“True. I worry more about linebackers.”
“Not you!” Sebastian hopped up. “You’re the best football player ever. Everyone should be scared of you.”
“Oh, they are. Definitely.” I settled him back in bed. “Besides, I can’t let you down, can I?”
“You promised you’d be the best.”
“Yeah. That was the plan. Working so well, huh?”
“Yep.”
It was actually working better than he realized. A new contract meant a beautiful and safe home for him, the best schools, and a guaranteed college education. It also gave Mom an early retirement, something she deserved after working multiple jobs and sacrificing everything to get me to where I was. I only wished I could give her more after all the shit I put her through.
I read—two chapters including my squeaky Hermione voice and my spot-on Snape impression. He was out by the end of the second chapter, and I eased from of the bed as carefully as I could.
Elle waited for me in the kitchen. She’d loaded the dishwasher and now stared, sponge in hand, at the drying marinara sauce sprayed on the walls.
“You don’t have to clean up,” I said.
“I needed something to do.” She gave me a sly glance. “Sponge Bob?”
I glanced at my pants. “Sebastian likes to wear the same PJs as me. I’m kinda his idol.”
“You love it.”
“I do.”
“You’re reading him Harry Potter?” she asked.
“He likes it.”
“You started in the middle?”
I grabbed a towel and chair and tackled the mess on the ceiling. “Nah. We’ve been reading it all month.”
“But…I thought he and your mom just moved to Ironfield?”
“Yeah, they did. But I Skype with Bast every night—started doing that in college when I couldn’t make it home to help tuck him in.”
Her sponge dropped. “You must be the best big brother ever.”
Not really.
“I never did enough for them until now,” I said. “My first paycheck…it was all for them. The signing bonus got them the house and cars and everything, but it doesn’t come close to repaying my mom for everything she did.”
Elle didn’t look at me, her voice soft. “Where’s your dad?”
“Haven’t seen him for years. Left us on our own.”
“Have you tried to find him?”
“He doesn’t deserve a family. Fuck him. I got along fine without him.”
She nodded. “What about Sebastian? Does he miss his father?”
“No. He never knew him, and that’s fine. I’m there for him. I’ll watch over him, teach him what it means to be a real man.” The thought, the betrayal, wasn’t good first date conversation. I sighed. “I just want to make sure he’s happy. I’ll do everything I can to protect him.”
She slowed her scrubbing. “He’s really lucky to have you.”
“Well, he’s a good kid.”
She smirked. “Does he take after you?”
Probably too much. “He’s better than me.”
“I can’t believe you’re this sweet.”
I grinned. “So sweet I’m sticky.”
Elle flicked her towel at me. “You take nothing seriously in this world except family.”
“I know, right? I’m so charmingly full of contradictions.”
She whipped the towel again. I caught it with a vicious tug and pulled her close.
“I wanted to take you out to eat tonight…give you a romantic dinner you’d never forget.” I ran my hands over her curves, hidden under the bulk of my borrowed clothes. She still got me hard, even more than if she wore a teddy sewn together with lace, silk, and pure imagination. “Will you give me another chance?”
“This was date number one.” She poked my chest. “And don’t try to change my mind.”
“Do you want to get rid of me that quickly?”
“No. What better way to get to know my husband than right here?”
“Why here?”
“This is like playing house. After tonight, now I know what it’d be like if we were really married.”
I’d nibble that quirky little smile from her lips. “We are married, Red.”
“And now we’ve had our first meal at home.”
“I can show you what our first night in bed would be like too.”
She shook her head. “Don’t blow it now.”
“Will you blow anything?”
“I’ll bite if you keep it up.”
I growled. “Oh, it’s up, Red. You have no idea.”
She giggled. I hoisted her onto the counter, and her legs moved apart, letting me press against her. Like I belonged there.