Page 97 of Property of Stone
“Gonna give you that now. But promise it’s gonna change. If we gotta have a conversation with the kids, we have a conversation with the kids. Sunny ain’t gonna give a shit so that leaves dealin’ with Baby Bird.”
Taryn sighed and rubbed a hand over her eyes. “It’s late, Stone. Now is not the time to make a decision like this.”
“Like I said, gonna give you that for now. But tellin’ you, I ain’t sleepin’ too much longer on that fuckin’ couch.”
“I offered to take the bunk beds with Wren. We can still do that and then you can have your bed back.”
It wasn’t only about where he was sleeping. “Would rather share my bed with you than Sunny. Don’t gotta tell you why.”
With that, he rolled off the bed and onto his feet. After snagging his boxers from the floor, he didn’t bother to pull them on since he still needed to clean up. He’d do that downstairs and then try to get in a fewZZZ’s before the kids got up.
Tomorrow, he’d come up with a way to tell them.
Chapter Twenty
Taryn hurried down the stairs,following her nose. Before heading down, she had peeked into Sunny’s room and saw both kids still knocked out.
While she felt bad for kicking Stone out of his own bed last night, she didn’t want to make any rash decisions when it came to him. Or their situation, really.
She also didn’t want Wren thinking that this was a permanent move. It wasn’t. Staying with Stone was only temporary.
They weren’t a “thing.” They weren’t even dating.
How did she explain that to Wren? And if she did, at six, would he even understand?
Convenience did not take precedence over common sense.
Yes, she was a woman with needs and yes, Stone knew how to take care of that particular need, but she was also a mother first and foremost.
Wren was the most important person in her life. Almost everything she did, she did for him, including hustling to make aliving. Like with the new YouTube channel and the meal prep, now that her channel had enough subscribers to be monetized.
She hoped to keep building her audience for her online demos and free classes to the point she could use a subscription-based site to start charging. She could even do different mini-courses. Like one for one-dish meals. Another for?—
Her thoughts disintegrated when she turned the corner to head into the kitchen.
Thatwas the enticing scent filling her nostrils.
Breakfast. Only, she was supposed to be making it, not Stone.
She blinked at the sight that greeted her.
Stone looked out of place standing at the stove. Next to him, the counter was covered with ingredients. Eggs. An empty package of bacon. An open loaf of bread. Butter. Not to mention all the scattered utensils, mixing bowls, and more.
The kitchen was a mess. Obviously, Stone was not an organized cook.
It was the thought that counted, right? Sure, but she’d be the one cleaning up the disaster once he was done.
The tattoo on his bare, broad back was hard to miss since it was pointed in her direction. Once again, reminding her what type of man she’d paired up with.
Was Stone a better one than Vic? That remained to be seen.
She was damn sure Stone had done plenty of bad things in his life and probably would do a lot more. In the short time she’d known him, she’d already learned he and his brothers didn’t respect any laws or the people who enforced those laws. They also did not follow society’s norms. They proudly lived by their own rules.
Luckily, none of that had touched her personally.
Yet.
Unlike Vic beating the crap out of her in front of their son. That left a lasting mark on both her and Wren.
