Page 83 of Hearts of Fairlake

"We both do," he said, peering at me with a half-smile. "But, if there's anything I've learned today, it's that we're both going to struggle, but we also have our strong points. So, I am saying officially, put it on record if you want, but you were right."

"I'm known to be on occasion."

"Ha ha. Funny."

I kissed his forehead. “But you're right. We made this decision together with a reasonable amount of confidence that we would get through this. And it looks like that wasn't misplaced."

"I guess we'll find out eventually," he said with a chuckle. "We'll see if we manage to screw this up."

Which wasn't exactly a great thought considering screwing up would mean potentially screwing up Gray's life even further. Which I supposed was a pretty common fear for most people in charge of raising a kid, but it was intensified when we had a kid who’d already had a rough go of things.

"I think we've got this," Felix said, his smile waveringslightly but holding at the last second. To anyone else, it wouldn't exactly be a grand and heartfelt show of confidence in us, but they didn't know Felix as I did. Considering Felix had been fretting and worrying endlessly about how badlyhewould mess things up, that he even thought there was a chance he could get through this without disaster was the best sign I could have hoped for.

"We sure do," I said. Despite my worry and doubt after that moment in the kitchen, I truly believed we could manage this and even excel at it. The two of us had always been good at balancing one another out regarding important things. Sure, sometimes his emotions got the better of him, but it meant he was good at feeling his way through situations where I would have been adrift and confused, as the moment with Gray clearly showcased. It wasn't always perfectly balanced because nothing in life was, but we knew how to work as a team, even if sometimes we took a break from that to butt heads like the stubborn idiots we could sometimes be.

"I love that I know you believe that," Felix said, putting his head against my chest.

"I do," I told him with a smile. "Ready to go prove me right again?"

"Jerk," he said with a laugh. "Let's go.

IAN

"Sheesh," Bennett muttered beside me. "You'd think there'd be fewer people today, but I think there'smore."

I raised a brow. “Seriously? I expected the second day to be worse."

"Who said anything about worse?"

"Well, for those who aren't thrilled at seeing a bunch of people, having all this noise, or soaking up attention, it's worse. You know, people who aren't you."

He laughed at that because what was he going to say? Bennett was the most extroverted extrovert I’d ever met, and that was after going to college and meeting many different people. And he absolutely, without a doubt, enjoyed the attention he got. Not that it was all that difficult to see why. He was friendly and sociable despite the slight 'threat' that his uniform and badge should have given to some people. It didn't hurt that he was good-looking and had a sense of humor that caught people by surprise at times, and even when they rolled their eyes at his lame jokes, there was usually a smile on their faces.

"You sound like Adam. He always accuses me of being anattention whore," he said with a note of affection in his voice, probably aimed more at his husband than anything else.

"Because you are," I said with a snort. "I'm sure if we asked Trev…Chief Price, you'd hear the same thing from him."

Bennett smirked at me. “Ever since that little incident, you've had a hard time calling him by his title."

'Little incident' was a nice way of saying that my ex had shown up to kidnap my daughter because she suddenly decided she wanted to be a mother and only because she'd found out I was in a relationship with another man. I hadn't been at my best after that and, quite frankly, had fallen apart, as my mother had rightly, if brutally, pointed out. Yet it had been Kyle who had gathered everyone together to try to see if there wasn't something that could be done with combined willpower and skill sets. Turned out he was right, and I had been an ass for shutting him out, a lesson well learned, especially when I got to have Ayla back and watch Isabelle get carted off to prison.

"I try to keep it so I only think of him by his name when I'm off the clock, but there's still some muddling here and there."

"Uh-huh, and what does the Chief think of that? Because you can't tell me you haven't done it to his face."

I grimaced at the reminder. “I have, a few times. He just gives me a look and doesn't say anything."

"Ooh, that 'I'm going to strangle you if you do that again' look?"

"No, Bennett. I'm pretty sure that face isreserved for you...and probably Ethan on occasion," I said with a shake of my head. Not that I would have blamed Trevor. It wasn't exactly a secret that Ethan could be a pain in the ass. Well, and as I knew from personal experience, sometimes being in love meant wanting to throttle your partner in their sleep but knowing you'd miss them the next morning.

"AndI'msure the strangling he wants to do with Ethan is a different kind than with me," Bennett said and then wrinkled his nose. "I hope...do you think they're into breathplay?"

"I don't know what that is," I said, holding my hand up when his mouth opened. “And do not tell me. Thank you."

Bennett, of course, grinned, and I still expected him to tell me, but he stopped, staring into the thick crowd and cocked his head. “Is that...Ayla?"

I followed his line of sight, using what Kyle liked to call 'cop vision' to sort through the crowd and home in on the familiar face of my daughter. She was chatting with a few people, all of whom were guys by the looks of it and guys who were older than her. Not by much, but they were college-aged, and one of them, in particular, chatted quite animatedly as he kept eye contact.

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