Page 71 of Burn It Down

There’s that little flutter in my gut again when he asks that. Because it seems to me, he’s completely on board with this too. And that just does something to me. Elijah nods his head exuberantly. “Yeah! And a bow tie!”

I laugh, meeting Kade’s eyes before his hand goes to Elijah’s hair, scrubbing over the top of his head playfully. “Then you’ll get it.”

Elijah does a cute little fist pump and dance. “Oh yeah.”

Kade’s eyes meet mine, and I see the silent question there. I nod my head because I think the timing is more than right. He looks down at Elijah, whose attention seems to be back on the stingrays. “Hey, buddy, what do you think about us moving into Spencer’s house?”

His head snaps toward Kade’s direction, but his hand is still in the water. “Both of us?”

“Of course,” I say. “You’d have your own room.”

“Yeah. I like your house,” he says decidedly. But then he looks a little sad. “What about Uncle Bowen?”

Kade handles this one. “You can go and stay with him when you want, but I think he wouldn’t mind having his house back. Though I know he’ll miss you. He’ll be there in an instant any time you want him.”

That seems to satisfy Elijah as he nods and then finally gets to stroke the back of one of the stingrays. “I touched it!”

I laugh and stand at Kade’s side, his arm going around my waist. “Well, I think we have his approval,” I say.

He leans into me. “Did you really have any doubt?”

I look at the sweet kid who stole my heart as quickly as his father did and shake my head.

“No doubts here.”

He kisses my temple, and I smile.

We’re a family.

CHAPTER THIRTY

“Are you okay?” I ask as I embrace Kade, fear still racking my entire body. Even seeing him right now, it feels like my eyes could be playing a trick on me.

“I’m fine. I promise.”

“That was...” My heart actually clenches tightly in my chest, and I take a moment to take a deep breath. “I saw it on the news and...”

“I know. But I’m okay. Everyone made it out.” Kade wraps his big arms around me, and finally, my heart rate starts to settle a little bit. Elijah is already tucked into bed in his room, so thankfully, he didn’t see the news story of the large explosion at the manufacturing plant in town. It was bad. So many people were trapped, and when everyone else was running out—it was my boyfriend and his brother running in.

Elijah and Kade moved into my house as soon as we got back from the aquarium. They settled in pretty quickly, and we managed to make Elijah’s room feel like his by going shopping and letting him pick out some little touches for his room. He also got to pick the color he wanted to paint his walls. School started back up, and I started taking Elijah to school with me. But sinceI often stay later into the afternoon, it depends on who picks him up. Sometimes it’s his dad or his uncle—but sometimes he just hangs out at school with me until it’s time to go home.

It’s pretty obvious that I’m with his father. We don’t hide it, but so far, not one parent has lodged any sort of complaint. One of the moms of my students seems particularly thrilled and invites us to dinner quite often. I politely decline, but something tells me that won’t last forever.

Janelle and her husband, however, double date with us quite frequently. And oddly enough, it wasn’t really Levi and me who formed a strong friendship. No, that was Kade and Levi somehow. Not that I’m not friends with him, but now that there’s no jealousy whatsoever involved, Kade has become quite fond of Levi.

We hang out at the local bar sometimes when we need a night out. Kade and Janelle happen to have a lot in common too—always trying to set poor Levi up. It seems Kade Mitchell has really settled into his own these days.

There’s no numbness there or trying to just blend in. But it doesn’t mean he’s not even more popular than ever.

“Are you okay?” He holds me in his arms, and I nod against his shoulder.

“I was scared.”

“I understand. But I swear to you, I know what I’m doing, and I’m good at it.”

I look at him, seeing his worry for me—that maybe I can’t handle him being a firefighter—and I don’t like that fear he seems to have. I take a deep breath again and release it before bringing my hands up to cup his face. “Being a firefighter is part of you, Kade. It’s not something I’ll ever ask you to give up.”

He visibly relaxes, his shoulders losing some tension I didn’t realize they were holding. “I would if I had to.”

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