Spin My Love(33)

We take Parker on every ride. He even goes down the steepest water slides, though he refuses to go without Tane. Seeing Tane climb awkwardly onto the slides is hilarious; they definitely aren’t designed for such a big body. After having lunch on the grass area, we go for a swim. Now we’re chilling out eating ice creams.

“This was the funnest day ever,” Parker calls out, face bright and excited.

“Funnest isn’t a word,” I try to explain, as he jumps up and down.

Tane laughs. “Told you he would love it. But I don’t think this counts as a date.”

“Why? Are you trying to get out of your question?” I ask, grinning at him. He’s standing in front of me wearing nothing but a pair of black board-shorts, sitting low on his narrow hips. His body is lean and toned, like an athlete. He’s caught me staring at him a few times but hasn’t called me out on it … yet. My eyes once again roam over his smooth, tanned chest and his broad shoulders.

Fuck.

I clear my throat and look away and down at my ice cream. Much safer option.

“Are you ready to go home, buddy?” Tane asks his son.

“Dad! One more ride? Please?” Parker begs, using his puppy-dog eyes to his best ability.

“Okay,” Tane says, smiling, before he looks to me. “Do you want to come or shall I quickly take him?”

“You can take him,” I tell him, pointing at my melting ice cream.

His smile is warm. “We’ll be right back.”

I watch their retreating backs as they walk side by side, and I know I’ve made the right choice in letting Tane back into our lives.





Chapter Fifteen

Tane

We get home around seven o’clock, and Parker is beat.

“I’m just gonna put him to sleep. Make yourself comfortable,” Giselle tells me with a smile.

“Do you mind if I do it?” I ask tentatively. I want to get used to doing these things.

She looks a bit surprised, but nods.

“Come on, little man,” I say to Parker, who’s standing there, rubbing his eyes. He comes and takes my hand and I lead him to his bedroom.

I change him into his pyjamas, not worrying about a bath since he had a rinse-off after the swim. I tuck him into bed and sit down on the small cushion next to it. I’m sure Giselle could sit comfortably on it, but for a man of my size it’s a bit of a challenge to stay on.

“Daddy, are you going to come live here?” Parker asks, surprising me out of my balancing act. I fall off the cushion and look over at him.

I have no idea what to say.

“Why do you ask, Parker?” I bide my time, thinking of a way to answer. I don’t want to give him false hope, but I don’t want to crush that dream either.

“Bobby Pritchett’s dad lives with him. I’d like you to live here. Then we could do fun stuff all the time, and you and mama could tuck me in,” he says, the words rushing out of him.

“Well Bobby Pritchett is very lucky,” I begin. “For now, I will still be living at my house on the beach, okay? Maybe it will change later, but for now let’s just have lots of fun when we can, alright?”

Parker scrunches his nose in thought before nodding sleepily. “That’s okay I guess.”

“Shall we read a story?” I ask, hoping to cheer him up.

“Mm-kay,” he says. I get about three pages in before he’s fast asleep. I close the book and place it back on his bookshelf. Tiptoeing out of his room, I walk back into the kitchen where a freshly-showered Giselle is drinking a cup of coffee.

“I made you a cup,” she says as the blows into her own.

“Thanks,” I reply, sitting down on the stool next to her. “He’s going to get a good night’s sleep. He was exhausted.” I don’t mention the conversation with Parker to her. I don’t want her to feel pressured, and I feel like I handled his questions well enough.

“I’ll bet. Thanks for taking us out today. We both had a blast.”

“So did I. We should do it again soon,” I reply, then clear my throat. “You forgot to ask your question.”

She smiles shyly. “I didn’t forget. I’ve been thinking about what to ask.”

“And?”

“And, I think I’d like to know about your cousin, Keiran,” she says quietly. The temperature seems to drop a few degrees as that settles in the air.

I look down into my mug then place it on the table. “When I left Perth, I went to London to stay with him. He was good. I mean, he was loyal and caring, but he also had a bit of a wild side.”

“So what happened?” she asks, leaning her elbows on the table.

“I told you about how I started DJing at one of the local clubs there. Keiran was already dabbling in drugs when I moved in with him, but when we entered the club scene it got worse. I got better and better at mixing tracks and producing, working my way up, and started playing at some of the best clubs all over Europe.”