mandatory space between us, but I flip my hand over quick enough and get our fingers wound together, making sure she can’t pull away from me, not now, not when there’s so much to do.

“As long as you promise to stay after he goes to bed. We need to talk.” Right, give her ultimatums, idiot. But she snorts, and then hides the sound behind her hand, cheeks glowing red. The kid adds his laugh to the mix, and I can’t help it and follow suit.

“That was adorable,” I say, kissing her knuckles, like some prince or some shit, but Sera seems to like it by the way her mouth parts, and a breath comes whooshing out of her.

“Why do keep kissing her hand, Daddy?”

Busted, MacLaine. You’re in trouble now. How are you going to explain this?

“I’m showing her respect, buddy. I like Sera. I want her to be my girlfriend.”

“I don’t get it,” the kid says, frowning at me.

“When I do this,” I tell him, grazing my mouth against her knuckles again, “I’m saying I like her.” I’m probably doing all this wrong.

“Is it like when Peter kisses Wendy’s hand?”

“Yeah, buddy. That’s exactly it.” Anything to get him to stop talking about it, anything to get his attention away from me and Sera together. Fuck, I don’t know if there’s a ‘together’ yet.

“I think I understand.” Matty nods a couple of times, then looks at me like he’s filed away that info for later. “Daddy, can we go to the park now? You said after supper we could go. Sera, wanna play soccer?” he asks her without waiting for my reply. The kid knows how to get what he wants all the time.

“Pffft. You don’t want to play me, buddy. I’ll kick your little bum,” Sera says, getting into it. Most girls would probably knock it off, having to play with a little kid, but she’s all for it. She even blows air on her knuckles like she’s hot shit.

Well, she is.

Matty looks to Sera, then smacks his hand down on the table, all pissed that she used a synonym for ass. “I thought you said a bad word. So? Wanna play? I bet Daddy’s better than you!”

The challenge has been issued, and all Sera does is look over to me and say, “I’ll kick your bum, too. Game on?”

She shouldn’t be allowed to play soccer dressed like that. How am I going to concentrate on the ball when I’d be looking at some particular female parts of her body? “You’re playing dressed like that?” I ask, looking her up and down, rubbing my mouth with a hand. My jeans are uncomfortably tight, and I have to think of corpses to get myself to calm down.

“I’ll show you and your boy how a lady can kick gluteus!” She shrugs. “I’m trying to avoid losing quarters.”

I keep rubbing my mouth, more slowly now. “Game on, then. When I kick your...bum, even in those fine clothes, we’re going to talk, aren’t we?”

I watch her fidget, running her hands over that fucking skirt, not looking at me behind the curtain of her hair. Then she tells me what I want to hear.