Page 33 of The Chad Next Door
My whole body relaxes at the sight of her messy hair and tired eyes. I don’t realize how tense I’ve been this morning until she makes it all go away with her little smile. I know she’s remembering last night as much as I am because her cheeks slowly burn brighter red as we watch each other, and I wonder if she dreamed about it too or if that was just me. Then there’s the fact that she is wearing one of my sweatshirts even though it drowns her, and my heart throbs at the thought of her rummaging through my things and picking out her favorite.
Now it’s my favorite.
Hank clears his throat, and when I look at him, he rubs his jaw. Probably means I’m smiling like the idiot that I am.
“Hungry?” I ask Hope.
“Starving,” Zelda says, appearing behind her. Link is with her, suddenly making the kitchen feel crowded. “Is the power back on? Duke!”
Duke hurries forward to greet the kids, while Hank says something about grabbing a sweatshirt and disappears down the hall. I figure I have maybe ten seconds before the window of distraction closes, so I jerk my head and smile when Hope scurries forward and into my arms.
Her kiss is already familiar, like a language I’ve been speaking my whole life but she’s the only one who understands. As I run my fingers through her hair and explore her lips, her hands spread over my chest, pressing against my heart like she knows how fragile it is. Part of my armor breaks, falling away with her touch and leaving me exposed.
“I told you you love each other!” Zelda shouts.
Hope breaks away so quickly that it hurts, and I stumble forward a step, desperate to have her back in my arms. These kids are going to test my patience, but it’s best to keep them around as much as possible. They’ll make an excellent buffer.
I rub my mouth, grimacing when that makes Hope laugh.
“You were right,” she says to Zelda, ruffling the girl’s hair. “So, what are we doing for breakfast?”
For the next half an hour, Link and Zelda help me make eggs and chocolate chip pancakes while Hank and Hope go through my bookshelf, discussing who knows what as they share favorites or laugh at my choices. I’d be jealous if Hope didn’t constantly send little smiles my way while Hank smirks at me multiple times and keeps a decent distance between himself and Hope as a courtesy. Apparently, he is now our biggest fan, but I can’t wait for the snow to clear enough for him to go back to his own house. We have plenty of witnesses as it is, and I can’t send the other two back to their own house.
In fact, I don’twantto send them back to their own house. While it’s functional, it’s not exactly a kid-friendly place, and the hole in the window is making me cold just thinking about it. There may or may not be a badger living in the closet, and there’s a whole lot of space between Hope’s house and mine that I’m not all that fond of anymore. It’s more than the possibility of someone lurking around and me wanting to keep them safe; I just want them nearby. Within arm’s reach at all times.
Hank is right, and I should stop looking for reasons why this won’t work. I want to start looking for reasons why it might. The fact that I’m even thinking about asking Hope and her kids to stay when the whole reason I came to this house was to get away from other people is a pretty big argument for this turning out to be good.
Breakfast is full of laughter and smiles as Hank tells us about a time he was traveling in France and tried to order pancakes but said something completely wrong and got four whole loaves of bread. Even Link laughs a couple of times, which has Hope tearing up with a broad smile, and I can’t help picturing this being my life every morning.
Preferably without Hank.
I grab Hope’s hand under the table, and she gives me the warmest smile meant just for me. It attacks my armor with a jackhammer, breaking away chunk after chunk with no sign of giving up until it’s all gone.
Maybe I’m okay with that. I don’t need armor if Hope is going to keep my heart anyway.
The storm officially stops late that morning, and Hank offers to help me dig my truck out on his way back home. He seems just as eager to be home as I am for him to leave, so I agree.
I get the kids set up with a video game and then pull Hope aside, trying to find the best way to ask her not to go back to her own house. She waits expectantly, her dark eyes big and wide, and suddenly I’m nervous.
“You…” I clear my throat, still debating if this is a good idea. She might laugh in my face. “You could stay here. My house is warmer, and…” Oh, for the love of—it’s not like I don’t know what she’s going to say. Setting my shoulders, I give her my best taunting look. “It would be a lot easier to rescue you if you were already in the same place as me.”
She narrows her eyes playfully, leaning up on her toes until she’s only a breath away. “That’s true, but you’ll also be in a lot more danger if I’m around all the time.”
“I’ll take that risk.” I press my lips to hers, drinking her in while I can.
It’s Hank who interrupts us this time, clearing his throat by the front door, where he’s bundled up and ready to go. “If you want help getting your truck out,” he reminds me.
I quickly kiss Hope’s nose. “Stay,” I mutter before grabbing my coat and following Hank out into the cold.
When I get back a couple of hours later, she’s asleep on my couch with the kids curled up next to her, and I’ve never seen a better sight in my life.
Chapter Fifteen
Hope
After a day of makingthe biggest snowman I’ve ever seen—not hard considering I’ve never seen one in my life—and a snow cave that fits all four of usandDuke with room to spare, I experience what might be the easiest bedtime of my life. There isn’t a single complaint from Zelda, who tends to try to stay up as late as she can, or any sign of a tear from Link, who is happy to lead Duke to his bed again and cuddle up with him. They both fall asleep with smiles on their faces, which is quite possibly the best sight I’ve ever seen in my life.
Well, maybe a close second to the sight of Chad watching Red-tails baseball highlights from Monday’s game. He’s settled on the couch with two mugs of hot chocolate in front of him, complete with mini marshmallows. He wears sweats and a t-shirt, freshly showered and looking completely at ease as he laughs at something on his phone. Then he looks over at me, and his smile grows even wider.
