Page 108 of Dad Next Door

“Sorry.” I blinked. “Zoned out again.”

“It’s a lot to think about.” He rubbed his thumb over my knuckles.

“It is. But I’ve spent way too many hours thinking about work today. I need a brain break.”

“A brain break.” He grinned.

“Yup. And I’ve already built one into our date night.”

“You have?” He tilted his head and gave me a scrutinizing look. “Is this why you refused to give me any details about what we’re doing tonight?”

“Maybe.”

“What’s the dress code?”

“Casual.”

“Like board shorts and slides casual, or jeans and sneakers casual?”

“Definitely jeans and sneakers casual. Sensible footwear is a must.”

“Sensible footwear is a must?” His curiosity melted into a look of suspicion. “You’re having way too much fun with this.”

Leaning in, I pecked a kiss against his lips. “How was work?”

He smirked. “No changing the subject. What time is our date? And where? The only thing you’ve given me to work with is ‘sensible footwear is a must,’ which doesn’t exactly narrow it down.”

I lifted his hand to check the time on his watch. “We have to leave in an hour.”

“And?” he prompted.

“And we have an hour until we have to leave.”

He narrowed his eyes in a mock glare. “That’s all you’re giving me?”

“Yup.”

“You’re annoyingly adorable when you’re being cheeky.” He smiled affectionately. “Fine. I’ll let you have this one. Do you want me to take the dogs for a walk before we go?”

“Yeah, if you want. Are you feeling restless?”

“A bit. We’re starting that new job on Monday, and I still have a bunch of stuff I need to do this weekend to finalize everything. I’ll get it done, I’m not worried about that, but having it hanging over my head is making me antsy.”

“How about we head to my place? I’ll feed everyone, then you can take the boys on a walk while I take a shower and get ready?”

“Sounds good.” He pecked another kiss against my lips. “Let’s go get your crew fed before I tackle you on the couch and use sexual favors to pry the details of our date out of you.”

“How do you know that wasn’t my plan this whole time?” I stood, hauling him up with me. “As much as I wish that was true, we’ve got a reservation to make.”

“That was the most amazing thing ever,” I declared for the dozenth time as Quinn pushed his front door open.

“It was.” He waited for me to go in first, then closed the door behind us. “I still can’t believe we broke their record. And they told us we’d never finish with only two people.”

I’d taken him to an escape room for our date. I’d always wanted to do one, but never had anyone to go with. We’d not only escaped, we’d smashed the room’s record by twelve minutes.

“I believe it. We’re amazing.” I blew him a kiss, still riding the high from our date. “And they had no idea who they were dealing with. A scientist and a science nerd with ADHD. Of course we were unstoppable.”

Quinn leaned against the door, a soft smile on his lips.

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