Page 70 of Lost and Lassoed

“That’s good to hear.” Aggie leaned back on the couch. “Isn’t that nice, Dusty?”

“Yeah, Mom,” Dusty muttered. Suddenly, adult Dusty was gone. The look he was giving his mother was teenage dirtbag Dusty all the way through. It made me laugh.

It was a nice evening. I was happy Aggie and Dusty were here, but I couldn’t help but miss a couple of things—a couple of people, rather: a curly-headed little girl and a grumpy cowboy.

Chapter 31

Gus

This week had been weird. Everything with Hank aside, things had changed between Teddy and me, and I was stuck between not wanting the summer to end because so would our arrangement, and wanting it to end so I could ask Teddy for more. I wanted more than just a part-time babysitting arrangement. I think…I think I wanted it all.

I liked having her around, and not because she was helping with my kid but because—and I’ll be damned—I liked her. We just…fit. We balanced each other out in a weird way. And the truth was, I’d rather fight with Teddy than be happy with anyone else.

I don’t know how or when it happened, but Teddy Andersen made me want something for myself: her. I wanted her. And it terrified me.

My phone buzzed with an incoming FaceTime call. It was Cam. “Riley,” I called, suddenly nervous that my daughter had been so quiet for a while now. “Your mom is calling.” I swiped on the screen to answer.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hi,” Cam responded. Her hair was pulled up into a bun, and she had her glasses on—probably called in the middle of studying. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” I said. “I don’t know where your daughter is, though.”

“Probably out drag racing or getting a barbed wire tattoo on her biceps,” Cam said. I heard Riley’s light footsteps coming down the stairs.

Her curly hair was flying behind her as she ran through the kitchen. When she made it to the living room, Riley popped onto my lap, holding a piece of paper that she’d folded in half, and there was a lot of glitter on it.

Fuck. That was going to be a fun mess to clean up.

“Hi, Sunshine,” Cam said with a bright smile. “What have you been doing today?”

Riley held up her piece of paper. “I made this card for Hank,” she said, pride oozing from her. She’d made Hank a card? On her own? Well, shit. I didn’t know what I did to deserve a kid like her, but damn, I must’ve done something right somewhere.

“What’s up with Hank?” Cam said. Shit—I’d forgotten to tell her. I’d been a little preoccupied with, what, realizing my enemy is maybe actually the thing I’ve wanted in my life this whole time?

“His heart hurt him,” Riley said. “Dad and Teddy said it attacked him.” Cam’s eyes flashed to mine. They were full of concern.

“He’s going to be okay,” I said quickly. “He’s home now, but he gave us all quite the scare.” I thought about Teddy, howshe’d cried in my arms until we both fell asleep, how she’d stayed there all night, and how I kissed her forehead before I left for work the next morning.

God, I missed her. There was a Teddy-shaped hole in the house when she wasn’t here.

“I’m so glad he’s okay,” Cam said. “How’s Teddy?”

“The first day or two afterward were tough, but it sounds like she’s managing his recovery well,” I said before focusing my attention on Riley. “Let’s see this card, Sunshine.”

Riley held up her card to my phone screen so Cam could see it too.

“Shiny!” Cam said with a laugh. “I love it so much. What does the inside look like?”

Riley opened the card. “That’s Hank,” she said, pointing to a drawing of a man in a bed, “and that’s his heart. I drew a smiley face on it because it’s not mean anymore. And that’s me,” she said, pointing to a shorter stick figure by the bed. “And that’s Dad, and that’s Teddy.”

“You did so good, Sunshine,” Cam said, looking closer at the card. “Are your dad and Teddy holding hands?” Cam laughed, like she couldn’t believe it.

“Yeah, they do that sometimes,” Riley said, and I froze. Did we? And did Riley see it? When? Fuck.

Cam’s eyes flashed to mine and she arched a brow. “Do they?” she asked. I broke eye contact—a dead fucking giveaway.

“Yeah,” Riley said with a shrug. Little gossip—turns out Riley picked up a habit or two from Luke Brooks.

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