Page 81 of Single Mom's Guide to Love

She’s magnificent.

Brilliant.

And I’m damn proud of her.

“I think that’s it,” Kat says. “I’ll see everyone tomorrow?”

We all say our goodbyes and exit the gaming room. I should go back to my office and try to get some work done. Maybe actually invent a video game.

But I want nothing to do with video games. Well, at least in that way.

“Are you done with work today?” I ask Maeve.

“Mostly,” she says. “Why do you ask?”

The more I think about this idea that just came to me, the more I want to do it.

“Have you started cooking dinner yet?”

Not that I care or demand Maeve does it, but she’s insisted. I keep telling her that she doesn’t need to cook for me. That I’m a grown man and can properly order carryout since I’m a shit cook. Her response was she was already cooking, so what’s one more plate?

“No. Actually was just going to start getting it going. Why?”

I check the time, and if we leave now, we can have plenty of fun while also getting Jayce back in time for bed.

“How about our first family outing?”

“Yeah! Take that! You better watch out!”

I try to duck and weave my character as best as possible, but Maeve’s character—and Maeve—are machines right now.

And before I know it, my wife has knocked me out inMike Tyson’s Punch-Out.

“Yes!” She shouts, doing a little celebratory dance. “Take that, Matthews!”

“Did you win, Mommy?”

“Darn right I did!” Maeve says, giving Jayce a high five. “And we thought Logan was the video game guru?”

I shake my head, wondering how I didn’t know that the woman that I’m married to, who I’m also quite infatuated with, was somehow a video game savant. “Where did you learn to do that?”

She shrugs as she helps Jayce onto a stool so he can play a game featuring everyone’s favorite video game turtles. “I grew up with an older brother. There were some years in there before I had sisters to hang out with. That game just happened to be the one I was very, very good at.”

I laugh, now realizing why she suggested we play that specific one out of all the ones available to us.

“I was hustled,” I say as I stand next to her as we watch Jayce in action.

When I got the idea to come to this vintage video game hall—that also makes a pretty good pizza—what I’d wanted to do is rent it out. Pay them whatever amount of money they asked so that Maeve, Jayce, and I could have it all to ourselves.

But apparently even when you’re a billionaire you can’t make a call out of the blue and shut down a video game shop within an hour. Even when you’re Logan Matthews.

Now I know I need to give them a day’s notice.

And I will next time. Because that’s what you spend your money on when you have it to spend—on the people you love. The people you care about. You spend it to watch their smiles.

And the one on Jayce’s face right now? It’s a look I’ll never forget.

“Thanks,” I whisper to Maeve. “I needed out of the house.”

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