“That’s okay, you can just go out by the trees.”
His eyes grew wide as his jaw opened slightly. “You mean tee-tee outside?”
Oh, this poor little guy. Being raised by a single mom, he’d lost out on all of the cool shit us boys got to do. “Yup, just one of the things that makes being a guy awesome. Come on, little man. Let’s go.”
I took him toward the back of the yard by one of the trees so he’d have a little more privacy.
“Here you go, dude. Have at it.” I turned around and crossed my arms over my chest and looked around the backyard at all the kids running amuck.
“Uh…Brett?”
I turned to look at Cam over my shoulder, his little back to me and the rest of the backyard.
“Yeah, bub?”
“I can’t go.”
“Huh?”
“I can’t potty. People are watching me.”
“No one’s watching you, little man,” I encouraged, but apparently he wasn’t buying it because he asked, “Can you do it with me?”
“Uh, not really sure if that’s kosher, dude.”
He peeked over his shoulder with his big ole’ hazel puppy-dog eyes. “Pleeeeeease?”
Letting out a sigh, I finally relented, “All right, all right. You stay there and I’ll go over here.” I stepped on the other side of the tree and prepared to take a leak in the backyard.
“Uh…what are you doing?”
I spun around, zipping up so fast I almost caught my junk in the fly. That would have been a disaster of epic proportions.
“Mommy! Brett’s teaching me to tee-tee outside cuz we’s cool guys!”
Kenzie glowered at me before turning back to Cameron. “Yeah, bub, let’s go ahead and shut this down. Zip up, bubs, you got a party to get back to.”
Cam quickly finished up his business and ran off toward the piñata, leaving me to deal with his mom’s wrath, all on my own.
“Seriously, Brett? During a party? Is it so hard to use a damn bathroom?”
I held my hands up in surrender. “In my defense it’s like a rite of passage for boys to pee outside. It was only a matter of time.”
“I swear to God, Brett, if I get a phone call from the daycare saying he dropped his pants to piss on the playground, I’m gonna kick your ass.”
“Look, beauty, this is the kind of stuff you’ll just have to deal with. It’s every penis-carrying member of society’s God given right to whiz outdoors. Don’t be jealous.”
She smiled brightly, and I could have sworn I hadn’t seen those jade eyes light up like that since I’d met her. It hit me right then and there that I’d do anything to put that smile on her face as often as possible. A woman that beautiful should always smile that happily.
“This is an amazing party, Brett. I can’t even begin to thank you and your friends enough for helping me pull this off.”
I couldn’t keep myself from touching her right in that moment. Reaching up, I brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “They’re your friends too, Kenz, and we’ll always be here to help you and those kids, any way you’re willing to allow us to.”
Her smile faded as she studied me, a frown marring her beautiful face. I missed her smile immensely the moment it disappeared.
“I’m not good for you, Brett. I need you to know that.”
The moment she said that, a massive knot coiled in my gut. How could she not see how wrong she was? The more time we spent together, the clearer it was becoming that she was perfect for me.
“Kenzie—”
“No, please,” she interrupted. “Hear me out.” Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before concentrating on me once again.
“You’re an amazing guy, Brett. I know that, and I also know that the twins and I are lucky to have you in our lives. But I’m not good for you. If I let this go any further than friendship, things would eventually go bad and you’d end up resenting me. It’s happened before. I’m too damaged, and I’d hate myself if I let a wonderful man like you get pulled down all because of me. You deserve so much better than what I have to offer you.”
I could see the determination in her posture, the sincerity that shined through her eyes, and I knew that arguing with her at that moment would be a lost cause. She was too strong in her convictions to believe anything I would say. But I’d be damned if I was giving up on her.
“I’ll let you have this win right now, baby, because I can see how much you believe what you’re saying.”
“It’s the truth,” she insisted, but I just pushed on, taking a step closer to her so she could see the sincerity in my eyes.