Page 65 of The Last Thing
Sophia is transfixed as I explain.
“Can I be on your team?”
“Of course. I’ll teach you how to kick their butts.”
“Shots fired,” Deck says.Wilson.
I have to retrain my brain to say the right name. Unless I’m looking at him. When I can see his warm eyes and that restrained smile that always wants to bloom into something bigger, I see him. The man beneath the nicknames. The one who isn’t always in control. The one with a playful side.
“Let’s go,” Sophia says, jumping from the table.
Linnie laughs and follows her toward the back door.
Wilson helps me up from my seat, pausing to whisper in my ear.
“This was a great idea. Thank you.”
“Just trying to remind you how to have some fun.”
I wink at him, then follow Sophia and Linnie out the back door.
“Yes! I knocked you out, Daddy!”
Wilson playfully grumbles at Sophia, then smiles. It’s the big, wild one that I’m desperate to see more of. It makes Sophia smile too.
“I’ll get you back next round,” he says.
She looks at her fingernails like she’s too cool for school. “We’ll see.”
I chuckle at that. “Brutal.”
His smoldering eyes land on me, and a flush creeps up my body in response. “Well, maybe we should make a little bet, then.”
He steps closer to me, mischief dancing in those heated eyes.
“A bet, huh?”
“Gotta keep things interesting.” The tone of his voice is practically indecent.
“What kind of bet?” Sophia asks, butting in and cooling off the moment. In the background, Linnie laughs.
“Dessert,” Wilson says simply. “If we win, you two make us a dessert of our choosing.”
“Oh, nice one,” Linnie calls.
“Okay. If we win…” I look at Sophia.
“We go out for ice cream!”
Wilson holds out his hand to me, and I shake it.
“Deal.”
His fiery gaze cuts right through me. “Deal.”
“Let’s get on to the next throw then. Hallie, you and Sophia start this time,” Linnie says.
“Can I do it?” Sophia asks, dancing toward her grandmother.
