Page 32 of Bloom

“You’re working.”

Her reflection side-eyes me. “I’m going to dinner.”

“With a potential client.”

That beautiful face contorts with guilt. “I’mexcited.”

“You’re gonna have a meal that lasts longer than ten minutes for the first time in, what, six weeks? I’d be excited too.”

Lux huffs and fusses, tinkering endlessly with her appearance while she rants some more. I sit quietly and let her. I know she’s not really looking for advice or assurance; she just needs to get it all out. She’sbeengetting it out since I got back from my ride, and I was greeted by her tearing out of the house, all worked up, screaming that she needed someone to watch Alex.

So, that’s my plan for the night. Even though Lottie is technically the official babysitter, Lux doesn’t quite trust herunsupervised—something I hope she hasn’t shared with her younger sister because that girl does not need another reason to hate me—and I don’t mind pulling double duty watching Alex and Chiara. Not that I’m doing much minding of the latter.

My gaze strays outside again, and this time, Lux’s follows. She huffs a laugh. “If only he acted like that with adults.”

My thoughts exactly.

“Although,” Lux sing-songs, shooting me a raised brow look. “He is nice to you.”

“So he sees me as a child?Great.”

Lux pinches my ankle. “That's not what I meant.”

I don't get to find out what she meant. Her phone buzzes and she snatches it up, swearing beneath her breath. “I gotta go.”

As she zooms out of the room and towards the front door, she shouts over her shoulder, reminding me of all the things I already know: she’ll be home late but notthatlate, there’s plenty of milk in the fridge, Alex's favorite pacifier is in his crib, he's allergic to sleep right now so if I can't get him down, it's not my fault.

“Lux,” I cut her off when she starts looking at her kid with hesitant, glossy eyes. “We'll be fine.”

Sucking in a breath, she scoops Alex out of his sling, nuzzling her cheek against the top of his head. “You'll call me if you need anything?”

Nothing short of a hospital visit would convince me to call her and admit I can’t handle one measly night of responsibility. But still, I promise, “I will.”

“Okay.Okay.” Sighing deeply, Lux gives Alex one last cuddle before holding him out towards me. “Take him before I start crying.”

I stifle a laugh and oblige, slipping Alex back into his sling as Lux turns on her heel and hauls ass out the front door, sniffling as she goes. Following her outside, I plop down on the porchsteps, waving her off as she climbs into her truck and cooing soothing noises to Alex as his mama disappears from sight.

As the rumble of her engine dissipates, the squeals of an over-excited ten-year-old increase in volume as Chiara races towards me, raving a mile a minute about her new best friend.

Is it wrong for me to be a teeny, tiny bit jealous? Yes?

Am I anyway? Pathetically so.

“Can Hunter watch a movie with us tonight?” she begs, hands clasped beneath her chin, bottom lip popped and pleading.

Swallowing my silly feelings, I paste on a big, fake smile. “If Hunter wants to.”

The budding master manipulator turns on the man in question. “Please.”

It's definitely wrong that I'm hoping he's going to be rude to a ten-year-old and shut her down just so I don't have to sit in his vicinity. But, as Lux and I established earlier, Hunter only dislikes fully-grown people. So I shouldn't be surprised when his big freaking head bobs up and down.

Great.

I wake up on the sofa who knows how long later with a blanket strewn across my lap and Netflix asking if I'm still watching.

We only got through half a movie before Aldo showed up to collect his daughter. After walking them both to the car and bidding them goodbye, I came back inside to find the house empty, no giant cowboy in sight. As I put Alex to bed, I tried to decide how I felt about the absence; relieved or lonely or something in between.Undecidedwas what I settled on before I passed out on the sofa watching something mindless.

Now, the living room is swathed in shadows, bathed in the dark orange light of a rapidly setting sun. Groggily pushing myself up on my elbows, I peek over the back of the sofa, my eyes widening at what I find.

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